Which way is the best for gripping drum sticks?

Sorry for the dumb thread I'm just a curious guitar player.

  • Traditional

    Votes: 9 13.6%

  • Common (Two Fists)

    Votes: 33 50.0%

  • Alternating between the two

    Votes: 22 33.3%

  • Other

    Votes: 2 3.0%
  • Total voters
    66
Jon,

this is (IMHO) very much a feel thing - and also depends on what one is playing at that particular moment.

I hold em a few different ways..........

Rod
 
as always, there is no best way. I haven't seen much traditional jazz players gripping in the "fist-way" and not any traditional gripping metaldrummer. It also depends on the setup of for example the snaredrum, some drummers like to bend it way to their body, and then you can only hit it properly the traditional way.
 
Who voted other?? : /

I play match grip (fist way)... but I'm also playing left-handed on a right-handed kit, so I don't cross over. Think Carter Beauford from Dave Matthews Band. I heard there is a risk of breaking fingers while playing traditional grip for loud/fast/hard drumming, but I don't know anybody that has actually done it. (though I have personally split my knuckles on rims and cymbols before).
 
It's kind of like asking a guitar payer which is better: a flat pick, finger picks or using the thumb and first three fingers classical style.
It depends on the music and instrument you are playing, your style, how you were trained and what's comfortable for you.

I am primarily a traditional grip drummer, although I will use matched grip if the music calls for it or when I am about to play a fill after cross-stick and it is immediate, so I don't have time to turn the left stick around.

It is kind of humorous to me that you've listed matched grip as most common, because when I began playing (1962), traditional grip was the most common. Matched grip was referred to as tympani style then.

I play mostly hard bop jazz and that style of music seems to lend itself to the motions of traditional grip. There are many great hard bop drummers that play matched grip. There are some hard rock drummers that play traditional grip, Neil Peart comes to mind. So what does that mean? Not a damn thing. It doesn't really matter at all. It's whatever gets you there.
 
There is no "right answer". Most seasoned drummers use both traditional and matched grip.

Like Rimshot I started many years ago (1957) and everyone played traditional grip. In the late 60's and early 70"s drum kits got bigger (more drums) and it was "easier" to do rolls around 7 or 8 toms using matched grip - so technique changed to accomodate the bigger kits.

Many drummers use traditional grip for things like jazz and then may change to matched grip for more "rock" type drumming.
 
Best Way?

I don't know if this is common knowlege, but the original reason (best way) of the traditional grip was because of people playing field drums where the drums swung off to 1 side. Try playing THAT with a matched grip.
That being said I play a matched grip style mainly because I am ambidextrious and find it more comforable for the Celtic /Jazz /Funk stuff I play.
 
a bit of trivia...

the actual origin of "traditional" grip, was due to the drummers marching in the fields during war. they had a strap slung over their shoulder, which left the drum hanging at an angle. the left hand was held in this fashion to get the stick up over the rim of the raised side.
i, too, started with trad grip, and although i guess it does make more common sense to use matched grip, there are some things (especially when ghost stroking in bebop and jazz) that just seem to work better with traditional left hand (or right hand if you'r a lefty). i use both, and i agree it is a case of whatever works for you, no matter how unorthodox.
by the way, anyone who thinks you can't hit hard with trad grip has never seen stewart copeland or steve gadd play:)
peace - jv
 
owe me a beer, tmix

... great minds think alike, huh. actually, you beat me to it... i type so frikin slow.
peace - jv
 
I'm usually changing it up, but mostly, I hold the sticks Keith Moon Style, right at the very butt ends of them with the end of the stick in the middle of my palm and pinching the sticks between my fingers.

This allows me to club the living hell outta my drums with relatively low effort.

I realize it's stupid and dangerous and probably the reason I get tendonitis so bad...

But it's just the way that feels right to me... I'm trying to change..

Joe
 
Has anyone seen Billy Cobham, who ocasionally plays with the traditional grip in both hands? He will switch from matched to traditional, to left hander traditional, and then play with both sticks like the traditional grip. I love some of his work, but when I saw this on his video I just had to laugh and wonder what was going through his mind.
 
Prizmaxic said:
Has anyone seen Billy Cobham, who ocasionally plays with the traditional grip in both hands? He will switch from matched to traditional, to left hander traditional, and then play with both sticks like the traditional grip. I love some of his work, but when I saw this on his video I just had to laugh and wonder what was going through his mind.
Click to expand...

I just saw Billy Cobham perform in a small venue here in Huntington in December and had a chance to talk with him a bit. He's an exception, because he is very ambidextrous. He plays a right handed kit, but rides wit his left hand and has his primary ride next to his hi-hat. He alternates between riding with his left hand and right hand while also changing from a matched grip to a right handed traditional and then a left handed traditional grip. He's not doing it to be showy, because he slips in and out of it very casually and naturally. It's just his way of commanding his kit. I admire him greatly and even tried doing that a few times....it's not for me. But it works SO well for him.
 
i use both grips, depending on the song and what i need to do.

prior to last january, i hadn't sat behind a kit for any length of time (or with any seriousness) in at least 10 years. i've been playing once or twice a week now for the last year (the wife'd kill me if i played more), and it's amazing how much my chops have come back. it's also frustrating that a lot of my limb independence has atrophied as well.

anyway, i mostly use matched grip b/c it's most natural for me. however, whenever i need a fine touch, fast doubles, ghost notes on the snare, etc., i almost always switch to traditional grip. i've got a much finer (and faster) touch with traditional grip than i do with matched.


wade
 
I probably should have asked the question differently. I was wondering which grip gave you the most versatility and if one had more advantages that the other. The reason I started this thread is because I am getting real interested in learning drums, and which grip I should get myself used to. I'm into Classic hard rock, and some metal.
 
what he said

A GUY NAMED JON said:
I probably should have asked the question differently. I was wondering which grip gave you the most versatility and if one had more advantages that the other. The reason I started this thread is because I am getting real interested in learning drums, and which grip I should get myself used to. I'm into Classic hard rock, and some metal.
Click to expand...

... absolutely no reason in the world to learn traditional grip for hard rock or metal if you're just getting started. get some 2b's and learn how to hit'em with matched grip.
good luck - jv
 
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