Drum Lesson : How to separate your hihat and kick drum

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This video is a response to a question I was asked (via video) about gaining some independence between your right hand and right foot.
Even for advanced drummers getting the accuracy isn't always easy. Check it out...

[@alls0p69]

I like to call this: "My hands work great, but why does my right foot make them stop working?" This is a great video. This is exactly the lesson for what I am struggling with. Thanks!

[@MyScreamoemo]

Had the same problem and thought it was just me! I doubt you'll come to read this but thank you. Excellent lesson

[@joecrabtreedrums]

Glad I could help :)

[@Kombi-1]

saaame

[@lukemckelvey5996]

Yes. Excellent lesson for this issue! Thanks Joe!

[@fionnbuchanan6908]

Omg same

[@squanchysquanch1840]

A great track to drum along to, for practicing separating your HH and bass drum, is ‘Airbag’ by Radiohead. It’s relatively slow bpm at around 76 bpm, so it’s excellent for this. Another one is ‘subterranean homesick alien’ also by Radiohead. Playing along to these two tracks helped me with this immensely and they aren’t overly difficult to get the hang of once you are starting to learn more intermediate level beats. Really a lot of Phil Selway beats are great to learn but these two in particular are excellent to start with when you are in the beginner-intermediate stages of your development.

[@jimhayes5596]

Excellent Q&A. I learned more from this 15 minute video than from anything else I've found. Awesome.

[@joecrabtreedrums]

Thanks Jim. I take a similar approach with most lessons I create. I've just launched a free trial of the VIP lessons on my website. If you want to check it out the link is in the video description. I'd be interested to know how you get on with those. Thanks, Joe

[@Tac-0]

Ive played drums for half my life ,and for me whenever i learn songs i usually break them up into segments, if theres a part of a song that i cant play, i only play for example the hi-hat according to the song, then i add the bas drum to that.. When i got that perfect i then add the snare, and when that's good again i add all and any accents to the fill. Same goes for doing things on the right and left side of the drum kit differently. To me when i practice it like this, it sorta "snaps" on either the left or the right side of my brain depending on which side im struggling on (left or right side of the drums) its hard to explain,haha- but its very good tactic.. Basically practice in segments. dont learn 5 things at once.

[@angl4372]

L

[@drunkrockerreaction2377]

I have thought about doing this, glad to hear someone with experience say this 🤘🤘🤘

[@marcogil6665]

Hey thanks for sharing your experience!

[@hanzschwanns7511]

Superb idea; I'll use it, thanks! ✌

[@TheJmario35]

That's a lot of time spent on a single viewer's question. Which means you just earned my full respect. Just subscribed to you, You just have another follower. ( Not that you need me...haha!) but...well...honestly, thanks! great lesson!

[@joecrabtreedrums]

That's something I'm planning on doing in a future DrumHead column. You need to get comfortable playing 2 vs 3. You can divide each beat into 6. The off beat straight 8ths on the hands will fall on 4, and the off beat swung kicks will fall on 5.

[@WarlokMetal]

What a great breakdown. I recently started focusing on drums since my band lost its last drummer. I have the ability but certain things were beyond me as I am self taught. This really opened my mind to counting the complex patterns I hear in my head.

[@ScottyUnit69]

Got drums for Xmas and I'm 100% committed to learning it. This is one problem I've been struggling with so I'm going to practice this everyday

[@tanishkaushik2882]

You dont know much you have helped me, this was the only problem I had when I started playing drums and you solved it in 15 minutes what i couldnt do in a year. I dont know how to thank you. You are the real teacher. Thanks a lot

[@SamuelLMeyer]

I love how the camera shakes when he hits the bass drum.

[@BeastMode-ch6ig]

Makes a lot more... Entertaining? Dramatic?

[@norightturn7047]

Haha, thanks. That's actually a very good question and hard for so many beginners. My high hat and bass drum are linked with an invisible wire. If the tempo on one changes the other follows lol. I've never been that good. Some really good tips here. Gotta work on that timing.

