Open handed playing was first conceived as idea with
Jim Chapin's book
Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, and
Gary Chester's book
The New Breed which emphasize coordinated independence, leading with both hands and legs. The first drummers who started open-handed playing are musicians like
Billy Cobham,
Lenny White, and
Dennis Wilson, who started this way of playing in the 1960s and early 1970s either out of instinct (such as Wilson, who was naturally
left-handed and therefore felt more comfortable leading with that hand), or out of experimentation, finding the advantage of not having to cross one's hands over in complex fills or playing the hi-hats in the traditional manner. Many proponents of the technique have also noted that the lack of a "roof" of another arm crossing over allows for the full range of the snare playing arm's stroke to be available, meaning that loud rimshots are more easily played. Others have pointed out the added conservation of energy attained by not having to fully raise and cross one's lead hand when playing, for instance, between the hi-hats and ride in faster passages. As a result, many drummers in more extreme genres have adopted this technique. Another advantage is a player's access to the floor tom while playing the hi-hats, a feat infamously difficult to pull off in the traditional technique without access to an auxiliary floor tom. In 2008 and 2011
Dom Famularo and Claus Hessler wrote
Open Handed Playing vol.1 and 2, which are lessons focused entirely on open-handed playing. ==Heavy metal music==