Trditional grip/knuckles

[drumnut20]

Hey Guys,

Is it okay to have your knuckles tilted on an angle towards the ground when playing traditional grip. Most of the people I see playing have their knuckles verticle to the ground when their playing.

Thanks

[mauricio]

I would say avoid turning your palm up - try keeping your hand perpendicular to the floor/ceiling. Avoid tension at all costs. Also try minimizing the angle between your hand and the stick - it should be an extension of your hand.

Check Dave Weckl´s "A Natural Evolution" series for more in-depth information on that. Virgil also recently posted a clip on that on his pm area.

[DrumVu]

When I teach my students traditional grip, I refer to the knuckles facing down as "ashtray hands" because you can catch ashes of your cigarette. You should not be able to catch any ashes in your left hand. The palm of your left hand should be facing your right hand. Just like Mauricio said, avoid tension. Also, make sure your sticks are making a V-shape as you would if you were playing matched grip. Your wrist should be relaxed, not turned inward or outward.

[bor31]

DrumVu, about the V-shape thing: when I play loose and without tension, the lefthand stick is more pointing to the righthand, more like a 90 degree angle :confused: ...it's a natural thing. I noticed professional players also tend to do that...Is this normal or do I have to work on that you think?

[DrumVu]

DrumVu, about the V-shape thing: when I play loose and without tension, the lefthand stick is more pointing to the righthand, more like a 90 degree angle :confused: ...it's a natural thing. I noticed professional players also tend to do that...Is this normal or do I have to work on that you think?

Sorry for the late reply Bor31. When I teach my drumline, it's more of a rudimental style of drumming. I make my kids do the V-shape for the sake of looking uniform. If I had five snare drummers, and one of them doesn't have the V-shape, then it looks really bad. When you mentioned that you noticed professional players do the 90 degree angle, that's how it works for them. Don't do anything unnatural to your body. I was always taught to make sure my sticks made a V-shape. It looks good when you have the V. If you're playing on set, you hardly have both hands on the snare. One hand is on the hi-hat or ride, and the other is on snare. In that case, it's important that you play the snare in the center, that's where you get the best fundamental sound. I hope this helps.

[bateria]

DrumVu, is it normal to get a slant or twist in the left hand matched grip if one practices traditional a lot? How do you get rid of it? It's really bugging me. Thanks.

[DrumVu]

Bateria,
In a sense, it is normal to have the twist in the wrist, however, it shouldn't happen. Your wrist is just used to turning that way because of the stroke you make with traditional. Your wrist naturally moves up and down, in the matched grip fashion. The reason why most people have a hard time playing traditional grip, is because you hardly ever use the muscles in daily life that are used for traditional grip. The only time you ever use those muscles is to open a door with a door knob.

Most drummers aren't sufficient with both techniques. You're either a matched player, or a traditional player. I have had judges who say that I am one of the few who are fortunate to be able to play both. What I would suggest is to stick to one. Most of the time, when you go to another technique, it's going to be hard to go back to the other one. Why waste your time, when you could be getting better at one grip with all the time you spent on the other?

[bateria]

Bateria,
In a sense, it is normal to have the twist in the wrist, however, it shouldn't happen. Your wrist is just used to turning that way because of the stroke you make with traditional. Your wrist naturally moves up and down, in the matched grip fashion. The reason why most people have a hard time playing traditional grip, is because you hardly ever use the muscles in daily life that are used for traditional grip. The only time you ever use those muscles is to open a door with a door knob.

Most drummers aren't sufficient with both techniques. You're either a matched player, or a traditional player. I have had judges who say that I am one of the few who are fortunate to be able to play both. What I would suggest is to stick to one. Most of the time, when you go to another technique, it's going to be hard to go back to the other one. Why waste your time, when you could be getting better at one grip with all the time you spent on the other?

Yeah, I've realized that. I saw all these clips of big matched grip drummers like El Negro or Chambers bust out traditional and I caught the traditional "bug," I just wanted to be able to use it on occasion. I practiced it for 4 months like a fiend, and really didn't get very far, so I said forget it. But, now I have an annoying twist in my left that my right doesn't have--the stick does not go straight up and down like the right stick does, it's that bad. How do you get rid of that? Thanks for the input.