I have the following information:
What could this circle on the hi-hat mean?
It likely means an open high-hat
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Frequently, when people use the x note head inside a circle like that it represents one of the open note heads like the half or whole note, but with x-style notation. In this case that seems odd, since it is on beat 4 of a 4/4 bar and should only be a quarter note.
The typical notation for open hi-hat is a little “harmonic” circle placed about the note.
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Thanks to you both
It sometimes causes some confusion. The problem is that sometimes the circle is used to represent a half note, because the x for the hi-hat cannot represent a half note (or whole note). If the hi-hat were to come on beat 3, it would sometimes be represented as follows.
However, I would prefer to represent it without half notes, but rather with a quarter note and a quarter rest. This also corresponds more to the short note lengths in drumming. It would then look like this.
Since in your example the circled note is on beat 4, it is clearly an open hi-hat. Hi-hat openings generally do not need to be indicated in the drum key, as a drummer is familiar with them. By the way, I would rather write it differently, like this:
This is a method that has been present in drumming books for a long time, but it doesn’t seem to be as prominent anymore. However, I find it better and easier to read. The ‘o’ stands for ‘open’, the ‘+’ stands for ‘closed’.
I prefer to use the circle around the x for the bell of the ride cymbal when one wants to notate the groove in more detail. It could then look like this:
However, perhaps this should then be indicated in the drum key. Drum notation should always be accompanied by a drum key.
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