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Video Lesson! In The Pocket – Ghost Notes 101 with Jim Riley

 This excerpt is taken from the complete article that appears in the December 2015 issue,
which is available here.

Ghost Notes 101
6 Approaches to Give Your Grooves Greater Dimension

One thing that separates the novice drummer from the professional is the ability to play grooves that have dimension. Ghost notes are a great way to achieve this, but first you need to understand, on an elemental level, how to create them. In this lesson I’m going to show you the six ghost-note elements that I use when playing music that’s based on a 16th-note subdivision.

When implementing ghost notes, I recommend playing a rimshot on the backbeats (the snare hits on beats 2 and 4), while making sure to play the ghost notes in the center of the drum at a low volume. The wide dynamic range that those two techniques create will give your grooves greater depth and dimension.

Check out a video demo below.

Jim Riley
For the complete lesson with transcriptions, check out the December 2015 issue, which is available here.

See what's in the December 2015 issue of Modern Drummer featuring Dom Famularo


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