Mis-matched sticks anyone?

[Guinness]

I fell into the habit a while back of using a 7a in my right (dominant) hand and a 5a in the left. For some reason it feels right to me. I'm able to get a bit mor articulate on the ride especially and can play 16ths with ease without wearing my hands down as fast. The 5a in the left still provides the solid snare attack and feel for a solid hit.

I don't know, it's just a thing I'm used to doing and was wondering if anyone else finds this mis-match accomodating.

[fourstringdrums]

It can be an advantage if you're using say a brush in one hand and a stick in the other, and sometimes for reasons you described, but would just regular playing I wouldn't get into the habit or your strokes can sound unbalanced.

[k3ng]

I personally don't recommend playing with mis matched sticks. I think evenness and control on your sound shouldn't have to come from the weight of your stick. Meaning the power from the left should come from the control in your hand and not relying on the weight of the stick and the articulate movement on the right should also be that way.

The reason it feels more natural in my opinion is that the strength from the left is made up by the weight of the stick. I don't know how many people play this way but I certainly don't recommend it.

[fijjibo]

I agree with k3ng.

You should be able to control the sticks, not have them control you.

There is, however, nothing wrong with using a mallet/stick - Brush/stick combo, as it is a nice special effect.

[maddrummr]

You will train yourself to get used to the different weights and feels. Your hands will feel right but things will be uneven. Its not a good idea

[ZildjianMan1023]

my friend plays with un matched sticks and i hate it.. EH the thought of it makes me cringe. literally.. to me its so unatrual sticks came in pairs of two.. use them the way they were intended.. to both be the same wieght


good luck either way

[Bossa Nova]

I remember one time a while back thinking, Wow!!! for Latin I'll use a nice thick 2B for cross-sticking on the snare rim and use my regular 5A on the ride for a nice, light feel. But then a few bars in I went to do a roll, and well, I never went back to playing mismatched sticks again.

There are a lot of jazz tunes where the drummer switches between brushes or mallets and sticks, so maybe once in a while one could use a brush in one hand and a stick in the other and then switch when necessary.

As an overall playing practice though, using non-matching sticks doesn't seem like a great idea, as alluded to by others already.