8th and 16th Note Grooves - Hand to Hand (1)

We have looked at 8th and 16th Note Grooves before, however this time we are going to play the hi hat pattern (1 and-a, 2 and-a etc ... or ham burg-er, ham burg-er!) with both hands. For right-handers the sticking is going to be R R-L, R R-L - left-handed guys are going to be sticking L L-R, L L-R.

REMEMBER : The sticking above will mean that the 1, 2, 3 and 4 and the 'ands' will be on your lead hand with your following hand only playing the '-a' of each beat. This will also mean that the back-beat on '2' and '4' will also be on your lead hand.

Click through the sheets below to work through the exercises in your own time.

16th Note Grooves - Hand to Hand

Ok, we've played 16th note grooves with our lead hand on the hi hat - playing all of the 16 beats (with a count of 1-E-and-a, 2-E-and-a etc). Now we're going to look at 16th Note Grooves but playing both hands on the hi hat - R L R L for right-handed people, L R L R for left-handed people.

Now, your lead hand will now be coming across to play the back-beat on the snare drum on '2' and '4' but returning back to the hi hat for all of the rest of the pattern.

NOTE : If you're playing 'open-handed' - i.e. left-handed on a right-handed kit, you'll have to experiment and find which method works well for you.

Click on the sheets below to work your way through the exercises at your own pace.

REMEMBER : At the moment we are only playing 8th notes on the bass drum so all of the bass drum beats will fall on your lead hand.

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8th and 16th Note Grooves (3)

Ok, this time again we're playing a combination of 8th and 16th notes on the hi hat with our lead hand, '2' and '4' on the snare drum with the following hand making the back-beat. The count is "1-E a, 2-E a, 3-E a, 4-E a" - this is possibly the hardest one to get because there is NO 'ands' played on the hi hat.

Practice the hands first so that you're comfortable with the rhythm on the hi hat and snare drum before adding the bass drums - which, when they're on the 'ands', will be on their own.

Click on the sheets below to work through the grooves at your own pace.

8th and 16th Note Grooves (2)

Following on from part 1 these grooves again have 8th and 16th notes on the hi hat with your lead hand but this time the count will be "1-E-and, 2-E-and, 3-E-and, 4-E-and (think ... Lemonade, Lemonade etc)

Again, click on the sheets below to work through the exercises in your own time.

8th and 16th Note Grooves (1)

These grooves still have your lead hand on the hi hat, your following hand on the snare drum (playing a 'back-beat on '2' and '4'). However, your lead hand is playing a combination of 8th notes and 16th notes. The count for this will be 1-and-a, 2-and-a, 3-and-a, 4-and-a (think ... ham-burger, ham-burger etc if it helps!). We can now start to put the bass drum underneath this pattern.

REMEMBER : The count for all 4 of the 16th notes on each beat would be '1-E-and-a, 2-E-and-a etc.

Again, click on the sheets below to work through the exercises in your own time.

16th Note Grooves

Following on from the first two groove exercises we can now look at 16th note patterns. Click on the pages below for a list of grooves with your lead hand playing sixteen beats per bar. The count for this will be "1-E-and-a, 2-E-and-a, 3-E-and-a, 4-E-and-a" again with the following hand 'back-beat' on '2' and '4'.

The Basics - Matched Grip

Matched Grip

Remember - Thumb on top, Fingers underneath!

As you can see from the photo, the 'butt' of the stick should be in-line

with the bottom of your hand with none or very little of the stick protruding.

Your thumb should be on top of the stick, with your index finger directly under your thumb - this is called your fulcrum and this will give you control of the stick as your strike the drums. Remember that your thumb and index finger are the only fingers holding the stick, the other three fingers are there to guide the stick.

Your right hand should be a mirror image of your left hand, again with your thumb on top, fingers underneath.

You should be making a straight line from the tip of the stick to the tip of your elbow. The sticks should now be forming a 40' angle on the drum head.