Cross Stick Use In Grooves

On this page I have just listed several grooves that use a cross stick rather than the snare. Most of the patterns on this page will have been covered before using a standard snare stroke, the intention here is just to familiarize you with the notation for this technique.

To play a cross stick, otherwise known as a side stick or half rim shot, place the 'butt' of the stick near the center of the skin but slightly to the bottom left. You then strike the rim of the snare using the shoulder of the stick, leaving the bottom of the stick touch the skin at all times. You can find a useful video demonstrating this teachnique here.

You will generally use this kind of groove in softer sections of music. Whilst it is found in most styles of music it is very common in ballads and reggae.


Example 1

A half time groove


Example 2

A half time groove


Example 3

A half time groove


Example 4

A half time groove


Example 5

A half time groove


Example 6

A half time groove


Example 7

A half time groove


Example 8

A half time groove


TASK

  1. Learn the grooves given above, aim for a tempo of at least 130bpm.
  2. Apply these grooves to some Structured Patterns.

Lessons

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