Hi-Hat Foot Use

[chicago's#1drumlessons]

The hi-hat foot is probably one of the more overlooked tools that a drummer possesses. From experience, I’ve seen that many drummers use their hi-hat to close for playing, and occasionally open for accents. In our program, we emphasize the use of hi-hat foot from very early on, teaching students to add quarter note, eighth note and, later on, sixteenth note hi-hat foot into their beats. It helps keep time, add spice to beats and fills, and provides opportunity for four-way separation. Do many you use this type hi-hat foot on a regular basis? Do you find it useful, or is it something that you haven’t given much thought to?

[Mr. Pasquini]

Depends on what I'm doing. I'm very new to drumming, but I constantly pulse with my hats when I use my ride if that's what you mean.

[KCDrummer]

You're right, the HH foot is definately overlooked, but can be a great musical tool. Anyone who doesn't think so just needs to listen to Bill Stewart or Peter Erskine. So many sounds, colors, effects, etc., especially with a good pedal and a good pair of hats!

I also think that HH foot technique and BD foot technique are two completely different things, especially in jazz. Each foot is responsible for completely different instruments with completely different sounds and roles, ergo, different techniques.

[Wavelength]

I posted this little thing just recently...

http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24461

Yeah, I use the hi-hat in a multitude of ways, all the time.

[RickJames]

http://drummerworld.com/forums/search.php - this is your best friend

[spw]

I love the sound of a pulsing hi hat.
Watching Ginger Baker use his hi hat on the Cream DVD really showed me how it adds spice, he would pluse on the quaters and when Eric would start some fast soloing, he would change the pulse to all the +'s, it really added to the beat, you could even see the crowd react to that pulse.

I have just been playing a few months and always add the pulse of the hat to my practice, I have even thought of adding another hat and keeping it closed so i can keep pulsing with my regular hat when im using right hand on the closed hat.

[chicago's#1drumlessons]

Do more of you use the heel up technique on the pedal or heel down? I've found that the heel down method is good for producing more of the tight click, while heel up allows more control for both a splash effect and a click effect. In beginners though, I’ve noticed that they experience difficulty in separating their hi-hat foot and bass drum (i.e. playing occasional 16th notes on the bass drum while using an 8th note click). For example if they were playing a triplet ride with 8th note hi-hat, and I ask them to play bass on 1 and a-3, they add in an extra hi-hat on that 16th note. Any of you experience similar problems?

[Mr. Pasquini]

It's definitely still a problem. My drum teacher has a very loose approach to foot technique, he lets me figure out what I like then shows me what does and doesn't work. I like to use heel up, it gives me quicker action and I'm comfortable with it.

I occasionally will mess up my high hat because I try a quick double with my bass foot and my pulse will get off beat. For instance my favorite beat just to play around with is the simple 4/4 rock beat; I'll play quarters with my ride and play 1 and 3 with the high hat (foot pedal) and I'll play 1 with bass and 3 with my snare. This is with much variation, though. I explore a lot of moving the bass around, keeping pulsing while playing bass drum on 2 and 4 or playing a double on the bass pedal, so have the and of one as well. That can really throw me off.

It's all experience. The only way I've found to deal with it is just sit down and woodshed. Your students will do a lot better if they take the time at home to woodshed, lessons are a very small guideline.

[OceanDirt]

Do more of you use the heel up technique on the pedal or heel down? I've found that the heel down method is good for producing more of the tight click, while heel up allows more control for both a splash effect and a click effect.


funny you should say that, i've actually found the exact opposite to be true for myself. my hi hat clicks are a lot cleaner with my heel up. i'm trying to shift to pretty much only heel up because there's a lot more control.

[Paul Quin]

The hi-hat foot is probably one of the more overlooked tools that a drummer possesses. From experience, I’ve seen that many drummers use their hi-hat to close for playing, and occasionally open for accents. In our program, we emphasize the use of hi-hat foot from very early on, teaching students to add quarter note, eighth note and, later on, sixteenth note hi-hat foot into their beats. It helps keep time, add spice to beats and fills, and provides opportunity for four-way separation. Do many you use this type hi-hat foot on a regular basis? Do you find it useful, or is it something that you haven’t given much thought to?

You are exactly right - and especially today, when double pedal seems to be the norm - many drummers neglect the tremendous variety of sound that can come from the hi-hat. It can help with a groove in the same way that ghost notes do - it provides more depth and interest to the pattern you are playing. I also think you are suggesting the right way to go about teaching the use of the hi-hat. I think some drummers use the hi-hat in an almost instinctual way and don't consider that control is the key and is as important as it is with their other three limbs. Consequently, you often get a hi-hat on the quarter notes when using the ride cymbal when the groove would be better suited to the hi-hat being played on the "and" of each pulse. Unfortunately, hi-hat control does not seem to be very high in the list of priorities. But when you listen to someone like Pete Erskine or even Keith Carlock, you realize the depth of sound its skillful use can create.

