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JOEL SIEGEL: All right, we want to do the American grip now. Again, we're attacking
the side of the hi-hat to get that kind of beefier sound out of it. So here's the American
grip. Let's start with the upstroke. This is what it sounds like, it looks like. Here's
the full stroke of my hi-hat with the American grip. This is what I want to pay particular
attention to. I'm reiterating a lot of these strokes and grips, which may be ad nauseam,
but it's important to have the vocabulary as you're playing. You're going to find yourself
playing with a lot of different grips, and if you don't have the vocabulary, you may
think to yourself that, "Well, maybe I'm playing wrong. It should feel this way, it should
feel that way." Firstly, you want it to feel comfortable, and, secondly, you want to know
what you're doing. So as you're moving around the kit, as you're keeping time with the hi-hat,
the ride on the snare, fills on the toms, it's good to be aware of the kind of stroke
and the kind of grip that you're using. The "American full stroke" on the hi-hat is going
to be your--one of your most-used grips, especially on the side here. This is a lot of rock, funk,
and pop music is affiliated with this American full stroke.
Lastly, with the American, we'll go ahead and do the downstroke so you can hear what
that sounds like. Again, with the downstroke, it's attack oriented and it's power oriented
for accents and volume.