Perfecting to play the ride cymbal and the bell of the ride is an art. From playing sixteenth note grooves to mastering the cross-stick, this blog is all about playing grooves using the ride cymbal and adding flavour using the bell of the ride. Let’s get started!

What is the Ride?

The ride is one of the cymbals in the drum kit that plays an important part if you are a versatile player. In this context, notice the two cymbals on the right? The cymbal to the extreme right is the crash, which is played at the end of a fill. The cymbal beside it, on the left is called the ride.

Before moving any further, practise playing the ride. Without playing anything else, use the tip of the drumstick and strike it on the larger portion of the ride for a rich sound. Practise on a moderate tempo until you get the hang of playing the ride.

Once you feel comfortable, try to hit the bell of the ride, not with the tip of the stick, but with the shoulder of your drumstick. Next, alternate between the ride and the bell and follow the eighth note groove (1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&).

Playing 6/8 and 12/8 Grooves on the Ride

Like how we learnt the cross-stick technique to play the 6/8 and 12/8 time feel, let’s move to playing the ride for the same groove. For the first 6/8 groove, start counting from 1 all the way to 6, play the ride on every count, kick drum on count 1 and snare drum on count 4. Simple, isn’t it. Don’t hurry if it seems easy, take it slow, have a feel for playing the ride and increase the tempo.

As for the next part, break the 12/8 groove into two bars. For the first bar, play the ride on every count from 1 to 6, snare drum on 4 and kick drum on 1. As for the next bar, finish the first bar with a kick drum on 6 and transition to playing the kick drum on count 1 of the following bar.

To make it interesting while playing the ride, follow this:

For odd counts: Play the larger part of the ride

For even counts: Play the bell of the ride

If this is too much information, divide the parts and play at a slower pace until the transition from the ride to the bell is on auto-pilot.

Experimenting with the Ride

Once you get comfortable playing the ride and the bell of the ride, try improvising with the kick drum. For example, for the sixteenth note groove, play the kick drum on 1-2-3-4 (All counts) and add that additional kick drum on the “a” of 3 for a challenge.

The secret to getting better? Yes, take it slow, get comfortable transitioning from the ride to the bell, and increase the tempo. In the next episode, we move from the hands to the feet. Yes, let's get stronger on the foot technique.