New to lessons- stick grip to get left hand moving?

[kellyt]

Hi there,

I just came to this site for the first time and there seems to be a lot of good, including professional, drummers who respond to forums with (from what I can tell, despite my general lack of experience) some great advice. As a brief background, I've always been into music and think I have a natural talent for it (not to say I don't need to practice, of course!). I took guitar lessons for about four/five years back in middle school, but I was never good about practicing when it came to the hard stuff, so I quit a while ago. That said, I've always loved drums and my passion to learn drums has never ceased.

When I was 12, I got a Tama Rockstar kit (which is what I play on today), but I failed to do much other than play to music on the radio/CDs (I did take a few drum lessons in the past-- I once took a few lessons from a guy who didn't teach me anything (he only just showed off his skills), and I also took lessons in college, but the latter was hard to keep up being in a dorm room/not having a set at school).

Now at 23, I've been inspired to get serious about drumming, both b/c I love the instrument and feel I could go far with it, and also, though on a less serious level, by the thought that I don't want to be 50 and wish that I'd honed any potential skills (this feeling was brought on by my mom who, bless her soul, is learning piano for the first time in her 50s-- and she's getting very good!).

Anyways-- I am currently taking lessons from a wonderful teacher, Steve Larrance, and I've already learned a great deal from him in the four weeks we've had lessons. And, yes, we're learning from Stick Control (a book I'd actually gotten in college), and he's making me learn all 40 rudiments by name! :)

The reason I'm writing is to see if there are ways to hold sticks to get my left hand moving faster. As Steve has told me, my left hand may never be as good/fast as my right, but I'd like to try my best, and, moreover, I want to learn the best/most used techniques from the beginning (probably a total "beginner statement," as I'm sure there are many different, good techniques and it probably also depends on the person). To explain-- and forgive me, but I don't know the actual term for how I'm holding the sticks-- I play with my both right and left palm down (does that make sense?).

So I'm wondering if any of you, and particularly professional drummers who have been playing for a long time, have any advice? Steve has given me some ideas, but I feel that I can always learn more.

Oh-- and I'm a good practicer nowadays. :) I'm also very open to new ideas, so if there's anything else you can share I'd appreciate it.

Sorry for the long-winded e-mail. You might be able to tell that it's my first time posting a thread like this...


Thanks!

kellyt

thanks in advance.

[Mikey Dangerous]

Hi Kelly,
Welcome back to the wonderful world of drumming!!
To answer your question about the name of grip you are using, it sounds like from your description what's known as "Matched Grip" - both hands look the same, palms down, with sticks in between thumb and outside of index finger.

I have the same problem and am starting lessons tomorrow with this being the first priority. If you can play along with songs on your drumset, I would try playing those songs using your left hand on the hi-hat instead of the right (called left-hand lead). You may also want to try playing on a pillow or some other soft surface that doesn't give a lot of bounce. The idea is that you have to rely on your wrist more to bring the stick back up instead of utilizing the rebound you would get off a drum, cymbal, or practice pad. I don't promote or advocate the "pillow technique" and there are strong arguments both for and against it (see a different thread on this site for more) but you MAY want to try it. Either way, mention it to your teacher and see what he has to say. I do recommend the left-hand lead thing though.

Our stories are actually quite similar which is one of the reasons I responded to your thread, even though you called for advice more so from pro drummers. I played the drums from ages 10-19 (I took private lessons from a GREAT drummer for a few months when I was 12 but moved shortly after) and thought I had real potential. I stopped when I was 19 due to going to University and not having the right living conditions for playing drums. After 6 years away from the drums I was really starting to miss it and luckily for me, a few guys I work with had a band and needed a drummer, so I went out for a few jam sessions and everything meshed well.

I've been back playing the drums for a year-and-a-half (and still with that band) and am more passionate about it than ever. I still live in an apartment and hence don't have a drum set here so I keep it at my lead singer's house which is our jam spot....but I've made good friends with my practice pad and books like Stick Control, Syncopation and other "Essential" books. In the last 1.5 years since I've been back at it, I've gigged quite a bit and even recorded a few songs in a studio. We're planning to record a full length album this summer, continue gigging, and maybe even go on a tour of sorts (depending on work and $$ - as if being a drummer wasn't expensive enough, hahaha). I just wanted to share that with you, again because of our similarities, and also to let you know in case you want to do something similar with your drumming. As you can see, it's totally possible.

Even with what I've been able to do with drums over the last little while (not that it's anything big), I'm still taking lessons to work on basic fundamentals like technique, developing my left hand, and rudiments because I realize they are so valuable and will serve as a catalyst to my progress as a drummer.....even though the majority of what I will work on in my lessons will be practiced on a practice pad. Hopefully I'll get myself into a house soon so I can keep the drums with me and apply what I will have learned to the kit and develop from there.

One more piece of advice for you as well. Drummerworld is a GREAT site and resource and there is a wealth of information available on the forum. You should check out the thread about drum teachers in the "Drum Technique" section of the forum called something like, "Teachers, the good, the bad, and the ugly" to help make sure you're getting the most out of your lessons and from a good teacher as well - after all, you're the one paying for them. There's a lot of stories and experiences in that thread that I think you will find insightful.
Also, I'm not sure if you asked your teacher about the name of the grip you are using, but if you did, and he didn't know....run! hahaha
You may also want to check out the Drum Clinic and Videos sections of Drummerworld.com because there's a lot of great stuff in there that you can work on in addition to your lessons, or separately as more of a "self study". If you want to work on rudiments and technique, it's in there. If you want to work on grooves, fills, and patterns, it's in there. If you want to be inspired by some great drumming, yep, it's in there. Plus you have the peace of mind in knowing that if Bernhard felt it was good enough to put it on the site, then there's value in it.

Best of luck,

- Mike