Match Grip Vs Traditional Grip!!!

[alencore]

Ok let's start drawing our cards here and focus on which is the better grip....for your own playing style that is...whew.

Me start...

Traditional grip - nowadays it looks really cool and classy. But when it comes to mashing away or playing hard knocking rock backbeats I still prefer MG. Although there are players like Stewart Copeland who can play really hard using a T grip I still find it the un-natural position. When I play pure trad jazz it feels better on a TG. When I was in the marching band I have to learn by force such grip bec. the snare is tilted up on my left. On sambas if I want to play some nice flurries of snaky sounding shuffling 16 beats ghost notes on my left I switch to TG which I find much easier to pull out than on MG.

MG - on rock music it rule. Dave Weckl and Steve Gadd switch to MG sometimes when they play some rock or pop tunes. You get the fullest sound on tom toms and cymbals no matter what position they are. It's easier and much faster for the left hand to even up in terms of strength and speed againts the right hand since the position and the way the stick is held is entirely the same unlike TG which is a quite confusing sometimes. Lastly if you really wanna break a drum head or cymbal use MG. I saw Buddy Rich do it on some Jerry Lewis movie, lol.

MY conclusion...learn and use them both depending on style of music.

[quitou]

I think they're both esentially the same thing...if you do either one correctly it shouldn;t make a difference which one you use (to quote legandary teacher Freddy Gruber)...yes I think trad looks fancier but matched does the exact same thing...I don't think either one is better than the other...just use which ever one is more comfortable for you.

[STAVROPOULOS]

HELLO GUYS!
Well,if u want my opinion,i agree with alencore and i wonder how the hell can someone who uses TG play on a BOZZIO-like set up????so i'd say that for big kits MG is really better!
See you around!

[alencore]

i was watching an old The Police concert vid just to study the way Stewart blast away his TG on his set. Only thing is seems once he goes to the toms his left shoulder drop since the guy is hitting rims as well on his toms. Looks as if he is using more energy using TG unlike when you watch Lars Ulrich or Terry Bozzio do their toms on MG.

[aj steele]

I grew up playing traditional, and when I first saw and tried match grip it didnt seem right for me(I think I was wrong through conditioning). Most people I knew played MG. My drum teacher used to say never switch back and forth from the the two styles as you are training a muscle(although strangely I saw him do it). At 42 years old I've discovered I love MG and wish I would have developed more stick control playing that way. I feel a great release playing mg(and relief). Traditional is for a lighter style of playing and is a plus for rim shots. I still appreciate it but mg is working for me now. I dont know if my teacher was right. My opinon is that you should be informed of the benefits of both but stick strongly with one or the other, preferably mg as it is a more natural flow for the human hand. Rock it!

[STAVROPOULOS]

Ok!It seems to me that those who are used to playing trad wish they played matched and vice versa!

I am being taught the Matched grip those 4 1/2 years i've been playing and the last 2 months i've been practicing trad too,cause i love it and see great improvement!
I asked Virgil here in Athens if he agreed that i should switch and he told me:''No man,everything is easier with matched!''I replied:''Ok,but the ghost notes and all those subtleties....aren't felt better with trad?''And Virgil said''Nah,bull****,u know what?If i was to start from the beginning i would have played with matched grip!Don't switch now!''And i listened to Virgil of course,but i practice it too,just to be able to play both,not to switch!

[alencore]

whew! i've posted this years ago hehe way back during hte heat of virgil's assault here in the phils.

anyway i'm glad virgil was so unbiased on his opinion about grips.
can't argue on that. it's like god has spoken hehe. (kiss ass!)

[Milo Porto]

hahaah.. the great debate.! :cool:

[alencore]

indeed! still it's nice to play a little trad every now and then.
nice to see you again good old Milo!

[DerNeue]

The traditional grip only came up because all the snare drum instructors learned to hold the stick that way. And the drum kits at that point of time were not as adjustable as they are today. Especially jazz has its snare drum playing from that kind of grip. Also the cross handed approach did not contribute to loud playing. The left hand had to follow the movements that the right hand enabled it to do.

There are many traditional grip playes that switch to matched grip once in a while but I do not know many matched grip players that do the opposite. Some of them only do it because of the special feel that this grip gives them. Most of these players, if not all of them have a history that involved playing traditional grip for some time.

But for me it is clear: We are not forced anymore to use the traditional grip. The only reason to do it is because of getting the feelling and the limits of this special grip. It created a special sound.
But todays playing demands for everthing and more. The left hand is put in much more "matched" level when it is used with the same technique.

Traditional grip is more difficult because it has a totally different feeling and physique. You can not refer to the left hand when you want to strengthen it.

I like the look of traditional grip, but I am more practical. I get better results with matched although I have been playing traditional for 2 years in a row.

[STAVROPOULOS]

Good post man,i agree with you!But i am sure that Virgil is THE exeption,cause he can do anything matched players!Buddy Rich was one too,but not to that extent,cause his set up was small,but Virgil is a different story!:D

[johan-bjorkman]

TG looks cool but ive always playd MG.
TG feels wrong for me.

[STAVROPOULOS]

It surely does,like it did for me,too!But as i started practicing the exercises of Dave Weckl and imitating the moves of Buddy Rich and incorporating the techniques i've got,i look at it with a different perspective!

Try doing some of it for say 10 min a day and in 3months u'll see what i mean!The only disadvantage(to the level i can play with it now)is that it's difficult to get multiple strokes when playing pp,or moving around the set from say the snare to the tom/snare at the left side!Plus,u won't get the same speed as with matched,cause u've got 2 fingers used,and in matched u have 3,and what's more,when u bounce the stick with trad,if u pay attention,u're bouncing it with your fingers being close to the fulcrum,but with matched they're not that close,especially the pinky,thus generating more momentum?Remember the equation of momentum from elementary school?
I personally love trad,too,but matched is A LOT better!

[johan-bjorkman]

Im tryin to play TG sometimes. Its easy on a pad but when it comes to the kit...
I dont feel too comfortable using that grip but as you said "Try doing some of it for say 10 min a day and in 3months" - Will do!

[alencore]

traditional grip is tough now try playing with both hands on t-grip hehe...

[STAVROPOULOS]

haha,a la Billy Cobham,right??

[alencore]

yeah LOL!............

[roxz]

I don't see the logic of holding sticks different.... and than trying to get them sound even.. :rolleyes:


But there are tons of great trad grip drummers.

[STAVROPOULOS]

Yeah rox,that's a logical thought!Besides,if u look at Gary Chaffees' excellent books,he draws our attention to that very simple thing:Why bother thinking of our hands as 2 separate entities?Great question,LOL!

[alencore]

that moeller technique seems easier for me on trad.

[GnR_Fan(atic)]

I say MG! I have much more speed with it! I play better!!! Probably because I didn't practiced TG that much!!! So...my opinion is MG!!!

[alencore]

yeah it's really cool playing with a machine gun........









































hahaha! just kidding.

[GnR_Fan(atic)]

That's a good one!!!