So I've got a minor bone to pick when people ask me how to play "open".
I know what they mean:
They're talking about Sput Searight...
...or Dana Hawkins...
But I think they're confusing Left Hand Lead with playing "open".
You can play open-handed, and still play right-hand lead.
There's a whole vocabulary that opens up when you commit to only playing rimshots with the right hand while playing on the hats.
First, there's the disco beat...
...then you start to leave some stuff out...
...then you rephrase some of your linear stuff.
Finally, you realize that, when your right hand isn't committed to the hats all the time, it's pretty to incorporate other surfaces.
Toms, cymbal bells, the ride, etc.
And, to my mind, that's what Sput and Dana are doing.
The Carter Beauford/Ernesto Simpson thing is bad (in the Miles Davis sense), but it's a different thing. That's left hand lead, played by lefties on a right-handed kit. But those guys put the ride cymbal on the left side.
Can you tell I'm fired up about this?
All of which is to say you don't need to uproot your whole routine and practice New Breed entirely left-hand-lead just to incorporate some Dana/Sput "open" playing into your thing.
You just have to watch this lesson. (OOOOOOooooh SNAP see what I did there?)
Enjoy it guys.
Back next week,
N