How to Play a Closed Hi-Hat

Have you ever watched a drummer and noticed how they play a lot of the time with their arms crossed, one over the other?  It looks very odd the first time you see it but there’s a reason why drummers play with crossed arms.  It has to do with hitting the hi-hat cymbals (instead of the ride cymbal) with your right hand while continuing to play the snare drum with your left hand. We’re following a plan to play drums in 4 weeks and this is Lesson 8 of 12.  See the complete Plan by clicking here.

Listen closely to most rock songs and you’ll hear the familiar “tick-tick-tick-tick” of a drummer’s stick hitting a pair of closed hi-hat cymbals.  The cymbals are “closed” because the drummer is pressing the front part of their left foot down on the hi-hat pedal to keep the cymbals tightly together.

If the drummer takes a little pressure off their left foot and continues to hit the cymbals, it sounds like a bag of coins being shaken. This is called “opening the hi-hats” or playing with the hi-hat “open.”

Listen to Ringo Starr play “I Want To Hold Your Hand” with The Beatles on the CD “The Beatles – Past Masters.” Here’s a breakdown of how he uses the hi-hat (the song timings are in parentheses – see “The Parts of a Song and What They Mean To a Drummer” to review song sections):

1. Intro, 1^st Verse and 1^st Chorus (Beginning – 0:51): The hi-hat cymbals are slightly open and sound like a bag of coins being jingled around when Ringo hits them.  The band is playing medium loud and he wants to create a “wall of sound” to back them up.
2. 1^st Bridge (0:51 – 1:02): This is the quiet part of the song and starts with the words “And when I touch you…”  Ringo presses down on his hi-hat so they aren’t as loud when he plays them.  Hear the “tick-tick…” of the stick hitting the closed cymbals?
3. Last Part of the Bridge, 2^nd Verse and 2^nd Chorus (1:02 – 1:33): Loud band and open hi-hat.
4. 2^nd Bridge (1:33 – 1:45): Soft band; closed hi-hat;
5. 3^rd Verse, 3^rd Chorus and Outro (1:45 – end):  Loud band; open hi-hat.

Now it’s your turn to play a closed hi-hat.  So far you’ve learned to play the hi-hat by rocking your left foot back and forth to get a “chick” sound on “two” and “four” when the two hi-hat cymbals close.  Instead of playing the hi-hat cymbals with your left foot, try keeping the hi-hat cymbals together or “closed” and hitting them with your right stick.

Keep the hi-hat closed tightly together by pressing the ball of your left foot down on your hi-hat pedal while lightly tapping your heel on the base of the hi-hat pedal.  Keep your left stick in position to hit the snare drum and reach your right arm over your left arm.  Then hit the top hi-hat cymbal with your right stick.  Hit the cymbal about midway between the center and edge of the cymbal.

If you are using a practice drum set, press your left foot on the floor as if it were resting on the hi-hat pedal and lightly tap the heel of your left foot on the floor.  You will need to set up a chair/phone book near your left foot so that you have a surface to hit with your right hand.

It will take some time to get used to the feeling of having your arms crossed.  Keep practicing until it feels comfortable and you no longer bump your arms or sticks together as you play.  If your arms or sticks continue to hit together, raise your hi-hat cymbals using the height adjustment on your hi-hat stand.  If your using a practice set, add another phone book to raise the surface you hit.

Once you’ve gotten the feel of playing a closed hi-hat with your right stick try these steps:

1. Play along with your favorite song with your right stick playing a closed hi-hat instead of the ride cymbal.  Play through the song completely until you feel comfortable playing the closed hi-hat.
2. Now try playing the closed hi-hat on the intro and verses.  Switch to playing the ride cymbal on the choruses and bridges (if there are any).  Make sure that you change between hi-hat and ride cymbal without missing a beat.  Keep the tempo steady without stopping.
3. Try experimenting with opening your hi-hat slightly.  We will cover how to open and close your hi-hat effectively in a future lesson.  For now, have fun trying to make different sounds as you hit the hi-hat cymbals while pressing down and lifting up your left foot.

It really makes a difference in a song when you have an easy way to change the volume of the cymbals. Next you’ll learn how to make the transitions between hi-hat and ride cymbal smoother.  But for now, keep your arms crossed to play the hi-hat!