Look, the best we can do is hold our assertions up to some scrutiny and see how they fare.
Just so that I'm clear, your assertion is that to play "open" handed, one must be using their non-dominant hand on the hats, yeah? Otherwise, even though the hands are "open" they're not really open because no one says open when playing crossed.......including the internet?
So applying your argument, what do we think about a guy like Puffy Bordin? He's widely regarded as being an "open handed" player, yeah? Because he sets up a right handed kit and his left hand is on the hats, right? But the dude is left handed. So although he's apparently "open" and towing the company line by employing the internet/Ayasso definition of what's open and what's not, he's still actually using his dominant hand on the hats, isn't he? That being the case and using your (and the internet's) logic as presented in this thread so far, he's not really "open" at all.......even though he appears to be as open as a ten dollar tart after a round of drinks on Saturday night......he's really not. That dominant left hand is the spanner in the works here, isn't it?
I'm perfectly willing to accept the fact that I may be a moron (my wife assures me I'm not, but my mates are not so convincing). But I'm just not gettin' it. If a principle applies, then it applies across the board, surely?
I'm not calling anyone a moron, this is a forum and interacting with musicians is the best way to learn. Let me say that it's not my definition and it isn't a definition in general. It's not a defined word, it's term that was developed by musicians. Terms, unfortunately, can change over time (you know like how old school slang is different from new school slang? darn kids, I know I know) but open handed playing is still referred to JUST hats. Nowadays theres a lot of playing styles. Since ambidextrous playing has become more popular, open handed playing has to be considered something specific. Because if if it weren't then these terms and styles would be vague and there would be no point in using them. No one would understand the difference between ambidextreous and open handed playing because they weren't specified. Just like that guy who just asked me how would I tell between a left handed player playing "open" and someone who's actually ambidextrous. That's why we have these terms, so we can specifically say he's playing open handed or not. No no and no open handed playing is NOT any playing in which your hands are not crossed. Because, like I said, that is VERY common and is considered standard or traditional playing. If you consider that open handed playing , then everyone would be considered open handed players, and this thread wouldn't make any sense, and playing the hi hat with your non dominant hand would now not have it's own term....etc
No Mike Bordin is not playing open handed, he's left handed, and his HH is on his left. That's the equivalent of any right handed player moving their HH to the right side to avoid crossing or playing open. Now if Bordin used his right hand(non dominant) on the HH on his right (which would be the traditional spot) THEN he'd be playing open handed.
EDIT: trying to simplify it even more, no offense, I am trying the best I can but I know it may come out confusing through my wording.
- If your right handed, but your playing your high hat with your left, you're referred to as playing open handed. Vice Versa. Set up doesn't matter as long as the HH and non dominant hand factors are correct then it's considered open handed. If you're right handed, and you're playing he ride with your right hand, and none of your hands are crossed, you are not playing open handed. This is traditional/standard and isn't considered open, not just because its socially common, it's the traditional way to play the drum set when your right handed. So yes Vice versa. Now if your doing anything else with your left foot or hand, as in leading lefty, then you should probably call it ambidextrous. Why? Because you're using both your hands as leads which is called ambidextrous by definition, so there is little to no argue with that.
-ALSO before everyone jumps on this and claims anything, I'm just going to point out that all percussion rudiments work both your hands equally. Ever notice that stick control exercises both hands 100% equally? Isn't that, by definition, ambidextrous? Just throwing it out there, maybe someone can shine some light on it...
