coolhand1969
Senior Member
I have a question for those who play openhanded. To begin, this is not a debate over which is better, open or crossed, this is not about drummers who have played crossed and are now trying to play open because some teaching "guru" has said it is better.
I have always played open and always will, I have no desire to learn a totally new method after 25+ years. Here we go, the first and only drum lesson I have ever had, happened over at this guy's house. He had his kit setup right handed, because he was. I sat down behind the kit and started playing, no it was not good, but I played (open handed, because I had to). Then my friend noticed this and said " Sorry man, I forgot you were left-handed, let me switch the kit around." Which he did, and it felt all wrong, I could easily feel that my right foot, though not my true dominant foot, needed to be on that kick pedal.
We switched the kit back to righty, moved his main crash to the right and put the ride in its place. He never thought anything was weird about it, it was mainly, " Hey, whatever makes you happy and feels good." I have gone on playing this way all of my life, yeah, it makes my setup a little different, but in all honesty, I do not think it gives me any advantage over crossed players as the "gurus" point out. It is just what feels the most comfortable.
So, not to start a war over which is better, I just wondered if this had ever happened to any other lefty players out there? Any posts, about this would be appreciated, or we could argue about who is the best drummer ever, or even more interesting we could debate who is the best drummer not yet born!
I have always played open and always will, I have no desire to learn a totally new method after 25+ years. Here we go, the first and only drum lesson I have ever had, happened over at this guy's house. He had his kit setup right handed, because he was. I sat down behind the kit and started playing, no it was not good, but I played (open handed, because I had to). Then my friend noticed this and said " Sorry man, I forgot you were left-handed, let me switch the kit around." Which he did, and it felt all wrong, I could easily feel that my right foot, though not my true dominant foot, needed to be on that kick pedal.
We switched the kit back to righty, moved his main crash to the right and put the ride in its place. He never thought anything was weird about it, it was mainly, " Hey, whatever makes you happy and feels good." I have gone on playing this way all of my life, yeah, it makes my setup a little different, but in all honesty, I do not think it gives me any advantage over crossed players as the "gurus" point out. It is just what feels the most comfortable.
So, not to start a war over which is better, I just wondered if this had ever happened to any other lefty players out there? Any posts, about this would be appreciated, or we could argue about who is the best drummer ever, or even more interesting we could debate who is the best drummer not yet born!