Hi-hat barking is a type of open hi-hat technique where the open sound has a very short duration. Hi-hat barks are usually played as 16th notes, 16th note triplets or 32nd notes and are great for playing accents and shots with a band, as well as for ending songs. Hi-hat barking can be found in many different styles of music, but it’s in funk that it shines the most. In this free drum lesson Jared Falk teaches five drum beats that make use of this technique in very creative ways. More »
Along with rhythm and orchestration, dynamics are the main tools a drummer has for coming up with different ideas on the drum set. Playing accented patterns on the hi-hat is a great way to instill variety and expressiveness to whatever you perform on the kit. It’s also great for complementing parts from other musicians. In this free live drum lesson we’ll be taking a look at 10 drum beats that include different accented hi-hat patterns. Dave Atkinson exemplifies how to break them down between different instruments and how to play them using drum rudiments and with double bass going continuously underneath. More »
Cymbal choking is a dynamic drumming technique used to abruptly silence the sound of a cymbal. Cymbal Choking is often overlooked by most free drum lessons-based websites and educational products for drummers. With this free drum lesson, Jared Falk fills this void by teaching you how to choke cymbals, and how to use them within drum beats and as song enders. More »
Drumsticks are to drummers what picks are to guitarists and bows to violinists, in that they are the tools used to get sound out of a given instrument or set of instruments. No matter the instrument, the tools you decide to use to play on it will affect the way it sounds. The tool’s shape, materials, density, and weight, condition the sound quality and volume. This has led drumstick companies to branch out and experiment with a large array of different drumstick designs. These sticks are usually called “specialty sticks”. In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk goes through three different types of specialty sticks produced by Pro-Mark Drumsticks and compares them to regular drumsticks. More »
In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk, from the DrumLessons.com team of instructors, takes you through five very cool sounding drum beats that include cross-sticking. These challenging drum beats are 16th note and 16th note triplet based, and feature lots of syncopation and broken hi-hat patterns. If you have patience and just keep working on them, with time, you’ll not only learn some slick drum beats but improve your cross-sticking technique tremendously. More »
In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk teaches five beginner drum beats that incorporate cross-sticking, and goes through a bunch of very cool tips and tricks for playing the cross-stick accurately. Cross-sticking is a very popular method of changing the overall feel of a song. Although its mellower sound is used primarily to tone down sections of songs by subbing snare shots, cross-sticking can be used to raise the intensity level of a song as well, especially when included after sections striped down of snare shots. You’re gonna love what this small nuance will do for your drumming. More »
Throughout the beginner and intermediate free drum lessons on ghost notes, you were introduced to the essential techniques and basic independence required to play great sounding ghost notes. With this free drum lesson, Jared Falk, from the DrumLessons.com team of instructors, takes things up a notch by showing you some creative approaches for incorporating ghost notes into single paradiddle, 8th note and 16th note triplet based drum beats. More »
In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk teaches you how to play drum beats that incorporate ghost notes as 16th note triplets, and exercises where the ghost notes are played exactly one 16th note after and before accented shots. Jared also goes through some ways you can practice these drum beats for developing them accurately. These are challenging drum beats that will greatly improve your hand technique, feel, and ability to play dynamically. More »
Ghost notes are basically very soft strokes. Ghost notes add feel to whatever you play, being especially applicable to groove based music like funk, hip-hop, blues, fusion, and drum ‘n’ bass. Nonetheless, it’s common to listen to ghost notes in jazz, Latin, pop, and a lot of different styles of rock music. Therefore, learning how to play consistent and low sounding ghost notes is a must if you want to take your drumming to the next level, or even be a professional drummer. In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk teaches you three beginner drum beats that encompass ghost notes, and shares some tips that are sure to help you play ghost notes to your fullest potential in no time. More »
Using the opening and closing of the hi-hat throughout a whole song can be a bit overkill at times. You can think of these techniques as embellishments to the main groove or even as subtle drum fills. In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk teaches three advanced and cool sounding patterns, showing you exactly how they can be used as enhancements to the main grooves of songs. More »
