This excerpt is taken from the complete article that appears in the December 2015 issue,
which is available here.

Ghost Notes 101
6 Approaches to Give Your Grooves Greater Dimension

One thing that separates the novice drummer from the professional is the ability to play grooves that have dimension. Ghost notes are a great way to achieve this, but first you need to understand, on an elemental level, how to create them. In this lesson I’m going to show you the six ghost-note elements that I use when playing music that’s based on a 16th-note subdivision.

When implementing ghost notes, I recommend playing a rimshot on the backbeats (the snare hits on beats 2 and 4), while making sure to play the ghost notes in the center of the drum at a low volume. The wide dynamic range that those two techniques create will give your grooves greater depth and dimension.

Check out a video demo below.

Jim Riley
For the complete lesson with transcriptions, check out the December 2015 issue, which is available here.