Tag: open hi hats

1 bar drum beats in 4 with open hi hats

There are 16 different drum beats in 4/4, each with open hi hats placed within the beats. The open hi hats are marked with a circle around the X note head. These drum beats have been written for beginners between grade 1 and grade 2.

In this series of 5 free PDF drum sheets, we will be covering content from section 1 to 5 of the full ebook, focusing on the topic of drum beats with open hi hats in 4/4 timing.

Here is a list of the 5 free sheets, released as a series of posts:

These 5 sheet are from the following premium ebook:
Related (Premium): Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Unit 1 – Rock Pop Soul Funk

6 Skip Beat Drum Grooves With 8th Note Hi Hats

If you are new to these kind of drum beats, check out some of the easier looking sheets on the skip beats page.

This is a great drum sheet for drum students that enjoy playing basic bass drum and snare drum skip beats and want to progress with them further. These drum grooves explore some of the creative concepts that can be applied to these kind of drum beats.

There is plenty of syncopation and dynamic texture in the drum beats, so they are interesting to listen to and play. A good bass player would enjoy locking in with these types of funk drum grooves.

You could of course use these in different styles, such as fusion or rock. Drum & Bass would use these types of beats, played really fast.

Off Beat Open Hi Hat Grooves

The open hi hats can be seen in the sheet music where the hi hat has a circle around it.

All the beats have open hi hats on the “and” of the beat (i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +).

These beats are a good introduction to playing open hi hats in general, and particularly good for learning the off best feel. These beats need to be repeated a lot and groove needs to be felt by the drummer. A simple ska type guitar riff accompaniment would be an appropiate jamming style for developing an internal sense of groove. On bass a fun slap and pop bass riff would fit, or else something funky without these techniques.

Related: For more of a challenge, try these: Open Hi Hat Grooves Practice Piece with Fills

Open Hi Hat Grooves Practice Piece with Fills

This is an open hi hat groove practice exercise with short drum fills every 4 bars to keep it interesting to play.

There are a few ways to play the open hi hat. You can open it quite wide and hit on the top or the edge, or open it a couple of cm wide for somewhere in the middle, or open it a little bit to get a nice sizzle. The screw underneath the bottom hi hat cymbal can generate more of the sizzle sound when it is screwed tighter, creating an angle on the bottom cymbal.

Related: For some easier open hi hat exercises, try these: Off Beat Open Hi Hat Grooves