Here’s a lesson that starts off as being rather cruisy and simple but then can escalate into something challenging.

In essence, I wanted to put something that concentrated on breaking up the usual 1+2+3+4+ hi-hat pattern we always play. Now, of course you can have the usual repeated patterns that you might find in a Latin groove etc
(1 +a 2 +a 3 +a 4 +a) but I wanted to have some random rhythms that you need to work to keep solid in the right hand while you play the bass and snare drums underneath. Notes on and off the beats. It makes for some interesting sounding grooves and you can’t just turn your right hand onto autopilot and forget about it.

Where it gets complicated is when you then want (and you will) to change the bass drum/snare drum parts. All of a sudden, because your hi-hat part isn’t just a simple repeated pattern, the whole thing suddenly becomes a challenging independence exercise. The possibilities are endless. Change one voice and you’re up for another challenge.

In the lesson and the video, I’ve included a simple beat with the bass on beats 1 and 3 and the snare on 2 and 4. Then I’ve changed the bass drum part slightly. Check out the PDF and follow along. When you’re up for it, come up with your own patterns!

Enjoy the vid.