pg.

1 Ghost Notes
Part 2 - Swung 8th Feel

The following exercises are designed to help you incorporate ghost notes into your playing. Ghost notes are
quiet, subtle notes that can be added to grooves and fills to "thicken" your sound. They can add another
dimension to your drumming by creating "texture" and "flow".

Unlike graces notes which are the quiet notes used, for example, in flams and drags, ghost notes have an exact
placement in time that can be clearly notated.

Using a simple 4/4 shuffle groove, bass on 1 & 3 and a snare backbeat on 2 & 4, let's start working on some
different ghost note placements...

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

4 . x ‰ x œx ‰ x ex ‰ x œx ‰ x . . x ‰ x œx ‰ x x ‰ x œx ‰ ex .
1 2

ã4 . œ
e
œ . .œ œ .
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
3
x ‰ x œx ‰ ex x ‰ x œx ‰ ex . . x ‰ x œx ‰ ex ex ‰ x œx ‰ ex .
4

ã .œ œ . .œ œ .
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
5
x ‰ x œx ‰ ex ex ‰ x œx ‰ ex . . x ‰ x œx ‰ x x 6
x œx ‰ x .
.
ã œe
œ . .œ œ e .
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
7
x x œx ‰ x x x œx ‰ x . . x ‰ x œx ‰ ex x
8
x œx ‰ x .
ã .œ e
œ e . .œ œ e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
9
x x œx ‰ ex x x œx ‰ ex . . x ‰ x œx ‰ x ex
10
x œx ‰ x .
.
㠜 e
œ e . .œ œ e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
11
x x œx ‰ x ex x œx ‰ x . . x 12
x œx ‰ x ex x œx ‰ ex .
ã . œ
e e
œ e . .œ e
œ e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
13
x ‰ x œx ‰ ex ex x œx ‰ x . . ex
14
x œx ‰ ex x x œx ‰ ex .
ã .œ œ e . . œ e
œ e .
pg.2 Ghost Notes Part 2 - Swung 8th Feel

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
15
x ‰ x œx ‰ x x ‰ ex œx ‰ x . . x ‰ ex œx ‰ x x ‰ ex œx ‰ x .
16

ã .œ œ . .œ œ .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
17
x ‰ x œx ‰ x x ‰ x œx x . . x ‰ x œx
18
x x ‰ x œx x .
.
ã œ œ e . .œ e
œ e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
19
x ‰ x œx x x ‰ ex œx ‰ x . . x 20
x œx x x x œx x .
ã .œ e
œ . .œ e e
œ e e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

. x ‰ ex œx ‰ ex x ‰ ex œx ‰ ex . . ex
21 22
x œx x ex x œx x .
ã .œ œ . . œ e e
œ e e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

. x ‰ ex œx ‰ ex ex ‰ ex œx ‰ ex . . x ‰ x œx ‰ x x ‰ ex œx
23 24
x .
.
ã œe
œ . .œ œ e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

.
25
x ‰ ex œx x x ‰ ex œx x . . x ‰ ex œx ‰ x ex
26
x œx ‰ x .
ã .œ e
œ e . .œ œ e e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

. x 27
x œx ‰ ex x x œx x . . ex ‰ ex œx ‰ ex x
28
x œx ‰ ex .
ã .œ e
œ e e e e . . œ œ e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

. x 29
x œx ‰ ex x x œx x . . ex
30
x œx x x x œx ‰ ex .
ã .œ e e
œ e e e . . œ e e e
œ e e .

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

. x 31
x œx ‰ ex ex x œx x . . ex
32
x œx x x x œx x .
ã .œ e e
œ e e e . . œ e e e e e e e
œ e e .