Here’s an interesting one for you. I come across this quite a bit actually. I see many players that when playing a groove using the ride cymbal, they don’t play the left foot on the Hi-Hat.

My take on it is this – when I go to the ride cymbal, to lift the intensity of the groove or add a new colour, I don’t want to lose the drive I already had going with the Hi-Hat. I tend to play something with my left foot to keep that voice. It can be complicated, but this lesson is designed get you going.

Start slowly if this is new to you and persist. After a while, the left foot goes on autopilot. If you’ve studied jazz, you’ll know that the left foot has to play beats 2 and 4 to maintain the groove. After playing jazz heaps, you don’t even think of the left foot! The same will happen with any other groove. That said, you have to do it a quite a bit for it to start becoming second nature. Still, it’s an essential technique in my opinion. Get into it and make it a habit I say!

Let me know how you go.

Enjoy the vid.