overusing ghost notes and grace notes

[Mukund]

Hey everyone

ok so i have always been fascinated by ghost and grace notes

but never paid much attention

but recently after learning a basic beat with those notes

i thought i should go more in deep

so now here is the problem

in everyone groove i play or every metal beat i play

i am trying to play ghost notes and grace notes

 

is this a bad habit ?

will i get over it ?

[soundcreation]

the music should be the ultimate determiner of that.

 

But if you're just talking about practice...I don't see how it could hurt...it's an excellent way to help dynamics. So long as you could drop them if you needed too...lol.

[Carminemw]

I also suspect that a lot of the techniques you are talking about happen currently in many many recordings...and you don't even know they are there! Have you ever seen a transcription of what you thought was a simple tune, only to find that there's more going on than what you thought? Whether it has been buried in the mix, or simply just missed by your own ears, I'll give you case in point:

 

I have been evidently playing Rosanna by Toto wrong for my entire career. Well not necessarily wrong, just not completely right. I always played it with that halftime shuffle pattern that so many of us have. It's good and works, but then I saw Pocaro demonstrate it using his version of the Purdie shuffle, and it blows my feel right away. Who knew(as Rocky LaPorte would say)?

 

Ghosts and graces are valuable as good dexterity exercises, as well as musicality compliments...the only way I would say they would be detrimental is if they upset the feel of the tune, or changed its flavor all together. SC is correct...the music will dictate the pulse...

[FitchFY]

Ditto to Carmine's points.

 

I think ghost notes have a place in all music, even if it's just the drummer who notices them. Why? They're fun, they influence your feel, and (personally, for me) they can help you sub-divide to lock in tempo.

 

But like anything, they can be over-used, so yup, like soundcreation said, "the music should be the ultimate determiner of that."

[Cratz]

They're a bit of a fad in progressive metal, at the moment. You can't hear them 95% of the time in recordings, though, so I don't think it's a big deal. I use them to keep time in some more complex polyrhythms with a slow back beat, or just to add a bit of flavor when there's some room in the music.

 

Also, if you have the right kind of form, it makes it look like you're doing more while doing less on stage. Not a bad thing.

[skinthrasher]

I constantly fiddle with the purdie shuffle and the half time purdie and up to this point I can't say if i've ever played a ghost note. I try like hell to lay some in there, but how "ghosty" is a ghost note and how "graceful" is a grace note "beats me"! Oh well I still give it a go 'cause one of these days I will play "Fool in the Rain" flawlessly!

[The Downbeat]

I almost ALWAYS play ghost notes, or a subtle form of them. They help me (and my band members) feel the groove harder. Even if they aren't heard, they add an insane amount of feeling and expression to the song. It's cool to see that you're exploring them! ...Not to mention your stick control will improve dramatically as you fine tune the muscles in your wrists and hands.

[1001gear]

Yeah, it becomes a part of your personality. It'll flow out of you automatically. Most of us will spend considerable time developing that flow and truthfully, musical aesthetics can get to be like interior decorating - unless you're JMR who can't be bothered with quality - but yeah, It's normal. It's normal to get picky, vain, stupid about it, and you might still get it rong but that's DIY.

[Gremson]

I use 'em a lot, and I think it helps to be conscious of when you're doing it.

Pretty much anything I play that has a little stank in the feel has ghost notes whether I'm throwing them in intentionally or not. When I listen back to recordings, I find that they're sometimes in the way and totally unnecessary.

[race81]

personally I think it depends on the music/song/section...whatever. Sometimes they add...sometimes they can take away....something you have to learn as you go so to speak. Kinda like you HH foot...easy to forget its there at times, so its good to practice it........so practice away....feel will come with experience,...

[boomboomdrums]

I'm not a big fan of grace notes. When I'm playing in my studio by myself I play a lot of them because they are fun and sound cool when playing alone. But when I'm playing with a rock/blues/c&w band, I don't play very many unless there is a specific need to. I prefer to just lay down a solid back beat when playing rythm. In a band setting, you can't hear them anyway. So I just try to lock in and simplify and lay down the back beat. If it's jazz, that's a whole other story.