Paul

[chicago's#1drumlessons]

funny you should say that, i've actually found the exact opposite to be true for myself. my hi hat clicks are a lot cleaner with my heel up. i'm trying to shift to pretty much only heel up because there's a lot more control.

Well in our program we only teach the heal up method, but speaking from personal experince, I've toyed around with both methods. I still find heel up to be superior, I was just wondering if anybody else felt differently.

Nick Campione

[chicago's#1drumlessons]

Oh and just so everybody dosen't get confused, both myself (Nick Campione) and Mike Semerau post under this name. It's easier to keep company accounts the same, so we'll most likely sign all of our posts so you know who you're talking to.

[Red Hawk]

I find myself stomping the hi hat pedal on 8th notes CONSTANTLY if I'm not using it as the ride instrument. It's almost to the point of being a crutch for me, but I've learned to use it to my advantage.

For example, if I'm playing a complex pattern using the ride(s) and bell, some one foot 16th stuff on the kick with my right foot and nailing 8th notes with my left foot, I can play ghost notes on the snare, or if I feel like adding a little syncopation, any "up" 16th with my left hand can go over to the hats for a quick open-closed splash.

I've also found that the more I play eighths consistantly on the hi hats, the easier it is to do more complex things with my left foot like just up beats, just down beats or anything inbetween. It's also a great way to get your left foot in shape for double kick stuff.

Of course, all this left foot exercise has led to me having this mess...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid224/pde2fb4e5ddf9d33654d52f2a7ca605a2/ea9e47bb.jpg

But I figure my left foot deserved a reward for being so diligent.

I'm so close to being able to lay down a clave right now... unfortunately since both of my bands broke up, I can't practice anymore... so i'm fairly sure my left foot syncopation is going to go down the tubes for the time being...

[JCM]

Well in our program we only teach the heal up method, but speaking from personal experince, I've toyed around with both methods. I still find heel up to be superior, I was just wondering if anybody else felt differently.

Nick Campione

I do not think heel up is superior. Both techniques can be used to good effect if practiced and applied properly.

[dasilvs]

check out derrick pope's videos on foot technique, it will really open your eyes up to the endless possibilities you can achieve with some hard work and dilligence.

personally, when soloing or jamming or improvising or not directly using the high hat, i prefer the rocking or heel up/heel down technique using an eighth note pulse. if i choose i can have two separate sounds in one stroke: start with the open high hat "cheeeee" sound when when i jam my heel down, and end with a crisp "chink" sound with the heel up and toes down, ready for the next move (heel down). with this move i can either do a "chink"/"chee" sound, or do two "chink" sounds simply by letting my whole left foot fall flat on the pedal in place of the heel down part of the technique. so it would be flat foot/heel up instead of heel down/heel up, if that makes any sense.

its hard to explaining, but if you follow it, the tehcnique incorporates both and gives you more versatility with your sound.

[Eric]

I play a lot of contemporary jazz gigs where I try to be concious of not playing too MUCH hi-hat. Playing constant eighths/quarters/2&4 is great for creating a driving feel, but there's a time, i.e. playing brushes during a bass solo, where that becomes overkill. In those instances I prefer to use it for accents or splashes, much like Jack Dejohnette in Keith's trio. Any one texture played continuously can fatigue the ear, imho.

[cnw60]

I find that practicing heel down is the most effective way to develop control for playing either heel up or heel down.

It holds true for both feet.

Kudos on the thread - there isn't a lot of discussion about such an elemental part of the set, especially compared to the amount of discussion given to double bass. I must just be a traditionalist because I'd rather have my left foot working a hi-hat than a second bass pedal. When the left foot is capable of playing various ride patterns, it really frees up your hands to explore different possibilities beyond having one hand or the other dedicated to always keeping the ride pattern going. Of course - finding the balance between enough and too much (as Eric has pointed out ) is part of the challenge too...

[dea]

Hehehehe... Get a load of this...

I actually went Ornette on my kit when it comes to my left foot. I use a DW9000 remote hi-hat with my hi-hat in a Bill Bruford configuration ( crossing the hands is a tradition thing and proves to have no benefits mechanically. why? why? do we continue to do this? ). I then rotated my hi-hat pedal 90degrees counter-clockwise, and butt up against it - also 90degrees counter-clockwise - another pedal driving a block. Everyone following me?

Quiz time... Now why would someone set things up in such a silly way?...

