haroldo_psf
Senior Member
So, I have been taking lessons for about 3 months...
My teacher, when I had my first lesson, told me he has developed his own style of playing (he even has an acronym for it) which was a consequence of an elbow injury. He claimed his style require little effort for a lot of playing. Sounds good, right?
So, he had me practice for the first month only using my thumb and the first joint of the index finger (the joint closer to the tip) to hold the stick, not the other fingers should not be used at all. He said he would "give" me the other fingers gradually later.
I complied. It was hard to practice like this, but I made me really work on always having a good fulcrum.
A month later he "upgraded" me and told me I could use my middle finger now. As soon as I tried, it was soooo nice. It felt much easier, and I was now trained to still keep a good fulcrum between thumb and first joint of index.
I am still at this stage, but I have been curious and have been sneaking practices using my fourth finger (the one by the pinky) as it helps me close my hands a little more and have even more control...
I see his method has really helped me use a fulcrum without thinking about it.
However, after watching JoJo Mayer's Disc 1 (the one on technique basics, grips, etc), I see something wierd.
The grip he is teaching me is not the German, neither the French. It is in between both!
The grip is teaching me has the palms down like the German grip, but instead of having the fulcrum on the first joint of the middle finger (like JoJo described the German grip to be), the fulcrum is on the first joint of the index finger, like the French grip. So, this grip seems like a hybrid of both.
Has anyone seen this or even uses this?
Should I worry that I am learning wierd stuff?
The thing is, after two months of learning from him, he invited me to go see his R&B band play at a fine Restaurant and Lounge, and I have to say, it was world class drumming... It was the most incredible and elaborate and technical drumming I have ever see UP CLOSE.
So, he does walk the talk, as I saw him holding the stick like he teaches me... I just don't know if he is trying to push something very specific to him onto his students, where he should maybe be doing more of the standard stuff...
Thoughts please...
My teacher, when I had my first lesson, told me he has developed his own style of playing (he even has an acronym for it) which was a consequence of an elbow injury. He claimed his style require little effort for a lot of playing. Sounds good, right?
So, he had me practice for the first month only using my thumb and the first joint of the index finger (the joint closer to the tip) to hold the stick, not the other fingers should not be used at all. He said he would "give" me the other fingers gradually later.
I complied. It was hard to practice like this, but I made me really work on always having a good fulcrum.
A month later he "upgraded" me and told me I could use my middle finger now. As soon as I tried, it was soooo nice. It felt much easier, and I was now trained to still keep a good fulcrum between thumb and first joint of index.
I am still at this stage, but I have been curious and have been sneaking practices using my fourth finger (the one by the pinky) as it helps me close my hands a little more and have even more control...
I see his method has really helped me use a fulcrum without thinking about it.
However, after watching JoJo Mayer's Disc 1 (the one on technique basics, grips, etc), I see something wierd.
The grip he is teaching me is not the German, neither the French. It is in between both!
The grip is teaching me has the palms down like the German grip, but instead of having the fulcrum on the first joint of the middle finger (like JoJo described the German grip to be), the fulcrum is on the first joint of the index finger, like the French grip. So, this grip seems like a hybrid of both.
Has anyone seen this or even uses this?
Should I worry that I am learning wierd stuff?
The thing is, after two months of learning from him, he invited me to go see his R&B band play at a fine Restaurant and Lounge, and I have to say, it was world class drumming... It was the most incredible and elaborate and technical drumming I have ever see UP CLOSE.
So, he does walk the talk, as I saw him holding the stick like he teaches me... I just don't know if he is trying to push something very specific to him onto his students, where he should maybe be doing more of the standard stuff...
Thoughts please...