Kansas City Hi-Hat Swing drum pattern
A two-bar Kansas City swing on the hi-hat: spang-a-lang with the hat open on 1 and 3 and shut on 2 and 4 by the foot, a feathered kick on all four beats and one snare setup. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 160 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Kansas City Hi-Hat Swing
Count it as: 1 trip let 2 trip let 3 trip let 4 trip let · two bars. The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 4/4 (two-bar eighth-note-triplet hi-hat swing).
The Kansas City Hi-Hat Swing pattern, hit by hit
Each character is one step of the grid and each group is one beat. X is an accented hit, x a normal hit, o a quiet or ghost note and - a rest.
| Voice | Bar 1 | Bar 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Kick | o-- o-- o-- o-- | o-- o-- o-- o-- |
| Snare | --- --- --- --- | --- --- --- --x |
| Closed hat | --- x-o --- x-o | --- x-o --- x-o |
| Open hat | x-- --- x-- --- | x-- --- x-- --- |
| Pedal hat | --- o-- --- o-- | --- o-- --- o-- |
Tempo and feel
Smooth and buoyant. The hat should swish into 2 and 4 and the kick should be felt, not heard; the band floats on top. The default tempo is 160 BPM. It plays with 67% swing by default; move the Swing control toward 50% to hear it straight. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Kansas City Hi-Hat Swing
Play the spang-a-lang rhythm on a closed hat with the stick to learn it. Add the foot: open on 1 and 3, shut on 2 and 4, so the hat sounds long, short, long, short. Feather the kick on every beat, then add the snare on the let of 4 in bar two.
Variations to try next
Move the right hand to the ride and keep the hi-hat foot on 2 and 4. Leave out the kick feathering for a lighter small-group sound. Play the snare setup on the let of 2 instead.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Count Basie Orchestra recordings of the late 1930s with Jo Jones. A practice study of the Kansas City swing time associated with Jo Jones and the Count Basie band, played on the hi-hat instead of the ride. The stick plays the spang-a-lang rhythm on the hi-hat while the foot opens it for beats 1 and 3 and snaps it shut on 2 and 4, so the hat breathes long on 1 and 3 and chicks short on 2 and 4 and on the skip notes. The kit's open hat stands in for the loose, half-open wash, and the stick and the closing foot are written as separate hits on 2 and 4. The bass drum is feathered on all four beats, and the single snare setup on the let of 4 in bar two is an informed choice. It is authored for practice, not transcribed.