Playing Notes Together
So far, everything you have played has involved playing one note at a time. However, when playing the drumkit it is common to play two or more notes at the same time. This involves coordinating the limbs so that the drums are hit at exactly the same time.
A good way to start developing this skill is to play quarter notes on the bass drum and alternate the hands on the snare drum, as shown in the following example. As always, practice this with your metronome or drum machine and listen carefully as you play and make sure your notes are exactly together and not "split". Once you are comfortable alternating RLRL, try starting with the left hand instead (LRLR). Then try LLLL and RRRR etc.
The next thing to do is alternate your hands between two or more surfaces. In the first line of the next example the hands play only the ride cymbal and the snare drum while in the second line they move between several surfaces. Once you can do this one experiment and create some of your own drum parts using this technique.
Playing the Hi-Hat Cymbals
So far you have used only the ride and crash cymbals. Another vitally important part of the drumkit is the combined hi-hat cymbals. When you are playing the hi-hats, hold your left foot lightly on the pedal to keep the cymbals loosely (not tightly) together.
This will produce the best sound from the hi-hats. All the notes in this example are played with the right hand only. It is also possible to produce other sounds by opening and closing the hi-hat cymbals, but these will be dealt with later in the book.
The Backbeat
Once you are comfortable playing the previous example, try alternating the bass drum and snare drum as you play the hi-hats. The right hand plays quarter notes on every beat, the left hand plays on the 2nd and 4th beats and the right foot plays on the 1st and 3rd beats.
The alternation between bass drum and snare drum is a common element drumming in many styles of music. The use of the snare drum on beats 2 and 4 is called a backbeat. The backbeat is a common feature of Rock music.
Now try playing the bass drum on every beat along with the hi-hats. Notice the backbeat once again on the snare drum.
