By the time you reach this lesson, 8th-note hi-hat is automatic. The next density level is 16th-notes on the hi-hat — four hits per beat, sixteen per bar. This is the texture of half of pop session drumming, most modern R&B with a rock backbone, and the entire Toto / Steely Dan school of session work that made Jeff Porcaro a household name in drum circles.
You can play 16th hats two ways. Two-handed (alternating R-L-R-L on the hat) gives you the cleanest sound and the most stamina but means the snare on 2 and 4 has to be played by whichever stick happens to be free at that moment — usually a left-hand snare hit while the right hand stays on the hat (the cymbal-line gap is filled by silence on that 16th). One-handed (right hand plays all 16ths, left plays the snare) is more demanding on the right wrist but leaves your left hand entirely free for snare and tom voices. Most players use both, choosing based on tempo and texture.
This lesson does both. Start two-handed at slower tempos to internalize the 16th-note feel, then attempt the one-handed version (the harder physical challenge but the more flexible musical tool). The goal isn't speed — it's steady, even 16ths under a normal rock backbeat. Rock at ♩=88–95 with 16th hats already feels twice as busy as the same tempo with 8ths.