Open handed playing
Encyclopedia
Open-handed playing refers to a method of playing drumset without crossing the hands when playing the hi-hat
(or ride-cymbal) and snare drum
simultaneously as opposed to the more traditional way of playing drums which features crossed hands as the basic playing position. When playing open-handed, left-handed (and right-footed) drummers will play the hi-hat with their left hand (instead of the right hand) and the snare with the right hand. However, there are right handed drummers who have developed their ambidexterity on the drum set as referenced in Jim Chapin's book "Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer", and Gary Chester's book "The New Breed". In addition, setting up hi-hats and ride-cymbals on both sides of the drumkit will also help to avoid the crossing of hands which limits the range of musical options. Absolute beginners often choose this open-handed way of playing as their first and natural attempt to drumming.
Pioneers of open-handed playing are drummers like Billy Cobham
and Lenny White who started this way of playing in the late 60's and early 70's. Even before Billy and Lenny,
drum legend Jim Chapin
pushed the idea of playing open-handed in his groundbreaking work on coordinated independence "Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer Vol. I". The first drumset method ever written expressly on the issue of playing open-handed is "Open Handed Playing" by Dom Famularo and Claus Hessler.
Some open-handed drummers include:
A number of drummers experiment and are comfortable with open-handed drumming but do not always play in that configuration. Steve Smith
and Deen Castronovo
have used the open hand technique for the Journey
song "Don't Stop Believin'
".
Hi-hat
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
(or ride-cymbal) and snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
simultaneously as opposed to the more traditional way of playing drums which features crossed hands as the basic playing position. When playing open-handed, left-handed (and right-footed) drummers will play the hi-hat with their left hand (instead of the right hand) and the snare with the right hand. However, there are right handed drummers who have developed their ambidexterity on the drum set as referenced in Jim Chapin's book "Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer", and Gary Chester's book "The New Breed". In addition, setting up hi-hats and ride-cymbals on both sides of the drumkit will also help to avoid the crossing of hands which limits the range of musical options. Absolute beginners often choose this open-handed way of playing as their first and natural attempt to drumming.
Pioneers of open-handed playing are drummers like Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
and Lenny White who started this way of playing in the late 60's and early 70's. Even before Billy and Lenny,
drum legend Jim Chapin
Jim Chapin
James Forbes "Jim" Chapin was an American jazz drummer and the author of popular texts on jazz drumming, the first two volumes of which are Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol. I, and Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol...
pushed the idea of playing open-handed in his groundbreaking work on coordinated independence "Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer Vol. I". The first drumset method ever written expressly on the issue of playing open-handed is "Open Handed Playing" by Dom Famularo and Claus Hessler.
Some open-handed drummers include:
- Torsten Zwingenberger
- Isaac Tabone
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A number of drummers experiment and are comfortable with open-handed drumming but do not always play in that configuration. Steve Smith
Steve Smith (musician)
Steve Elliott Smith is an American drummer who has worked with hundreds of artists in his career, but is mostly known for being the drummer of the rock band Journey during their peak years of success. Modern Drummer magazine readers voted him the #1 All-Around Drummer five years in a row...
and Deen Castronovo
Deen Castronovo
Deen Castronovo is an Italian American drummer who has played in various bands, including Kandles at Nine, Cacophony, Bad English, Journey, The Enemy, Wild Dogs, Dr. Mastermind, Hardline, Planet Us, Soul Sirkus, Social Distortion, and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler's G/Z/R, as well as in...
have used the open hand technique for the Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
song "Don't Stop Believin'
Don't Stop Believin'
"Don't Stop Believin is a popular song by the American rock band Journey, originally released as a single from their 1981 album Escape, which became a #9 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 on its original release. It re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2009 as a result of increased prominence of digital...
".