Little embarrased but I need help here.

#1 12-02-2008, 10:08 PM

Been playing for a few years now and the simple sounding beat to walk this way is kicking my ass. 1st of all I have been told a few different ways to play it but not sure which is right. 8th notes on the hi hat, or 1/4 notes? someone also said you open the hat on 1 then step it shut on the & without hitting it, then play 8th notes on beats 2 thru 4. Sounds good but not sure if it's correct.

The biggest problem I have is getting the BD correct I am playing the BD as follows on beats 1, the ah of 2, followed by 3 &. I cannot seem to get the spacing correct no matter how slow I go. I even broke it down and just try to play snare on 2, hat on the &, BD on the ah, 3, &.

Would be easier if I could write it out but I don't have the software. Something is not clicking between the hi hat on the & of 2 and the double BD on the ah of 2 and 3.

I can play it a little better flat footed then heel toe but it lacks power. Heel toe my foot seems all over the place sometimes I get it just right most of the time I am ghosting BD hits or my mind tells my foot to hit but nothing happens..LOL

Anyone know of a good video to watch or have a good explanation on this. It's weird because I can play 1,e & on the BD while hitting the hats on 1, & all day long but if I reverse it and try to play the hats on 2, &, 3 while hitting the BD on the ah of 2, 3, & I cannot get the 2nd BD to hit in time if at all. Hope this is not a jumbled mess.

I have been playing it very slow for a few days now and really not getting any progress, as soon as I speed it up everything goes out the window. usually I can nail something down after a few days of playing it slow then speeding it up but this is not working here.

Thanks especially if you read it all.

zambizzi · #2 12-02-2008, 10:18 PM

If you've been working on it and you feel like you're not making progress, it may be a technique issue - particularly with your kick-foot since you mentioned it.

I'd suggest you learn it both ways. Learn it with 8th and quarter notes on the hats...do it first w/o doing any of the hi-hat openings. Practice each "voice" separately or in smaller combinations (i.e. bass + snare, no hats).

Turn that metronome on and play each part of it separately...pay careful attention to your foot technique and do what requires the least effort to achieve the notes.

You could transcribe the beat by hand, which is better practice than using software anyhow.

In the end, it just takes practice...lots of it.

#3 12-02-2008, 10:27 PM

If you want to improve your bass drum accuracy, try playing 16ths on the hi-hat for a change and work on hitting your bassdrum and hats exactly simultaneously during that groove, if you understand what I mean.

diosdude · #4 12-02-2008, 10:58 PM

Counting sixteenths as one-ee-and-ah, two-ee-and-ah, etc:

Bass drum: Hit-on the one, rest on the two, hit-on the ah(of the two), hit on the three hit-on the (and of three), rest (on the four)

Snare drum: rest-one, hit-two, rest-three, hit-four

Hi hat: hit-one, open position, then close quick, hit- two, closed, hit three closed, hit-four closed (quarter note)

That's all it is (lucky i speak drummer-ese)

Try it first without opening and closing the high hat to get the general rhythm correct, then put in the hi hat clap when you're comfortable.
repeat. enjoy.

larryace · #5 12-02-2008, 11:10 PM

Definitely 8th notes on the hi hat, snare on 2 and 4, and you're right bass drum on the 1, the ah of 2, 3, and the & of 3. Open the hats slightly when you play the 1, also accent the backbeat (2 and 4). As for the coordination....simplify. Try playing just the bass drum and hi hat parts, leave out the backbeat until you get the bass drum pedal synced up with the 8th notes on the hi hat. Then add the backbeat after you get the 2 way coordination locked down.

diosdude · #6 12-03-2008, 07:55 PM

Eighth's on the hi hat? i guess i've been playing it wrong all this time, lol. Oh well, everyone knows what song it is either way =)

larryace · #7 12-03-2008, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diosdude

Eighth's on the hi hat? i guess i've been playing it wrong all this time, lol. Oh well, everyone knows what song it is either way =)

So I assume that you are playing quarters on the hh? It is 8ths but with the quarter note feel...

mind_drummer · #8 12-03-2008, 09:37 PM

I have recently manage to work or it and make it sound OK when I use heel-toe triplet on the ah of 2, 3, and the & of 3, it flows naturallly.

Stuntsunlimited · #9 12-03-2008, 10:50 PM

'Would be easier if I could write it out but I don't have the software.' ???

Whats up with a pencil and stave paper? Remember your 'Bass Clef' lol

mikeybbdrummin · #10 12-04-2008, 12:22 AM

Not to make it harder for you, but when I play it (which I think is the correct way), the quarter notes are on the cowbell while the hi-hat plays 8th's. The main groove is 8th's notes though.

#11 12-07-2008, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuntsunlimited

'Would be easier if I could write it out but I don't have the software.' ???

Whats up with a pencil and stave paper? Remember your 'Bass Clef' lol

I mean write it and post it here. I know how to write it I just do not have the software to do it on a computer and post it.

Thanks for the tips, some I have tried others I have not yet, I guess I will try to break it down even more, I am starting to think it is some kind of mental block that I have to overcome so I will continue to play it slow as hell. Anyone happen to know what the speed of the original song is?

I have been scouring youtube and am quite surprised at how many people play this and it sounds absolutely horrible, Even a few pro's. You can really tell when someone has it down and when they are off by 1 or 2 hits. I am starting to realize why this beat is so popular, it sounds cool as hell, and also sounds easy to play but it is even easier to screw it up.