eHow launches Android app: Get the best of eHow on the go.
Summary: The hi hat drum, an important drum piece, requires you to play specific drum techniques; learn how with tips from our expert drummer in this free drum tutorial video.
Peter Van Dyck is a professional drummer and drum teacher. He received his training from Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in music.read more
"PETER VAN DYCK: Now, we're going to look at hi-hat foot technique. Here's the hi-hat. Notice it runs on a chain that pulls the hi-hat up and down. Now before we go over the actual technique, let's make sure our hi-hat is calibrated properly. This entails unscrewing the nut and tightening it in a spot where the hi-hat has a centimeter to two centimeters in its open position. So the hi-hat technique goes as follows: heel down, up, down, up, down. And we want to be sure we're doing this in a way that we can play the hi-hat rather quickly. In order to do this, we do have to lift our heel up. So generally in slow tempos, heel down; fast tempos, heel up. We can also leave the hi-hat open after we close it to create this sound. This entails pushing the hi-hat down but allowing it to come back before the sound deadens. And this is hi-hat technique."
eHow Article: Techniques for Playing the Hi Hat