Learn Drums Lesson 04 - 1/8 Note Rock Groove Video Lecture - Learn how

in this lesson we're going to be looking
at a new type of notes called eighth
notes as the name suggests there are
eight evenly spaced notes as opposed to
our previous quarter note pulse
containing four evenly spaced notes this
means if we set a click to 60 beats per
minute and play a bar of quarter notes
we'll still be playing one hit for every
click but in order to play eighth notes
in the same time frame we'll have to
play two evenly spaced notes for every
click on the metronome here's some snare
drum notation showing us what quarter
notes and eighth notes look like in the
first bar the quarter notes look like a
ball and a stick and in the second bar
the eighth notes looks similar but are
joined across the top by a line called a
beam here the eighth notes are joined in
groups of two we're introducing a new
count for eighth notes so from now on
count one two three four every time you
see quarter notes and one and two and
three and four and whenever you see
eighth notes here is the exercise played
with single strokes to a click at sixty
beats per minute when you get the hang
of it try and repeat the exercise many
times exercise one one two three four
it's worth noting that on any other
instrument the quarter notes would be
sustained or made longer and the eight
notes would be shorter in duration alone
as we're playing this exercise on a drum
each note will be similar in length okay
here's a few more exercises with a
mixture of both types of notes remember
to keep counting and use both hands
exercise 2 1 2 3 4
exercise three one two three four
exercise four one two three four
when you've mastered these snare
exercises we can now move them between
bass drum and snare drum here you'll
notice that I'm going to flip the stems
so all the notes look upside down
remember the notes on the bottom space
our bass drum and the notes on the
second space down our snare drum let's
start by just trying to play quarter
notes alternating between bass and snare
drum use your lead foot on the bass drum
pedal and your non lead hand to play all
the snare parts for me that's right foot
and left hand exercise five one two
three four now let's try and add some
eighth notes on the high hat
if you need to play the eighth notes
first for a while and count one and two
and three and four and constantly then
try and add in the bass drum on one
snare on 2 bass on 3 snare on 4 exercise
6 1 2 3 4 now we'll use the rhythm from
exercise to between bass drum and snare
exercise 7 1 2 3 4 now add the eighth
notes on the high hat exercise 8 1 2 3 4
you can now just apply the same system
in order to generate other bass drum and
snare drum combinations while your lead
hand plays the eighth note ostinato or
repeating pattern think of the hi-hat as
playing an accompaniment and the bass
drum and snare drum parts as a melody
here's another example using a bar of
quarter notes and a bar of eighth notes
first I'll play just bass and snare drum
and then with the hi-hat added watch out
for the sneaky double snare drum hits in
bar 2 exercise nine one two three four
exercise ten one two three four
remember the count at all times it will
not only help you get the notes in the
right place but also help you keep a
steady beat when playing take your time
and spend lots of time practicing each
exercise many times if you find these
exercises easy after a while how about
moving your lead hand over to the right
cymbal or use the Tom's with your lead
hand or even non lead hand as well good
luck and bye for now