Matched Grip vs. Traditional Grip: Pro's and Con's?

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vroom125

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TRADITIONAL vs MATCHED GRIP

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each grip? Which grip do you use?
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

Ah yes, the time honored classic question: matched versus traditional. I personally use both grips. But there isn't really any advantages of one over the other.
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

Yes there is an advantage with the traditional grip: IT LOOKS BETTER!!

But I can`t learn it, I just don`t seem to get it, how to execute it!!?
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

cvighals said:
Yes there is an advantage with the traditional grip: IT LOOKS BETTER!!

But I can`t learn it, I just don`t seem to get it, how to execute it!!?

download it at downloaddrums.com/tradional.exe

Unzip to the drummer folder

Execute Tradional.exe

and voila! La Tradional En Perfection!
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

Dyaxe said:
download it at downloaddrums.com/tradional.exe

Unzip to the drummer folder

Execute Tradional.exe

and voila! La Tradional En Perfection!

It`s not a virus or anything ?
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

vroom125 said:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each grip? Which grip do you use?

It's easier to damage your wrists trying to play hard with incorrect trad grip than matched. Says one who did it.

Matched is, for me, better for power playing and for some reason it just seems to feel better than trad grip for semiquaver based music. It's also easier to get consistent strokes going between your hands as you just need to duplicate movements from right to left.

Traditional grip is better for finesse, feels better in triplets (probably because I use it more for jazz than anything else) and also has some independence advantages for me - I find it easier to separate my right and left hands when the techniques are different, for some reason. I do find it harder to get consistent rolls and so forth in trad grip though.

That's all IMHO, but I use both regularly for different reasons. I also switch between a few different matched grips where I see fit as well...
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

I was about to post the same topic earlier.... I have been playing American/french grip for the past 6 + 1/2 years since I started playing, and I have never gotten a good explanation as to why Trad is better for any given situation. And don't get me wrong, I am incredibly intrigued by match and do want to learn it to, but HOW HARD IS IT TO GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER!!!! I'm sure it must be great in certain ways, but it seems totally unnatural....

Please enlighten me, somebody!!!
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

The specific reason why I do it is versatility... I like to play mallets, timbales and tympanis as well, and traditional grip doesn't cross over to those instruments. Plus if you ever want to explore open hand playing, you have that option.
Besides, I think traditional is out of it's time, it was created for field snare drummers who tilted their snares to the side. We don't really need to do that anymore, so why should we?
One more point- I like to make sure my weak hand(left) is as good as my right... what better way to compare than to use the exact same grips?
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

Lambo said:
I was about to post the same topic earlier.... I have been playing American/french grip for the past 6 + 1/2 years since I started playing, and I have never gotten a good explanation as to why Trad is better for any given situation. And don't get me wrong, I am incredibly intrigued by match and do want to learn it to, but HOW HARD IS IT TO GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER!!!! I'm sure it must be great in certain ways, but it seems totally unnatural....

Please enlighten me, somebody!!!

Righty :)

For jazz, traditional grip is quite ideal as far as I'm concerned. Reasons:

* Right hand is still able to describe a straight line to the cymbal, just like in matched grip. We'll ignore the right hand since it's obviously no different, but this is just to counter the usual "Why not play trad-left with both hands then?" :)
* Stick being on top of the hand makes it easier to execute strokes from extremely low heights - you have to move your hand to get a stroke, instead of the hand being kind of "pulled down" by the stick. Hard to explain, you have to feel it.
* The nature of the grip allows you to change the angle from which the stick strikes the head. For rock or pop I tend towards hitting as close to parallel to the head as I can without hitting the rims, but in jazz comping it is useful tonally to be able to alter the angle up to 45 degrees or even more. Watch some old jazz players and you'll see what I mean. This is really not easily achieveable in matched grip without dropping your snare very low, and that cuts off your ability to his parallel strokes.
* I find it easier to hit the tops (not the edges) of cymbals in traditional grip, for the same reason as the point above. That's often appropriate in jazz where you might just want a very gentle note with the tip of a stick on a crash cymbal rather than a full blown whack like you would in a rock context.
* Again for the same reason, it's easier to play muted strokes into a drum (hit and leave the stick in) with your left hand in trad grip - you can raise the stick angle to nearly ninety degrees and just push down. There's a Peter Erskine video where he does this quite nicely in a solo, it's a pleasant musical effect, particularly when you leave the stick in and use it as a pitch-bend for the other hand by altering the pressure. Doing this in matched grip with the stick a lower angle to the head results in more tension in the wrist.

So, for those reasons I think traditional grip is mechanically better for some uses. I still play mostly matched though, for the same reasons mentioned elsewhere in the thread - adaptability, ability to open up the hands and so forth. I've just developed a fairly seamless way of switching between the two grips (it's the only twirl I do!) and have enough overlap that I can play either way until I get enough time to make the switch.
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

I try to use both, but technically I'm better in mached. Sometimes it feels better to play traditional, sometimes mached, depending on the situation.

But I still believe you can exerciese both grips to play anything with it. You can go as far as you want with each grip. So I think it's more a metter of technique than a metter of grip.

Many drummers proved that you can do everything with both grips.

I play the grip I feel the most comfortable at the moment.

And also: I also like to play marimba and stuff, and you need mached for it.
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

I ve played both.
with matched grip i cant even do an even double stroke roll
with trad i can play good rudiments, which give me a good reputation as a tutor in my area.

That might sound weird to most of u.. I know all the muscle/phisical/mechanical theories......but it s just the way works for me....

