Non-stop 16th-note hi-hat creates urgent forward momentum. A staple of punk and uptempo rock.
This groove keeps the basic rock framework — kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4 — but plays the hi-hat in continuous sixteenth notes. The sixteen-stroke hi-hat line fills every gap in the bar and creates constant forward drive, at the cost of a much higher demand on the hi-hat hand.
Each column is one sixteenth note. x is a hi-hat or cymbal stroke, o is a drum.
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a Hi-Hat x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Snare . . . . o . . . . . . . o . . . Kick o . . . . . . . o . . . . . . .
Count the bar out loud as 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a and add one limb at a time.
Below roughly 100 BPM most players keep this one-handed for a consistent sound. Above that, alternating hands (right-left-right-left) is normal — but then the left hand has to leave the hi-hat to play the snare on 2 and 4 and return without a gap.
Start slow enough to place every note deliberately, lock each rung in before moving up, and only raise the tempo once the pattern is clean. Each step opens the metronome at that tempo.
Sixteenth-note hi-hat is a texture used across uptempo rock, pop and punk rather than a signature of specific records, so no song list here would be meaningful.
Ordered by difficulty — the first is the smallest step up.
One hand up to around 100 BPM for an even sound, alternating hands above that. Which one you need depends on tempo and stamina, not on the pattern itself.
Almost always because the two hands are not matched in volume and placement. Practise the hi-hat line on its own, slowly, until both hands produce the same stroke.
The pattern is written at 110 BPM. Start at 60-70 BPM — the hi-hat is playing four notes per beat, so 70 BPM here already means 280 strokes per minute.