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

Whats really interesting is--whether you use one grip or the other you should find that if your a matched player--practicing trad grip will actually help and strengthen your weaker hand and vice versa for trad players--after that it comes down to preference and comfortability as to what your primary grip is
 
0neyellowdrum said:
My first lessons were with a 'jazz, big band' drummer who taught both. I was directed to practice rudiments both ways. Why not learn both? The more tools you have the better you become. It does not make sense to me to limit oneself to either or.

I totally agree. Why don't use both ? You don't need anything else than your hands, so try, try, try and try again !!
 
vince said:
I totally agree. Why don't use both ? You don't need anything else than your hands, so try, try, try and try again !!

i agree 20 characters
 
i use match grip right now because im having trouble with traditional grip but im working on it. I can't get a good hard hit with traditional.
 
aahznightsky said:
OK I'll just get started with some stuff


MATCHED

+grip for both hands is identical
=good for reversing stickings
=good for open handed playing

- ???


TRADITIONAL

+supposed better nuances and sounds than matched (but I play matched and have the same control I don't understand people that say this) mostly jazz players advocate this

+this is the only real advantage i see of this grip=easy to do crosstick without tricky manipulation of the stick...

-range of motion is decreased. In traditional grip your stick is naturally turned a little more inwards, meaning it overlaps with range from your other hand, annnd you have to turn your arm more to the left in order to reach that direction than you would with matched grip.

-you have to learn totally different grips, techniques, and work different muscles in your two arms.

() originally developed in marching snare drummers who had their drums severely tilted to one side and away from them, so as to not damage their wrists with their left hand's grip. Of course you can still tilt your drums away from you if you want, but thats just a note

Not always. I grip each stick differently.
 
i've always been a matched grip player, but i tried learning traditional grip for kicks a couple years ago. i never was too serious about it after the first month or two, but i've continued messing around with it and now i find that a lot of times when i'm playing jazz i'll switch back and forth between the grips.

it's actually somewhat unconcious now, but i think it has a lot to do with wanting to get smoother drags. i find traditional grip just lets me drag a little more cleanly. however, just because it's stronger, i used matched grip for choruses and when i play on the toms so i can control my accents.

anyone else do this?
 
There are no real pros or cons. No grip is better than the other, but I find that each grip has a different feel to it.

Whem I want to play with a lighter sound or wit more sensistivety I'll switch to traditional and when I feel like playing heavier I play matched.

Its' all feel really.
 
I most often switch off to Trad grip when wanting to play softly and/or with lots of ghost notes. I think it works better for that sort of playing or when you intentionally want to limit the volume of you snare work. The rest of the time I find it a detriment to moving around the kit and to dynamic range with the left hand.

I think Trad grip makes less sense because my arms look the same, until I contort one into holding a drumsick underhanded. I want my two arms/hands to be eqally able around my kit, and I have yet to figure out how an asymetrical grip aids this intention.

It should be noted that these are the opinions of someone who was taught matched grip from the "get-go" but has tried traditional grip many times to attempt to take advantage of its strengths.
 
im not so sure anymore about whats better or not.

a couple days ago i was listening to danny carey and todd sucherman. in my opinion they are both very powerfull and amazing drummers. danny carey is very dynamical with the set and flows around the set(if you listen to tool youll know what i mean). he uses matched grip. and todd sucherman is just the same. i saw his video on this site. and he uses traditional. im just stumped on which is better. neil peart used matched, now he is trad. and if i remember correctly bonzo played trad. later in his career. so its not just a jazz thing. seems like its a preferance thing
 
I can open hand play even with tradional grip, but I'm right-handed, so I take the the one stick I'm using on the snare like pen, but otherwise I do not use at all traditional grip. Sometimes I do this at the nearby rehearsal, but I definitely tend to use the matched grup.

I'm open-handed oriented. I mean that despite being strongly right-handed I started teaching myself from the very first begining only to lead with my left hand on the hi-hat and the cymbal.
 
Thanks everyone for the pros and cons, but i would like to know if anyone could point me to any videos of a demonstration of the traditional grip. Ive been playing match grip for 4 years (the entrie duration of my drumming) and would like to learn traditional.
Thanks
 
DogBreath said:
Did you even bother to read this thread before responding?

Yes I did and I disagree. There really is no Pro's and con's. They are equal.

If they weren't equal then why would someone make matched grip? So they can lose advantages of traditional grip? Exactly. They are equal, but like I said have different feel.
 
No, what you said is there are no pros or cons for either grip, which is of course a ridiculous statement. As to their being equal, two things can be equal in value and yet have completely different uses and applications.
 
DogBreath said:
No, what you said is there are no pros or cons for either grip, which is of course a ridiculous statement. As to their being equal, two things can be equal in value and yet have completely different uses and applications.

Okay first of all I don't see what your saying no to.

Second of all give me examples of how traditonal grip can be equal in "value" but is used for a different application for the better.
 
traditional or matched grip

i am a matched grip player. but i recently have been inspired by drummers who are all traditional. do you think i should switch to traditional? i know its a question that invovles my personal opinoun, but shouldd i switch or stay?
 
I play matching grip,even though I know basic traditional grip as I was a marching band drummer for some time...traditional is much harder to me,the only advantage is beeing able to play some interesting stuff on the snare...keep in mind that traditional grip is marching grip..for the set(no offence to the traditional players) it's obsolete...
 
Re: Keep the Tradition alive

actually its a huge debate. i think each person must do what's right for them. matched grip suits me. besides, you may not know this but matched grip is far older than 'trad' grip. trad grip was invented because marching drummers wore their snares on the left hip and it was more comfortable to play the drum with their left elbow down. but before the advent of the marching snare humans were playing with the drum or percussive instrument in front of them (ironically as our kits are today) and so they used matched grips of various kinds. this goes back to prehistory.so what is the real traditional grip?

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to my mind it is illogical to learn the 'trad' grip on a modern kit. the old masters learned it because they came off marching groups and onto dixxie kits etc. or their teachers insisted learning the 'marchin' firs' '. some guys will tell you that trad grip means the left stick is on top of your hand and so easier to articulate with touch and feel. but the truth is a good matched technique allows for this too. in my opinion 'trad' should be obsolete.
but...
if you learned matched stick with it. if you learned trad stick with it. but there are so many more important things you could be learning on drums than wasting a huge amount of precious practice time changing grips and bringing the new grip up to speed with what you already had with your old grip.

j
 
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