Anyone the same as i am?
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

finnhiggins said:
Righty :)

For jazz, traditional grip is quite ideal as far as I'm concerned. Reasons...

I understand the technical differences between grips that allow for higher angles on drums and light hits on crashes (although I don't understand then, why you have your cymbals so high, so forget that advantage). So other than the higher angle possibility, there's no other advantage. I hear people say it gives a lighter feel and better feel and more voice possibilities on the drums, but that's totally incorrect. I can get every little nuance out of my instument playing matched that I heard a old (like 60 something!) jazz player who idolized traditional grip, he was testing me and I proved him wrong. I can understand why people say matched is for more power, but THIS IS ONLY if you don't have that much control out of your left hand! You can be just as subtle with your left with matched grip.

So I choose matched because I have all the same control that traditional people claim is exclusive to them plus both my hands are identical for ambidextrous playing (ease of reversing stickings and such for different voicing around my kit)
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

With traditional grip, you can incorporate fingers into the playing much easier (well, IF you can do it, its very difficult if you were raised match grip). Watch the Drumbassadors or Steve Smith, and just watch how fast the play with just fingers.

As for me, I play traditional when grooving, but switch (quick twirl) to matched when I move around the kit with big fast loud licks. Otherwise I miss stuff, and drop the left stick (mostly because I'm not very good with traditional grip, but always practicing on the pad to get better).,

Also for Jazz comping, I find it better to have the hand UNDER the stick as opposed to over it. I think its easier to manipulate the notes that way, especially triplets.
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

Stu_Strib said:
With traditional grip, you can incorporate fingers into the playing much easier (well, IF you can do it, its very difficult if you were raised match grip). Watch the Drumbassadors or Steve Smith, and just watch how fast the play with just fingers.

As for me, I play traditional when grooving, but switch (quick twirl) to matched when I move around the kit with big fast loud licks. Otherwise I miss stuff, and drop the left stick (mostly because I'm not very good with traditional grip, but always practicing on the pad to get better).,

Also for Jazz comping, I find it better to have the hand UNDER the stick as opposed to over it. I think its easier to manipulate the notes that way, especially triplets.

And what about the right hand? Every of those drummers still play mached with their right hand and have the same controle as with their left (traditional) hand.
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

..... I would say the Free stroke..
you'll say its a stroke, not a grip, but not, its a stroke that can be don only with the "free-grip".. that just my point of view..

just read the way I understand this concept:

in fact, the grips interact on the strokes.. and the "free-stroke-grip" is a combination of these two grips and strokes.

the traditional grip allow you to strokeby turning (don't find the right word, maybe twisting) your wrist and your front armlever..
the matched grip allox you to stroke by flexing you wrist and your arm.

So there two different movements:
-"traditional"=movement or your front arm lever, just like when you roll your fist on a table
-"matched"=movement or your wirst, when you tap on a table, without moving any other part of your body

the free-grip is like like the traditional grip, but with your hand's palm directed to the ground, and the stick is not taken between the fingers, but taken by tuos fingers, in the hand. (it is very significant to keep the hand parallel at the ground).

by this grip you'll be able to do both movements: twisting your front arm, and flexing your wrist...

maybe I'm wrong, cuz I'm a noob drummer, but's that the way I understand this concept
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

I think traditional is a bit more comfortable than matched, but either are fun to play.
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

aahznightsky said:
I understand the technical differences between grips that allow for higher angles on drums and light hits on crashes (although I don't understand then, why you have your cymbals so high, so forget that advantage). So other than the higher angle possibility, there's no other advantage. I hear people say it gives a lighter feel and better feel and more voice possibilities on the drums, but that's totally incorrect.

Not really. How do you get a lighter feel and more voicing possibilities? Changing the angle of the stick is a very powerful way of doing that, yet you just discounted that as an advantage.

As for my cymbals, they're as low as I can get them without being uncomfortable trying to hit crashes through them in matched grip. If I play a crash then my hands would be at about shoulder height at the time of impact. In order to reach the top of the cymbals in matched I have to lift a little above shoulder height and reach "over" the cymbal, in traditional grip I can do it with my hands at shoulder height.

I think ideally it's a good idea to try to keep your hands at or below shoulder height when playing, any higher and I find I get more tension and tiredness creeping in.

As for the person who asked the everlasting "Why not play that way with both hands?" question... I headed that one off earlier: When playing ride cymbal with the right hand it is easier to have the stick in line with the arm to make it easier to stand the weight of holding your arm up in the air for a long time. Simple.

I don't doubt it's possible to get the same control in matched as in traditional. I don't doubt it's possible to get the same power in traditional as in matched. It's just harder to do and takes more time to learn, so I don't see why you wouldn't just learn to switch as appropriate.
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

bahhh, my post was just full of ortograph mistakes....I've just correct them.. sry

anyway if you want to learn more about the "free stroke" technic, go on Vic Firth web site ( www.vicfirth.com ) and find the Dom Faramulo's educative video vault.

Its full of information.
 
Re: Traditional vs. Matched Grips

I dont know about the whole control issue of matched vs. traditional. I dont think that someone can get more control in one grip than the other. I started playing trad about a year ago, but I stopped because I realized that if I can learn to do everything with one grip instead of needing 2, then i'd be better off. Why would you want to switch when you dont have to? If anything, I'd only switch for the emotional feel. If i'm playing jazz, i would rather play traditional than matched just because I like the feel of it, but not because it sounds better. I just find that it's extra effort to learn 2 grips when you dont need to (except for the fact that it looks SO stylish :p).
 
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