[@joecrabtreedrums]

Thanks ;) I thought it was worth covering as it's a common beginner question. Also, while demonstrating it I realised how important it is to accurately place those bass drum notes when they're swung.

[@willemkuhn1756]

oh my god this solved my exact problem. thanks so much, now I can play brain stew without screwing up all the time.

[@sethrosales8268]

You go

[@garybeckman3382]

I find that bouncing my heel on the hi hat to keep the tempo helps enormously. practice keeping a steady tempo with the heel and then try different patterns with kick first. you will find it snaps you out of standard grooves pretty quickly. the tricky bit is learning to rock your foot when you need to open the hi hat. hope it helps. all the best

[@anthonydonald1034]

Just starting Drums and trying to figure this out, Amazingly helpful! Got some work to do but my brain was NOT able to process the timing differences till I saw this, thanks so much!

[@itsalifestyle2987]

This is a perfect description of the problem, and a nice way to practice out of it. I noticed that I can only play faster songs when the hi hat is in sync with the bass foot. Slower songs I can mentally force myself out of it. Glad to see I’m not the only one with this problem

[@jlatx6803]

This was a painful exercise to learn, but so helpful! Thank you!

[@rayelkins7872]

Hey man, you're the best! I so much appreciate this video!! Got my first drums when I was 18, started with a band 6 months later and was playing consistently with a working band until I had to decide when I was 28 whether to be a dad/husband or a homeless drummer paying child support. Now 30 years later I bought a set again and was having a bear of a time with my independence. 30 years of 3-finger drumming had trained my brain to play everything with my right hand and I thought I was never going to get my limbs untied again. All it took was this video to make it click again, specifically 4:00-4:30. Three or four times through it and I got my independence back! Going through the rest of it got me smoothing out and feeling a lot more confident that it WILL all come back! Thanks again!!

[@joecrabtreedrums]

Hi Ray, Thanks for the kind words. I’m so glad you found this helpful. I have loads of free videos on KZbin, but if you find yourself wanting more in-depth lessons that go into detail re tackling all sorts of things like this, you might want to check out my site - joecrabtree.com It’s a bit like taking weekly lessons with me and I dive into things in much more detail than in the KZbin lessons. If you fancy it, you can get 50% off for a limited time with the code HALFOFF All the best, Joe

[@mehul5217]

Thank you so much.. 🤗🤗 Facing this problems from couple of months, due to this problem i used to leave such grooves. This video helped me a lot...

[@MroTralisk]

Good job Interpreting his question then breaking it down in so many steps. Also good job with catching it was in a triplet pattern and showing how to play that.

[@olddanb1]

Excellent. Best is in the final sentence. "do it slowly." Break the pattern out, built it up really slowly. Like in the slow readers class. Play it really slow, then, gradually as you fix it in your head, gently try a spead up, then slow it down again. Practice doing it slowly. Top vid.

[@godeedeedee]

I have the same issue, and this is the first thing I've found that really addresses it well. Thanks for the lesson! Subscribed!

[@joeshmow9097]

What a great lesson. When I started playing I went in there trying to just feel the groove, and play with emotion, which is great too BUT I had to understand and learn that there is a technique to it that involves understanding what it is you're trying to play. Practice will take you to that next level.

[@joecrabtreedrums]

It's just practice. My advice would be to play 1/4 notes on the hi-hat and work through the permutations of bass drum options. Let's say you're counting 1,2,3,4 for the hihat. Play just the 1 on the kick. Then just the 2, then the 3, etc. Then play on ALL of them. Then play on ALL the off-beat 8th notes. Then try different combinations. Then try some 1/16th note permutations. Just work on these basics and you'll start to feel more comfortable.

[@randomguy5284]

I have this exact same issue. Thanks for the question and the answer.

[@Holdington]

Great video and kudos to the guy who sent in the question! Exactly what I've been trying to get an answer to!

[@AnbuRebelHed]

Thank you, helped sooo much with finding a groove. With kick drum snare. 🙌🏽

[@Theevilzoltar]

Excellent question and brilliant answer. As always timing is the key.

