Ghost notes are one of the biggest aspects of playing the drums. They’re not focused on much when drummers first start playing, but they become a very important concept when drummers move to intermediate and advanced levels of drumming.
A ghost note is when you use your drumstick to strike a drum very softly. When you do that, the sound you get is a lot quieter than what you get from your standard strokes.
In drumming, you get three main types of strokes. These include standard strokes, accents, and ghost notes. In this guide, we’re going to explain how to play ghost notes in the context of those other types of strokes.
The biggest thing to think about when playing ghost notes is your technique. If your technique is wrong, it will become very difficult to play the notes as quietly as possible. When that happens, your ghost notes sound the same as your standard strokes, and that eliminates the purpose of playing them.
The technique to focus on is referred to as a tap. You need to tap the drums with your sticks to create ghost notes. When you tap the drums, you shouldn’t lift your wrists up. You just need to hold the sticks in the air and then drop them to create those taps.
Another thing to focus on is playing those taps off-center on every drum. If you strike a drum in the middle, you’ll get the loudest and fullest tone. You don’t want that with ghost notes, so tap your sticks slightly to the left or right when playing them.
You’ll find that ghost notes elevate the sounds of grooves dramatically. They add more context to the subdivision you’re playing in, basically meaning that they make the groove feel more secure.
Some grooves will sound amazing when you play several ghost notes, while other grooves will sound good with just one.
The trick with playing ghost notes in grooves is that you need to work on playing ghost notes, standard strokes, and accents altogether. It’s easy to play ghost notes alone. It’s a lot harder to play a ghost note just before playing an accent.
So, the best thing to do is to play a basic rock beat. You’ll play an accented snare drum on beats 2 and 4, and you’ll play 8th notes on the hi-hat. Your bass drum will fall on beats 1 and 3.
When you have that locked in, try to play soft ghost notes in 8th notes spots that you aren’t already playing the snare drum. After that, try the same thing with 16th note spots.
Ghost notes also sound amazing when you play them within drum fills. This is especially true when you play around the toms with your right hand while keeping your left hand at the snare drum.
A good way to practice playing ghost notes in fills is to play single strokes around the kit. Keep your left hand on the snare, and then move your right hand around the toms. While you’re doing that, make sure to play your right hand loudly and then only play light taps with your left hand.
When you’re used to that, do the same thing with double strokes and single paradiddles.
You should also be able to play ghost notes with your right hand, so do the same exercises with your hands reversed. Your right hand will stay on the snare drum, while your left hand will move around the drums.
Drummers use ghost notes to add more rhythmic context to their playing. The ghost notes fill empty gaps, but they’re not loud or effective enough to make it sound like a drummer is overplaying.
They often make grooves sound groovier, and they make drum fills sound busier. However, ghost notes aren’t always a good idea to make things sound better.
Drummers need to decide whether playing ghost notes will enhance music or detract from it. Sometimes, ghost notes sound too busy, and it will be better to leave a bit of space.
They’re just a tool that every drummer should have to use whenever they feel the time is right.
One of the best ways to improve ghost notes on the drums is to work on making them softer. A lot of drummers play ghost notes too loudly, and that’s what makes them sound bad in the context of everything else.
Drummers should focus on just tapping their wrists instead of lifting them to play ghost notes.
Drummer can also improve their ghost notes by creating specialized practice plans to work on them. A drummer can play multiple groove exercises that incorporate ghost notes. They can also play drum fill exercises with ghost notes that utilize rudiments and various sticking patterns.
The snare drum is actually where most ghost notes will be played. You play ghost notes on a snare by lightly tapping your left hand just off the center of the drumhead. The note should barely be audible, but it should be loud enough to enhance the feel of a groove or fill that you’re playing.
You can also play ghost notes on the snare with your right hand. It just depends on how you play the drums and what you’re playing in the moment.
If you haven’t learned how to play ghost notes on the drums yet, you should start straight away. Drummers who have excellent control over ghost notes always sound a lot better than drummers that don’t.
Even though they’re very light, you’ll be surprised at how much effect a few ghost notes can have on a groove. A good groove to use as an example is Funky Drummer by Clyde Stubblefield. If that groove didn’t have any ghost notes, it wouldn’t be as famous as it is.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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