When you're learning to drum, you need to learn proper form, it's the foundation of good technique and the foundation of staying injury free.
Many drummers may skip over the basics, in favor of learning advanced techniques, but this is a catch and can set you up for trouble ahead.
One of the most used forms of grip in modern drumming is matched grip. This is a method where you use the same type of grip in both hands.
It is very common in modern drumming and is easy to learn. It has advantages over traditional grip for beginners.
There are three different types of matched grips; French- where your palms face each other and your strokes are powered by your fingers, German- where your palms face down, and your strokes are powered by your wrist, or American grip, which is a combination of both and is the most popular due to its comfort and versatility.
Traditional grip is more commonly used in jazz music and drum corps. It is a unique grip that allows you to get subtle strokes on your snare hits, and low volumes.
This is more difficult to learn, it requires more correction and subtlety, which can cause you injury if not done right.
How do you hold a snare drumstick?
Snare drumstick holding is typically in reference to traditional grip.
This is because, not only is this style common in jazz drumming, but the grip was designed by drummers in army corps who had their snare drum resting on their hips.
The angle of the snare drum made it harder for them to play with a matched grip, so they created a new method, which was holding their hand underneath the stick.
To do this you want to hold the stick with your hand upside down, or palms up. Find the balance point of your stick, and place it in the pocket of your thumb and index finger.
Then, rest the stick on the last two fingers of your hand, this means the ring and pinky fingers. Then you must rest your index and middle finger on the top of the stick.
Traditional grip is not as popular for rock drumming and many of the more heavy styles of drumming, this is because you are playing with your hand underneath the stick.
What this does is stop you from getting as much power out of your strokes.
This is why so many drummers will use this style for jazz, or other, more soft or delicate styles of drumming.
Traditional grip must be played correctly, or you will end up hurting yourself in the long term. Hence, if you decide you wish to learn this grip, you need to learn it properly, take the time to do so, you will get there.
How do you hold left drumsticks?
If you are left-handed and play with a matched grip then you can hold the drumstick the same as you would play with your right hand.
Matched grip is literally when your hands match. If you play with a traditional grip it's a bit more complicated though.
If you are playing traditional grip, and you are right-handed then your left hand will be playing differently with the drumstick between your middle and ring fingers, while your right hand will be playing with the matched grip style.
If you are left-handed then your right hand will be playing with the stick between your middle and ring fingers, while your left hand will be playing with a matched grip style.
When playing traditionally, your dominant hand plays with a matched grip styled grip, whereas your weaker hand will play differently, holding the stick differently.
This may feel weird when you first try it, and you will need to get some practice doing so, especially since you will need to learn to independently move your weaker hand out of balance with your dominant hand.
How tight should you hold drumsticks?
When you're drumming you should hold your sticks for what you are playing. Your sticks should be held tight, or similarly, loose enough for what you are playing.
You should constantly adjust your grip depending on what you are doing.
You should practice learning to adjust your grip as you play. Do not lock yourself into one tension, you are not a human vice after all.
As your roll gets faster you should use the rebound and fingers while you pinch the stick. The pressure should be adjusted and changed as your fingers control the stick.
If you play harder and the sticks are coming up higher, then you need to tighten your grip slightly on the down stroke and relax on the upstroke.
Learning to do this is something that you can easily practice. If you are not sure if you can do this, or how to teach yourself to do this, a good way to get started is to get a drum pad and practice on there.
Test out different drumming styles and figure out how tight you should hold your sticks as you go along. If you have a drum teacher then this is even better, they can instruct you on how to adjust your grip as you go, and you can practice this at home.
Is there a wrong way to hold drumsticks?
Much like anything, there can be wrong ways to hold a drumstick.
The biggest issue with holding sticks wrong is that you could get injured if you do so. It is less about the results and more that you could hurt yourself.
For this reason you should take the time to properly learn how to hold your drumsticks, doing so might seem tedious or pointless, but as a drummer ensuring that you hold your sticks properly is probably one of the best things you can do.
Treat your drumming much like you would treat exercises. Maintain the correct form and everything else comes after that.
Drumming can cause excess shock to your joints unless you do it correctly. Much like if you do an exercise incorrectly, you can also do damage to yourself.
So if you are drumming in a marching band or for jazz music, be sure to learn traditional grip first, if you are focused on more modern music tastes, then try to focus on learning matched grip first.
Once you get the hang of it you will be good to go. For beginners though, matched grip is considered easier to learn and a good starting point.
Should I learn traditional grip?
Whether you are drumming in a rock band or a marching band, it is good to learn all the grips you can.
Even though matched grip is easier to learn for beginners, once you have got the hang of it, you should try to learn traditional as well.
Traditional grip is useful to learn because it produces a certain sound that works great when you play in drumming patterns in the more rudimentary style. Jazz drummers often used this style of grip.
It's a bit like driving cars. While it's possible to just drive an automatic car, it's more useful to have the knowledge to drive a car manually, because if you break down you have more options for rental cars, and if you need to drive a manual car for your job, then there is no hold back.
It is similar with drumstick grips, even if you only typically use matched grip for rock, pop, or ballad music, it can be very useful to also know how to use traditional grip, in the case that you ever need it.
It gives you more options this way and can vastly improve your scope as a musician to know more than one style of grip. Broaden your horizons.
What are the two ways of holding the stick?
The two ways of holding drumsticks are match grip, and traditional grip.
Match grip is where the left and right hands both hold the sticks the same way, with the stick held between the thumb and the fingers. This is often the easier grip style for beginners to learn.
On the other hand (pun not intended) traditional grip is where the weaker hand (left for right-handed players, and right for left-handed players) holds the stick between the third and the middle fingers.
This originates from the traditional marching drum style.
Drummers had to walk with their snare on their side, and match grip made this very difficult and uncomfortable, so these drummers developed a whole new style in order to strike their drum head centrally without having to raise their arms uncomfortably or in weird positions.
Match grip is often taught first, and most beginners will learn this way, many big time musicians will use this as well, especially in the popular music scene.
It is easier to strengthen the weaker hand when it's copying the dominant hand, than to strengthen the weaker hand when it is not.
Some people will choose traditional grip over match grip because of tradition, for example if you were to play marching music or swing music. Sometimes if you were originally taught to play traditional, you just keep to this style. Also if you want to give off the vibe that you are intelligent and really talented, this grip gives off that aesthetic too.
Where do you hold drumsticks?
When you hold your drumsticks you should hold them at the balance point, however, this depends on the grip that you're using.
If you use German match grip then you hold your tick at the balance point with your index finger and thumb.
Place your other fingers around the bottom of the stick. German grip is a rather strict grip in that when looking top-down at your sticks you must form a 90-degree angle with the sticks.
Then there is American grip, typically more popular. It is much like German grip, it is however, much more relaxed. Instead of making that super tight 90-degree angle, you can relax and play in a much more comfortable position.
Then there is French grip, which is different to both American and German grips.
In French, you must turn your palms upward and ensure that your thumbs point skyward, you will notice that your sticks are close to being parallel.
This grip uses the fingers more and less of the wrist. Timpani players in orchestras typically use this grip.
Traditional grip required one stick to comply with matched grip, while the other holds it very differently.
Take your stick and place it between your thumb and index fingers, bend your ring finger and pinky down and lay the stick between your middle finger and right fingers.
Your stick will rest between these fingers right on the sides of your nails. Yes, it feels weird.