How can I play this without hitting the sticks together?

[haroldo_psf]

Pleae help. I am so frustrated that I was about to break my sticks in half.

How are these patterns with the syncopated snare notes between hi hat notes played without hitting the sticks? For example, pattern 23 in the picture (this is from the Funky Primer for the Rock Drummer book).

I have the coordination to play these patterns (my teacher added the bass drum on beats 1 and 3 also), but my sticks keep hiting each other constantly, and I can't get enough height on the left hand to hit the snare and make it sound solid. It becomes little taps that sound like crap

[DrumDemon]

Move the hand that is striking the hi hat.
Look at the way Lars Ulrich (Metallica) has his right arm positioned ... thats what I am talking about.
If your right stick is getting in the way, then re-position.

Or use upstrokes on the hi hat to get the stick out of the way

[haroldo_psf]

Move the hand that is striking the hi hat.
Look at the way Lars Ulrich (Metallica) has his right arm positioned ... thats what I am talking about.
If your right stick is getting in the way, then re-position.

Or use upstrokes on the hi hat to get the stick out of the way

If I try to use the upstroke of the hi hat to get it out of the way, the snare hit is late. It feels like by the time the hi hat hand is going up, the snare hand should be going down already.

Trying to find video or picture of Lars set up or a video...

[TableMuncher]

I'm not quite sure I understand the problem, but if it's what I think it is, can you not just raise your Hi Hat up? I had the same problem when I started playing and moved the Hi Hat higher and voila! problem solved

TM

[Numberless]

Either move the hats up or the snare down or reposition the HH stand.

[tezzerii]

or swap hands and hit the hh with the left, snare with the right.
I'm playing a song with a new band at the mo which caused me some trouble until I tried this, and I'm also swapping hands at different places in the song - took a little practice but it really works!!

Terry

[kyle]

Why can't you do a quick double stroke with the left hand?

[Sopranos]

Yep, without seeing what your set-up looks like and your technique, it sounds like your HH and snare drum are too close in relation to height.

Also, with practice you will find your hands will be quicker to execute these in between / upbeat ghost notes so the HH hand will be out of the way. And, of course, position your HH hand out and away just a bit and leave your left/snare hand closer to your tummy.

This would be much easier to diagnose with a video, of course.

BTW - what BPM are you trying to play this at?

[timmdrum]

I agree that it's hard to help without seeing your setup.

First, make sure your right stick is "bouncing" off the hi-hats, so as to get out of the way as quickly as possible. If you're striking with the shoulder, this will be more difficult due to the lack of rebound you'll get. If this is the case, you'll have to develop your technique enough to "fake" the rebound, lifting the stick immediately rather than using a natural rebound.

Also, getting more distance between the sticks by raising the hi-hat will help with the clicking problem, but may hinder you getting the tip of the stick on the shoulder of the top hi-hat cymbal in order to get that rebound. Likewise, lowering the snare will help too, but don't lower it so low that your hand hits your leg when you hit the snare, and can't play rim shots. (I should post that in the "pet peeves" thread!)

Lastly, my technique isn't for everyone, but here it is anyway... I use German grip (palm-down), and so when holding the sticks naturally, they extend from my hand & forearm at a 45 degree angle, rather than as a straight extension of my forearm. When playing the hats with my right hand, I simply move my right forearm forward and to the left a bit, so that my right stick is on the hi-hats, the left on the snare, and my sticks don't cross over at all. I found this revelation in the 11th grade when watching the video for "The One I Love" by REM- one of the opening shots is overhead of Bill Berry using the same technique. Since then, I've only ever played cross-handed when playing stick-clicks on the snare with my left hand. (I'll be 40 next month.)

Hope this helps.

[I, brobot]

Ya, I agree with some of the other posters in regards to either lowering your snare, or raising your hats. I had the same problem a while back; raised the hats (not like travis barker high or anything, eww) and the problem was solved. A lot of it has to do with hand technique and control of power and dynamics. I now play open handed, so I lowered my hi hats back to their original height.

[haroldo_psf]

Yep, without seeing what your set-up looks like and your technique, it sounds like your HH and snare drum are too close in relation to height.

Also, with practice you will find your hands will be quicker to execute these in between / upbeat ghost notes so the HH hand will be out of the way. And, of course, position your HH hand out and away just a bit and leave your left/snare hand closer to your tummy.

This would be much easier to diagnose with a video, of course.

BTW - what BPM are you trying to play this at?


Thanks! I am playing this slow, 100 bpm quarter note. I put my hi hat a little higher, and it made it better. Here is a video of me playing something just so you see my setup. sorry, it was made with my phone (of course, the playing sucks, as I have been learning for 5 months or so, so excuse me! :)

This video was before I put my hi hats an inch or two higher:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC48RN7WNJ0

[Soupy]

I wonder if you're trying to overplay the snare drum a little. You don't have to hit hard or swing high to make a nice solid note on the drum.

It's also one thing to have a loud crack on the snare when playing it only on beats 2 and 4, such as the first half of line 22 there. But on the section in question on line 23, with the 16th notes between the hihats and snare, you might play the snare volume a little lower to match the dynamic of the hihats a little more, not to drown out the hats. Think about making a smooth consistent sound with the hats and snare.

[drumr_102]

I'm not quite sure I understand the problem, but if it's what I think it is, can you not just raise your Hi Hat up? I had the same problem when I started playing and moved the Hi Hat higher and voila! problem solved

TM

This was my solution too.

Also, practice will get you a feel for keeping your right hand out of the way.