During my most recent lesson we focused on rim shots and other types of sounds your set can produce aside from striking the actual drum heads. A nice rim shot, or click, is a great way to add a variety of sounds to your solo, songs, or just a jam session. Rim clicks are usually softer sounding than striking the snare head so they also allow you to showcase the hi-hat, or other cymbal, beat, as well as your bass drum beats. If your new to rim clicks, here is a quick explanation on the best technique you should practice to get the most solid, bright sounding rim click you can.
Rim Shots and Clicks:A How To
- Hold your stick, whichever you plan on using as your snare beat, as you normally would. Place the stick on the snare at about a 45 degree angle with the butt of the stick against the rim closest to you.
- Roll the “extra fingers” so you are essentially touching the stick with just your index finger and thumb. The rest of your fingers should be resting on the drum head. This creates the proper pivoting motion needed to produce the “click” sound without getting any reverberation that would come from the drums head itself. Think of your extra fingers as dampeners for your snare.
- One you have the proper hand position, move the butt of your stick away from the rim so that your stick will click the rim slightly more than half way up the stick. Think of this as the “sweet spot” on a baseball bat. You will be able to feel where the stick will produce the highest quality sound.
Now, you don’t have uncurl your fingers if it feels too uncomfortable. Just be aware of the fact that your fingers could strike the drum head in an unwanted manner, or could leave the drum head which could alter the crispness of the click’s sound. That is just more my personal preference.
There are a ton of other sounds at your fingertips aside from just rim clicks. Anything you can strike is essentially a drum including the cymbal stands, drum shells, and even the sticks themselves. Don’t be afraid to explore different sounds or integrate new things into your repertoire.
As always, here are some of my favorite solos and songs that exemplify the idea of thinking outside the box, or in this case, outside the drum head.
SCOTT PELLEGROM-
BUDDY RICH-
CARTER BEAUFORD-