[@HavokTheorem]

This was an excellent and comprehensive lesson. I admire your explanation.

[@nufsed12]

This is a fantastic example. I've had this problem for so long. Will try the lesson immediately.

This can't be better explain as Joe did on this video. Thanks very much!!

[@ralphflores4422]

Great Job! Very well communicated and broken down. Much appreciation.

[@worldrummer]

I had the same problem learning in the mid 90's trying to play metallica's load album. I didn't have a cool breakdown lesson like this and just had to rely on sheer will. Fighting the urge as you say. Great lesson. And your kit sounds great.

[@kathange_10]

Thanks a lot for the easy-to-understand way of teaching #Joe.... I'm your fan....and a subscriber of your channel.

[@Fsuholley]

Its all about being able to count it out. Know what you are playing. I like to sing out loud my groove which helps me a lot. Great lesson and well explained for beginners.

[@offshoretomorrow3346]

THE fundamental development problem (IMO ) - excellently explained!🌟

[@satchmohoward3671]

That was. great lesson. I am a new drummer and suffer from the same problem so this has given me a great insight in how to solve my problems.

[@franktib]

One of the best lessons ive ever seen. Thank you.

[@johnvanboolen7820]

A great lesson that gets to the core of basic kit playing Thanks

[@letmeinpleaze]

Learning drums and this Video is great...Thanks for sharing ...

[@JessiV111]

Thank you endlessly to both joe and the guy asking the question I wanted to rip my arm off and beat myself with it last night trying to do this same thing ! Im excited to try this tonight. I've been playing 15 days. Lolol

[@Sammy-zg6xg]

This was great mate 👌 perfect way of breaking it down. Gonna be a big help. Cheers

[@mujeebshaikh9919]

Thanks for sharing the technique. its quite helpful video!

[@GeeNee25]

Very good explanation, thanks mate!

[@wolfgang4468]

Excellent in-depth lesson, even if I only try to learn playing with pads. Thank you for sharing!

[@miltones81]

Thank you man! I thought it was harder than it was, with good technique and practice you can do it

[@akafrosty5295]

Thank you so much this really helped me I took a big leap of progression just from this video thank you so much

[@s4lroachclip]

This lesson shows you a nice dynamic trick on hihat to play 8ths and being a ghost on the &'s, just by striking the hat differently for the accents, then without a word he automatically just did that on the triplets accenting the 1/4's and using the tip on the top to get the quiet triplet strikes. Hey I kind of thought this was going to be about the feet, like a 4way independence deal. You can get the 1/4's on the hat with your foot and free your right hand or using that method to get the open hat on the right hand for the &'s.

[@amandafry5428]

Thank you for this slow breakdown! This helps so much!

[@existentialobserver6511]

I've been playing for 3 weeks and had this exact same problem during the first week and a half or so. All I really did was just play slow using only my right hand and food and sort of made a mental note of when both the right hand and food hit separately and simultaneously. When it was finally starting to click, I was still sort of making the motion to hit 8th notes on the 'and' beats, but it was restrained enough to not follow through with the strike. I'm aldready to the point where I don't make any half motions with my right hand on the 'and' beats anymore. However, I will admit that I occasionally throw in an extra 8th note with my right hand when I'm experimenting with different bass beats in different places while I'm in the middle of playing a particular beat that I've already gotten used to. My biggest challenge now is with my left foot. So much work to do!

[@joshuachristopher9039]

Just learning , my exact problem right now , gonna keep watching hope this helps

[@davidkoltai383]

Thank you Joe!!!

[@jarrahdrum]

Excellent teaching, thank you.

[@K0noz]

Really good video. Helped me out a lot!

[@keithford6288]

Good question and good answer.

[@akkasoothy]

ahhhh dam man , this is a great lesson , iv mastered it thanks to you!!!!! tyvm

[@swordsman2403]

Thank both of you, really great demonstration even though I am a beginner hundreds of miles away...