Well, my heel can now drive a block while the front part of my foot drives the hi-hat. The rocking motion is exploited to bring on some nice support for the beat. Please note, the technique I use is not new. I just simply exploited the well known heel-toe technique to include a voice for the heel. The neat thing about this setup is that you can also hit the two simultaneously with nearly no adjustment of the foot. Since I play toe, as well as flat-footed, I have been able to verified that it works for any playing style.

Try it. I dare you. If you do, please let me know how you like it.

[spleen]

I play a lot of contemporary jazz gigs where I try to be concious of not playing too MUCH hi-hat. Playing constant eighths/quarters/2&4 is great for creating a driving feel, but there's a time, i.e. playing brushes during a bass solo, where that becomes overkill. In those instances I prefer to use it for accents or splashes, much like Jack Dejohnette in Keith's trio. Any one texture played continuously can fatigue the ear, imho.

Yes, Jack is a master at using the pedaled hi-hat to comp and add textures. When he plays with Keith, so much of the time is implied but rarely stated in any kind of a repetitive fashion--but it all swings and swings hard!

spleen

[Mapex589]

I used to have a very lazy left foot other than on the double pedal but I have been working on that for the last 2-3 years since I starting working with a teacher. It makes a huge difference in my playing and I think it plays a very important role in time keeping. Get that left foot moving!!

[dea]

My experiment to rotate my pedals 90degrees counter clockwise, really didn't help much. It really doesn't buy one much. I ended up straightening them back out in a standard config. It seems - to me at least - that I can accomplish a heel-toe technique just as well in this standard config.

It did open my eyes a bit, and my ankle is killing me. Teehee...

[chicago's#1drumlessons]

Hehehehe... Get a load of this...

I actually went Ornette on my kit when it comes to my left foot. I use a DW9000 remote hi-hat with my hi-hat in a Bill Bruford configuration ( crossing the hands is a tradition thing and proves to have no benefits mechanically. why? why? do we continue to do this? ). I then rotated my hi-hat pedal 90degrees counter-clockwise, and butt up against it - also 90degrees counter-clockwise - another pedal driving a block. Everyone following me?

Quiz time... Now why would someone set things up in such a silly way?...

Well, my heel can now drive a block while the front part of my foot drives the hi-hat. The rocking motion is exploited to bring on some nice support for the beat. Please note, the technique I use is not new. I just simply exploited the well known heel-toe technique to include a voice for the heel. The neat thing about this setup is that you can also hit the two simultaneously with nearly no adjustment of the foot. Since I play toe, as well as flat-footed, I have been able to verified that it works for any playing style.

Try it. I dare you. If you do, please let me know how you like it.

That sounds like a very cool set up, but I'm having trouble trying to invision it. Do you have any pictures of it you could post?

[dea]

As I mentioned, the results of this experiment was that it didn't buy me anything really. The standard configuration and it allowed me to perform the same function. One drawback of the rotated pedals was that it would be difficult to incorporate more than two pedals at a time.

[UPSTROKE]

[QUOTE=dea;294664]Hehehehe... Get a load of this...

I use a DW9000 remote hi-hat with my hi-hat in a Bill Bruford configuration ( crossing the hands is a tradition thing and proves to have no benefits mechanically. why? why? do we continue to do this? ). I then rotated my hi-hat pedal 90degrees counter-clockwise, and butt up against it - also 90degrees counter-clockwise - another pedal driving a block. Everyone following me?

Quiz time... Now why would someone set things up in such a silly way?...

Well, my heel can now drive a block while the front part of my foot drives the hi-hat. The rocking motion is exploited to bring on some nice support for the beat. Please note, the technique I use is not new. I just simply exploited the well known heel-toe technique to include a voice for the heel. The neat thing about this setup is that you can also hit the two simultaneously with nearly no adjustment of the foot. Since I play toe, as well as flat-footed, I have been able to verified that it works for any playing style.
]
Wouldn't this be easier?? Also, since you are using a single cable hat, you could have a cowbell on one side and another affect, like a tambourine on the other. Now you can play any of them just about any time you would care to. With or without the using the hi-hat. ]Food for thinking!

12018

[crazyballa17]

When I first started drumming the Hi-hats were my favorite part of the drumset, so I have never let them fall behind the development of the other parts of the kit. I mean how cool is it that you can play it with both hands and your foot. Just think of all the combinations!

Peace Easy

[tamadrummer132]

i use my left foot quite alot, and by watching guys like bernard purdie iv seen how much spice mit can add to your music, not to mention it builds alot of dynamic into your music.

p.s. its cool taht your hangin around mr chichagomusiclessondude....keep it up