Dumming noob...stick holding advice

Virtuoso80

Junior Member
Hey all,

I'm a pianist/guitarist who's always been interested in drums, and I finally got around to getting myself a practice pad to work with. I've been experimenting with different stick grips, and I read a few things on proper grip, but my hands keep gravitating toward one particular grip, and I was just curious if it was legitimately useful or not.

What I like to is hold my fingers out, with the thumb above them, and basically hold the stick near my fingertips, away from the palm, find the 'bounce' point of the stick, and basically do the playing with my thumb and back three fingers. I find it far easier to get fast and loose double strokes and the like this way. Is this a viable technique that any drummers use, or am i basically wasting time practicing this way?
 
Hey all,

I'm a pianist/guitarist who's always been interested in drums, and I finally got around to getting myself a practice pad to work with. I've been experimenting with different stick grips, and I read a few things on proper grip, but my hands keep gravitating toward one particular grip, and I was just curious if it was legitimately useful or not.

What I like to is hold my fingers out, with the thumb above them, and basically hold the stick near my fingertips, away from the palm, find the 'bounce' point of the stick, and basically do the playing with my thumb and back three fingers. I find it far easier to get fast and loose double strokes and the like this way. Is this a viable technique that any drummers use, or am i basically wasting time practicing this way?
Which one of these is it most like?

right-grips.jpg


These are 3 of the most common grips. Each have their pros and cons. Yours sounds like it might be near to French grip, which gives a quite light touch. German grip can be more hard hitting but there's a little more effort involved.
 
Not like any of those. I have my fingers fully extended...so like if we're talking about right hand, all four fingers are pointing directly left, thumb over the top (almost like you're doing a sock puppet upside down), and I have the stick in between the fingers and the thumb, totally away from the palm and near the fingertips, and I'm using the 'thumb muscle' to move the stick.
 
Not like any of those. I have my fingers fully extended...so like if we're talking about right hand, all four fingers are pointing directly left, thumb over the top (almost like you're doing a sock puppet upside down), and I have the stick in between the fingers and the thumb, totally away from the palm and near the fingertips, and I'm using the 'thumb muscle' to move the stick.
Sounds like you invented a new grip. Seriously, I'd go to a teacher and get some good advice. The grip's fundamental to drumming and you need to get it right. You could waste a lot of time, injure yourself or just make things difficult for yourself by persisting with something that's just not efficient.
 
That kind of grip might work ok on a pad, but once you get on a kit and your arms start flying around and you start playing on different surfaces and at different angles, I don't think that grip will give you much control.
 
No need to invent new grips, there's enough of them around (and they're well proven).

When you started learning the piano and guitar did you go by yourself or did you have a teacher/good sources to learn from, to acquire good technique? The same strategy applies to any instrument, drums included.
 
Yeah its like making up new chord patterns, they might work, but not all over the place and if you don't know the basics your in for trouble. PS your grip might be useful in certain situations, but learn the right way first. There's actually a bunch of funky grips that work, but not as well as the standards.
 
His grip is,"Eagle Grip" its basically German grip with the fingers extended when not in use.

And op, switch to German grip, look up some videos demonstrating it, its basically the same thing just more ergonomic.
 
When you started learning the piano and guitar did you go by yourself or did you have a teacher/good sources to learn from, to acquire good technique? The same strategy applies to any instrument, drums included.

You're asking that rhetorically, but in my teens I was very anti-music teacher, so I'm largely self-taught on guitar. Piano I have classical training and went to college for. There are pluses and minuses to both IMO.
 
Don't invent a new way to hold sticks. Learn how to do it properly from the beginning. Matched grip and traditional grip have been around for nearly a century because they work, don't strain muscles and allow playing loosely. Also, with drums, you should never be anti-teacher. All drummers have to have instruction at some point whether it's online like at Mikes Lessons or (preferably) live. There's no reason to make up a foundation for grip because a foundation has already been laid; you just have to learn the proper technique.

Here's some vids that may help you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI3ajQuyBEE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-9JKh0jnoo
 
Reading and writing about correct grip is much like reading and writing about a golf swing....almost impossible to interpret. It's so much easier to be shown correctly......easier to visualise how it should look and ultimately, feel. Get a teacher or competent drummer to go through it with you.
 
You're asking that rhetorically, but in my teens I was very anti-music teacher, so I'm largely self-taught on guitar. Piano I have classical training and went to college for. There are pluses and minuses to both IMO.

Your grip sounds more French to me, but I would say, based on what you're telling us, you should learn a proper grip really to prevent injury. You should be involving your index finger in lieu of your pinky. I use a matched grip because I am self-taught. I just learned by watching other drummers play and mimic what they do.

I am also self-taught on guitar too and I hardly ever use a pick. I'm more like a Lindsey Buckingham type of player.
 
Virtuoso80 sounds like you're on the money. This grip position should give power, control, speed and finesse, you really are virtuosic if you've developed a finger tip grip as a beginner.
Ideally the sticks should be cradled by the fingers, away from the palm, but with enough solidity that they aid in rebound. Would be good to see a video....

Leibe Zeit, the grips in the image you put up don't look fantastic, namely that the grips are 'clamping' between the thumb and forefinger. There should be space there.
 
Virtuoso80 sounds like you're on the money. This grip position should give power, control, speed and finesse, you really are virtuosic if you've developed a finger tip grip as a beginner.
Ideally the sticks should be cradled by the fingers, away from the palm, but with enough solidity that they aid in rebound. Would be good to see a video....

Leibe Zeit, the grips in the image you put up don't look fantastic, namely that the grips are 'clamping' between the thumb and forefinger. There should be space there.

Because I have a piano background, I have a strange bit of ability/inability when it comes to switching to drums. Yesterday I was practicing doing triplets in one hand over quadruplets in the other, and changing dominance between the hands (crescendoing one hand while the other decrescendos, and vice versa). On the other hand, my bass drum skills and coordination are dismal. I tried doing a common beat I hear (think "Aces High" by Iron Maiden) and I can't get the bass drum syncopation right at all. Yes I know...start really slow and work your way up!

Also, your second comment brings me to another question: How much vibration should I be feeling through the hands? If I try to use a 'correct' grip, and also keep my hands loose, then the sticks vibrate in my hands when they strike, which I have to think is wrong because it actually hurts my hand after a short time.
 
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