Playing Ghost Notes

[Jonzo]

Naturally, I really dig shuffle grooves with a good amount of ghost notes. Ghost notes give it more of an "alive" feel. But I'm not just talking about shuffles, either. Rock grooves sound great with ghost notes as well.

I have no problem inserting a snare hit anywhere I want. But I have a huge problem keeping a loud hi-hat volume while barely tapping the snare. It doesn't sound very good when the hats are as quiet as the ghost notes...

Any tips of keeping a loud hi-hat with my right hand yet keeping a soft sound with my left?

[sonorguy]

No easy way. Practice makes perfect

[campbellj25]

My drum teacher has me practicing my rudiments, singles, doubles, paradiddles ect.. playing loud with my right hand, ghost notes with my left, and when I get comfortable doing that, switch hands. Or playing 2 bars loud with both hands, then ghost noting two bars, ect.. ect.. It seems to be helping alot.

[MadGolfer]

David Garibaldi addresses this in his books, particularly "Future Sounds." Ghost notes tend to work better in conjunction with a closed or barely open hi-hat. A totally open hat overpowers the softer notes. Check out clips of him on YouTube. In Future Sounds he discusses a "two-sound-level" concept using accents/ghost notes.

One of the techniques I would recommend is, if you are playing 8th notes on a closed hi-hat, to accent beats 1, 2, 3, and 4 while playing the + notes softer (1+, 2+, etc.) Use the shank of the stick to play the primary quarters and the tip to play the + notes. This will still forcefully convey the pulse while leaving room for the ghost notes to be heard.

(I think Dave Weckl also discusses this in his "Next Step" DVD). Let me know if you need clarification.