The role of the open and closed hi-hat in an RnB drum groove

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about the role of the open and closed hi-hat in an RnB drum groove. We're going to be doing lots of thinking, talking and exploring today in our lesson. So shall we get started? Let's go. By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to play a hi-hat pattern using both open and closed positions. Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords. We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down. The keywords we'll be using today are solo, open hi-hat, closed hi-hat. Now, let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean by taking a look at their definitions. To listen to the music in one track in a digital audio workstation, you need to solo that track. An open hi-hat is played with the two cymbals apart. A closed hi-hat is played with the two cymbals meeting. Pause the video here and make a note of these keywords and when you're ready to continues, press play. These are the learning cycles we'll be working through together in today's lesson. Recognizing the sound of an open or closed hi-hat and playing an open and closed hi-hat on an RnB track. So in this first learning cycle, we're going to explore recognizing the sound of an open or closed hi-hat. A hi-hat can be played in two ways. To understand the difference, it's important to note that sound is created by vibration. If you allow an instrument to continue to vibrate, then the sound will continue. Listen to this here. (cymbals crashing) If you stop the vibrations, then the sound will stop. Listen here. (cymbals crashing) A closed hi-hat sound occurs when the two cymbals are touching. Play this here. (gentle cymbals music) An open hi-hat sound occurs when the two cymbals are apart. Have a listen. (lively cymbals music) Listen to the closed and open hi-hat in context. Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding. In this clip, the quaver pattern is played on a closed hi-hat. Is this statement true or false? And can you justify your answer. The two cymbals are touching and so the vibrations create a short sound. The hi-hat alternates between open and closed positions. So pause the video and give yourself a moment to think about whether this statement is true or false and how you would justify your answer, and press play when you're ready to continue. If you said that it was true, you're right and to justify your answer, you could say the two cymbals are touching and so the vibrations create a short sound. Well done. This brings us to our first learning task. I'd like you to listen to the following musical examples. In this first one, is the hi-hat played open, closed or both ways in this clip? And in the second, there are four beats in each bar. After which beat of the bar does the open hi-hat arrive in this clip? So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at this learning task, and press play when you're ready to continue. How did you get on? Well, in this first one, the hi-hat is played closed throughout the piece and in the second, the hi-hat opens after beat one of the bar. So well done for having a go at this learning task. We're now ready for the second part of our lesson. We're going to be playing an open and closed hi-hat on an RnB track. The hi-hat pattern in the RnB drum groove is made up of consistent quavers. Clap the quaver patter in these two examples. One, two, three, four. (lively cymbals music) One, two, three, four. (upbeat music) Listen to the open hi-hat in these two examples. What do you notice about how often and when it is used? The open hi-hat can be used at any point in the bar, but works best when it is used sparingly and after the main beats. In a pair of quavers, the hi-hat would open on the second of the two and quite often, it is only heard once or twice in a bar. In the RnB groove, the hi-hat opens once on the final quaver of the bar, after beat four on the plus, and this is shown with a small circle above the note. To play the hi-hat part you need to solo the hi-hat track, find the open and closed hi-hat sounds, record four bars of the repeated quaver pattern, quantize your recording to an eighth note and loop your track to last for 32 bars. To play the hi-hat pattern in this RnB groove, we need to find the open and the closed hi-hat sounds on our instrument. I've selected my hi-hat track and I'm gonna solo that track alongside my drum audio track so I can hear the pattern I'm going for. Then I'm gonna have to explore my instrument to find the closed and open hi-hat sounds. A garage band on an acoustic drum kit, the closed hi-hat is normally that black note there, the F sharp note, quite low down on the keyboard and the open hi-hat sound is just above it on that B flat there, that black note. It might be slightly different on other doors, but if you just experiment with the different sounds, you should find closed and open. (lively music) Make sure you remember where they are. Now that I've soloed this track, I'm gonna practice the open and closed hi-hat pattern. It's repeated quavers and the eighth quaver of each bar, so the last quaver of each bar, is an open hi-hat and the rest are closed. So it is one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four. And one and two and three and four. (lively music) That's our pattern, and once I'm happy with that, I'm then gonna record it in. So I've got my metronome turned on. I put the play head back to the very start. I made sure I've got my hi-hat track soloed and I've also got my RnB drum track soloed so I can hear that and play along with it, but I don't necessarily have to do that. I could just do it with the metronome. And then I'm going to record. Here we go then. (lively music) So I did four bars there. Let's have a listen to it on its own. (lively music) And I can quantize that, because it's repeated quavers, I'm gonna quantize to an eighth note. So I select all those. Select eighth note. And now let's hear it with my kick and snare pattern as well and I'm gonna loop it to last for the full 30 bars. (upbeat music) Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding. Which icon solos the track you are working on? A, B or C? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue. If you said it's C, you're right. Well done. Now, in which two ways should you use an open hi-hat? After the main beats, on the half beat, on every quaver in the bar, on one or two quavers in the bar? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue. If you said after the main beats, on the half beat and on one or two quavers in the bar, you're right. Well done. This brings us to our final learning task. I'd like you to play the hi-hat pattern into the RnB project. The success criteria here is to make sure that you have soloed the hi-hat track, you have recorded four bars of the repeated quaver pattern, that your recording is quantized to one eighth notes and that you loop the recording to last for 32 bars. So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at this learning task and press play when you're ready to continue. How did you find that? Well, listen to this recording of the RnB drum groove. Consider the following questions. Are the rhythms played correctly? Have the tracks been quantized? And listen to the open hi-hat part, what do you notice? So listen to that clip here. (upbeat music) What did you think? Well, the hi-hat quaver pattern has been played in time. It has either been quantized or played in very accurately, but there is a small error, the open hi-hat happens too early. So well done if you were able to spot that and well done for having a go at this learning task. Before we finish this lesson, let's summarize what we've learned about the role of the open and closed hi-hat in an RnB groove. The hi-hat can be played open, which produces longer vibrations, or closed, which produces a cleaner, shorter sound. Hi-hat quavers with an open hi-hat on the last quaver of a bar, can provide a typical pattern for an RnB drum groove. When recording different parts into a digital audio workstation, it can be helpful to solo the track so you can hear it clearly. Thank you for joining me in this lesson today. I hope to see you in the next one. See you next time.