We are going to incorporate the hi hat foot into our playing by alternating hand and foot hi hat notes. Let’s start by playing 8th notes with the hand on the closed hi hat and the upbeat 16th notes with the foot. Doing this takes some coordination but it can sound really good (almost like playing on two separate hi hats). The trick is to make sure you get a closed hi hat sound from both the hand and the foot. You don’t want any open hi hat sounds.
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If you have trouble adding the hi hat foot to the beat, start by playing just the hi hat parts and slowly add the drums one at a time. Once you are comfortable with this one, try it with other beats.
Now that you have this concept down, you can choose where in the measure you play the alternating notes. You don’t have to play it for the whole measure. Here are a couple of options.
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This technique can really spice up your playing. Experiment with it to come up with different combinations.
