Hello and welcome to the second part of our hihat accent series.  This time we have modulated the right hand to accent the upbeat pulse.   1) First up, we are just playing a basic accent pattern, this time on the upbeats.  Make sure that you are counting your way through as it is too easy for the brain to hear it as downbeats otherwise. 2) In the second example, we are adding the basic bass and snare on the downbeat. Unlike in the previous exercise where the right hand supported the other limbs, right from the get-go here, we have the accents as a counterpoint to the groove.  Take your time and make it feel smooth. 3) In 3, we are just playing the same groove with an offbeat hihat.  As with the previous lesson, this is to help your ear hear what we are aiming for in regards to feel. 4) We are now adding in an extra bass and snare on the “and” of 3 and 4.  These extra notes are now going with the accents.  Take your time and make sure that your right-hand remains constant and smooth and doesn't get disrupted by the pattern underneath.  5) In 5, we have no bass drum on beat 3 again.  The space can feel much bigger so make sure you keep counting and keep that right hand nice and consistent.  6) Finally, we have added in some ghost notes.  Just make sure they are a nice low dynamic and your right hand is consistent.  https://youtu.be/pSNXh6B5jtI I hope you enjoyed that lesson.  Join me next time when we combine these two previous lessons into a new and interesting challenge. 

Hello and welcome to a new series that will help you develop freedom in your right hand and give you the facility to play different accent patterns on the hi-hat. 1) First up, we are just playing a basic 1/4 downbeat accent through 1/8 notes.  Try and get the shoulder of the stick to hit the edge of the hi-hats on the accent and use the tip of the stick on top of the cymbal for your unaccented notes.  2) In the second example, we are just adding the basic bass and snare on the quarter note. 3) In 3, we are just playing the same groove with a 1/4 note hi-hat over the top.  I wanted you to play this to help your ear hear what we aiming for with the right hand.  The unaccented notes in the other exercises should be subtle and the accents should be clear and really emphasising this 1/4 note feel. 4) We are now adding in an extra bass and snare on the “and” of 3 and 4.  This will feel odd to start with.  Really focus on keeping the volume of the bass drum and snare drums consistent whilst also maintaining the accent pattern.  You may find that second note of the bass/snare “double” is quieter than the first.  To help with this I recommend looping the individual beat concerned.  So, loop beat 3 and focus on just the bass drums, then beat 4 focusing on the snares.  Once you feel like you have the dynamics down, go back to the full measure and work on making it sound cohesive.  5) In 5, we have a nice variation where beat 3, an accented hit note, doesn't have a bass drum to help give the accent weight.  Watch your right hand here as it might want to modulate to the “and” of 3.  When playing a groove such as this I often play the accent of beat 3 slightly louder than I would otherwise so that overall there isn't a drop in the weight of the 1/4 note pulse.  It is a subtle thing so just take your time and make it feel smooth. 6) Finally, we have added in some ghost notes.  Just make sure they are a nice low dynamic and your right hand is consistent.  https://youtu.be/0LHD4TmxR9Y I hope you got something out of that lesson.  I would highly recommend that you really work on making these patterns feel relaxed and comfortable as we will be adding to this basic concept over the coming lessons.  

Hello and welcome to the 14th Odd Groupings lesson.  This time we have a fun bunch of exercises that will help free up your right hand. https://youtu.be/T6ig_e5oEFc 1) First up, we are just playing a bar of 16ths with an accent every three notes. This is just a warm-up so take your time and make the hands feel relaxed and fluid. Really try an internalise  the accent pattern over the top. 2) In 2, we have simply changed the sicking to RLL so that the accents fall only on the right hand.  Watch out when it loops and make sure that both of the consecutive rights have the same dynamic. 3) Now we take the right-hand pattern from the previous pattern and play it on the hi-hat over a basic rock groove.  4) In the fourth example, we are playing the same idea, with the right hand playing the same pattern but underneath that, we are alternating between snare and bass drum through 16ths.  Make sure you are counting so that you still feel it as 16ths and not triplets.  I have written it out as a one bar loop on purpose to help with that. 5) Next up, we let the pattern resolve fully.  This means we are playing a three bar loop.  Take your time and make sure your bass drum and snare notes are relaxed, smooth and consistent.  6) This is a simpler version of the previous exercise where the right hand is now playing 8th notes.   7) This is where we start getting a little more interesting. We have a two-bar loop, with the first bar being the previous exercise and the second being a 3/4 bar version of example 4.  Make sure you play this with a click and hear the right hand modulate, not the snare/bass underneath.  8) In the final exercise, we are just playing example 6 and 4 back to back.  This is a little more awkward to play than 7 so take your time and start slowly.  I hope you got a lot out of that exercise.  I have found it useful for building a bit more independence with my right hand.  It also sounds great and I have used it in songs for a cool punk vibe.

Hello and welcome to a fun lesson on the Afro-Cuban Bembe bell pattern.  We will be playing it in a more modern application.  It is a great sounding pattern that will also help tighten up your right hand and right foot in this particular application.  https://youtu.be/bi30BncT6TM 1) First up, we are just playing the basic Bembe bell pattern on the ride cymbal.  2) In the second example, we are filling in the left hand in the gaps and adding a left-hand accent on beat 3.  3) It is at this point that we get to my favourite way of playing this pattern.  Layering the bass drum up with every right hand.  We are now playing the same pattern in 16th note triplets so the accent snares fall on 2 and 4.  Take your time with a metronome before moving on as we will be making small variations to this pattern.  Make sure your foundation is strong before you build on it. 4) In the fourth example, we are playing a bell accent pattern on some of the ride notes.  There are almost countless ways you could accent the pattern on the bell but here is just an example to get you started.  Have fun and try and come up with your own bell rhythm. 5) Next up, we start moving our left hand around the kit.  This once again is a simple example.  Spend some time working on your own ideas and variations 6) Finally, here’s a little exercise to help gain a little more freedom in the left hand.  We have added in some more accented snares.  Make sure the dynamic in your right hand is consistent and doesn't change when you add in the extra left-handed accents