has anyone switched from matched grip to traditional grip after many years of playing?

G

georgeusa

Active Member
has anyone switched from matched grip to traditional grip after many years of playing?

if so, what do u think about matched grip now? is traditional something you would stick with?

also i would like to hear from people who did the other way around

i.e played traditional grip many years and switched to matched grip after many years of playing

thanks
 
it's more like "Known of both since age 14 about 1970" and have the freedom to use either, and , or..
at will.
It's not a one or the other. It's a freedom to choose when where and how 😁
Look at it that way 😁

and don't forget nor discount the (one) butt end out in matched
the Purdie grip 😁
 
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I learned to play Traditional Grip originally in the 70's, primarily because my tutor's background was "Marching", & that's how he played.
I switched to Matched Grip some time in the 80's, when I had my first (ahem), "larger"kit.
Then I had a period of not playing at all (life got in the way...) but when my wife & sons bought me a kit in the early 2000's, it seemed natural to play Matched again- mainly because I found it easier to get around a 7-piece this way.

Occasionally, during my bands' quieter/slower numbers, I use Traditional Grip -BUT , I can't articulate my left wrist like I used to, & have neither the power nor accuracy that (I think) I once had.

When watching guys like Virgil Donati absolutely nailing it with Traditional Grip, I wonder how the **** they do it.....????

In summary, I believe it's similar to my standpoint on Rudiments; nobody has (probably) ever said that rudiments made them a worse drummer, & being able to play both Matched & Traditional Grip (not just one or the other) to some degree must surely be considered another tool in your toolbox.

There's no right or wrong IMHO; we choose what suits us best.;)(y)
 
I’m going on my 5th decade of drumming and can both play about equally. I started as a matched player under the guidance of a pretty good technique teacher. He taught both and gave me the choice to pick, but based on my rather childish suborn tween musical tastes at the time ( Kiss, Cars, Styx) he recommended matched. He told me matched would be easier to learn which sealed the deal. In retrospect, I wish I had chosen traditional, because I think it’s easier to learn matched if you already play traditional. But anyways over all these years, I’ve become proficient at both. I prefer traditional for brush playing and matched for timbales and other percussion instruments. But for run-of-the-mill rock, country, funk, straightahead, jazz, I’m OK either grip, but matched would be my choice if I had to pick one or the other.
 
I never play one for very long... within a day! 😁
Must admit my 'matched" tho is butt end out in the left;
wasn't always that way..but at some point it became that. (and never since used two tips out) (that's just me

with butt end out in left it's immediate- to flip- between matched (Purdie) and Trad. Even if you don't (Flip.
It's at the ready (due to butt end out..

I don't have the energy for two tips (matched) out since my late 20s..
and compensated with the heavier 'butt end out' in the left for fuller sound thicker sound and now that's the way it 'tis
 
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Started with matched when I picked up the sticks at 10 in 1982. Fast forward to 1999, my band broke up with no prospective band on the horizon so I decided to give traditional a go. I sat down in front of a mirror with a practice pad, took it real slow and have been playing traditional ever since. My muscle memory for matched (in my left hand) isn't what it used to be but that's fine with me. Haven't had any physical issues other than at 51, my speed has decreased a little, not like I'm trying to break any records or anything.
 
After many failed attempts at switching from matched to traditional, I finally figured out what my big stumbling block was.

I kept expecting to get the same sound, feel, volume, and response from one grip that I get from the other. That was dumb. If they were the same, why bother switching?

Once I accepted that my trad was going to be a whole different thing from my matched, I started making progress.
 
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After 6 years of matched, I got really into open-hand/left lead & after about 5 yrs, I decided to further complicate my education & embrace playing Trad grip as much as possible. Just like the switch to open-left, there are some things that feel seamless & natural w/ traditional, but weirdly my right makes the motion my left should way more naturally & at this point ib my life, i dont have the time to drill muscle memory for "new" skills at the cost of maintaining my dwindling trickbag. If I found a project I could workshop it with, might catch on then, but for ease, Im back to matched grip & a very simple, non-idiosyncratic set up
 
There's absolutely no reason to be an extremist with either. You can use both. However, you're probably best off getting really good with one grip and then learning the other or else you end up like me - mediocre at both.
 