[@daggettsurfs]

your videos are very helpful..i like how you spend time on being repetitive..then show slight differences makeing it even easier to understand.. you break it down for us very smoothly!THANKS

[@joecrabtreedrums]

Thanks. You might like the lessons on my website (link in video description). I break down some really complicated solos and things to a point where I'm pretty sure you'd understand them.

[@freedom13245]

Joe you're great, the lessons are very helpful, i like the vinnie's stuff you explain, there's almost nothing like that on KZbin

[@joecrabtreedrums]

Thank you. Hopefully you'll like the videos on my website too if you haven't already checked them out.

[@muhammadfakhri420]

thank you so much master, now i'm better than before. you'd improved my drum playstyle

[@anthonydephillips142]

Great video!! Thanks!!

[@TheSonsOfSimon]

Great video! Thanks!

[@MathiasManser]

Thanks, that really helped!

[@rowancooke8378]

Great lesson..learnt a lot from it self explanatory..cheers

[@kc-vf4lp]

This is awesome thanks Joe.

[@vikrambhagi1]

Excellent video !!

[@claytonhewlett6149]

Amazing lesson!

[@jeff730511]

Thank you so much omg I separated my hand and about 30 min u are amazing

[@stopmotionstan78]

Great lesson!!

[@TheAsherface]

Very helpful indeed, thank you.

[@derecwilsom4546]

Having the same issue, thanks for the tips, great video

[@joemcfly9194]

Very insightful

[@felicee]

that's a great video explaining very well how to tackle the problem

[@uwatmusic]

Yes! Great lesson!

[@adandridsr]

This really help me a lot. Thanks.

[@gitarphgcustom224]

Lovely sounds as the new result

[@Carrevi]

Omg thank you so much, this literally opened up another world to me

[@Jack1Dutch]

Glad I found this thank you for a great lesson

[@magikarpp]

i liked so much the fact that u did answer to that question with a video lesson :D Cheers to the guy who asked it :>

[@nontaetun8178]

This is great, thank you so much!

[@Dmac87]

fantastic lesson!!!

[@natteystephen8417]

I really like Ur lessons because its the best i have ever had.

[@joecrabtreedrums]

I would love that! Feel free to spread the word in any way you can ;)

[@trioebo]

thanks...this is enlightening!!

[@lordmeragun]

Thank you for the video.

[@Snultz]

Great lesson!

[@mpcoleman]

Joe, You are the best. Seriously. Keep it up.

[@JustinBlack]

What a huge help. Amazing.

[@cristianriutort1]

My Hero of the Foo Fighters is one good example of how hard it is to play like this. Sustaining the hi hat pattern against the bass drum is hard as hell.

[@dks3982]

True that!! But once you get it down its so simple. And My Hero was the first song I learned to play

[@stefanmilenkovic7319]

My Hero is the song that got me to start playing!

[@michaelharris9615]

best lesson I've found so far

[@patrickjohnson6474]

you helped me alot now I'm able to do a lot of stuff when I freestyle

[@elisancere3578]

Nice job ! This helped so much ! I'm know closer to being able to play When The Levee Breaks.

[@geoden]

Joe, you said you didn't know it was called a six stroke roll and I'm not surprised because it's not what I know as a six stroke roll either! Sixty years ago I was taught that rudiment with the sticking LLRRLR or RRLLRL with the two single strokes accented. I've met many rudimental players in the UK and USA and the all played it the way I describe, the one you demo is a new one for me.

[@dmelv]

what a great question!

[@saksham3693]

thank you so much this is what i needed to know so bad for so long

[@johncollins5552]

Excellent advice, thanks. That first section is what Stewart Copeland plays at the start of Roxanne.Like you I prefer the tone of coated ambassador heads for recording but live gigs prefer Emperors.

[@tosinkingfishercheeseburge8901]

Really good lesson

[@robertdevadason1885]

I am going through this phase in my drumming journey...haha...great lesson

[@joeypruitt6002]

Had this problem for years. After 30 minutes of practicing it is gone! Thanks!