TMe said:
After many failed attempts at switching from matched to traditional, I finally figured out what my big stumbling block was.

I kept expecting to get the same sound, feel, volume, and response from one grip that I get from the other. That was dumb. If they were the same, why bother switching?

Once I accepted that my trad was going to be a whole different thing from my matched, I started making progress.
Click to expand...
Damn..thats me!...word for word. I think I'll do some traditional work (again). Thanks for that angle. 😃.
 
Sort of. I was self-taught from 9th grade until college. I started with matched and then tried to switch to traditional in 10th grade but my technique was so bad I ended up hurting my wrist (maybe permanently, hard to say). I then switched back to matched senior year so I could actually play things somewhat competently. But I started taking lessons in college and applying the rudimental exercises my teacher was showing me in matched grip to traditional grip. That helped sure up my technique. Traditional just feels better to me for whatever reason. I pretty much use it for everything, although I'll switch to matched for some stuff (pretty much just to shake things up).
 
I remember Dave Weckl saying that he plays both and not for one being better than the other..he doesn't think there is. He switches for emotional reasons as traditional makes him THINK a certain way. When he said that I thought hmm..ok..i get that.
 
I was taught and for eight years played traditional grip until switching to matched when I was about 18.

Traditional is something that deep down I know and will always have a connection to - like some small town, I was born in and spent much of my childhood in.

Always much like that same small town, that I could never imagine in a thousand years choosing to move back to. There were reasons why I switched to matched and none of those reason have changed one bit.

Plus of many supposed pros and cons, all I can see for returning to traditional.... are cons.

Facility? No advantage one over the other.

Dynamics? Matched beats Trad hands down.... yes, there are many guys that can play loud trad - but not many... and pushing it is fraught with potential injuries.

Range of Motion? Again matched rules. And again, I know lots is possible - but sorry, but I always crack up a bit when I watch the gyrations Vinnie goes through to crash that left side china. Don't get me wrong - I love his playing. And being about my age, I can imagine his investment throughout his life in playing trad. And of course while his playing - more than about anyone's - represents a player free of any and constraints - the extreme arm movement need to hit that china still remains.

Nostalgia? Basically the only possible "pro" for me would be some feeling of "going back to momma" - going back to that "small town". But sorry, life there wasn't so great... Not hurting my thumb joint playing backbeats was a continual challenging. Getting around large kits also a problem. And granted, these days I don't often need to be able to get around the kit like Cobham with Mahavishnu in '73.... but frankly, sometimes I do. And I can't now figure out how to do that with traditional grip - no more than I could 50 years ago (when I was pondering switching).

So of course, to each his own - we all have different backgrounds and needs and desires. But speaking for me, after having switched to match 50 years ago, I have never had any more desire to switch back to traditional than I have to move back to West Des Moines, Iowa. Which is to say... none at all.
 
I have always played matched but I used traditional with brushes because it felt better. I stopped playing but I still mess around on the practice pad and I have been using trad grip to see if I can develop a nice fulcrum since my LH matched technique has been habitually stiff for decades. or the record, I don't have a nice fulcrum yet and can still play much more with matched.
 
georgeusa said:
has anyone switched from matched grip to traditional grip after many years of playing?

if so, what do u think about matched grip now? is traditional something you would stick with?

also i would like to hear from people who did the other way around

i.e played traditional grip many years and switched to matched grip after many years of playing

thanks
Click to expand...
Playing for 35 years off and on and always matched until this year when i started to learn Swing. I use traditional for swing and some Jazz Rock now. I find traditional easier for ghost notes and light touch . it still feels odd to me when i hit Cymbals with my left though. the angle and approach are different. I also only play t5raditional on 5A or 7A sticks. The Usual 5B i play feel too heavy in my left hand.
 
Another person who still continues to switch (unconsciously) from matched to trad.

My preference is, and control comes from matched grip, however.
 
Not switched but certainly using trad more than ever. Im still faster and more accurate with matched grip but like to use trad when i have the capacity
 
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