Learn How To Hold Your DrumSticks
Holding drumsticks in a proper manner is one of the most essential techniques every drummer must know when first learning how to play drums. There are many drummers who don’t realize the importance of drumstick grip, which in turn, hinders their learning curve. Maximum bounce and control can only be obtained through a perfect grip on the drumsticks. With a good grip you will be able to play the drums with more ease and efficiency.
If you want to learn how to play drums, first you must learn the art of holding drumsticks. The quicker you learn how to hold drumsticks, the better drummer you will be. Since practicing this art in a wrong manner could take a lot of time in enhancing your drumming skills, it is better to educate yourself about the right ways to hold drumsticks.
Using The Matched Grip:
Matched grip style is considered to be one of the most important drumstick grips. It has become the standard grip style for different genres of music. In this style, the sticks must be held in both the hands in a similar manner. Your left and right hand must match. Listed below are some ways of holding drumsticks with matched grip:
Germanic Grip:
This grip is common for corps drumming and rock drumming. In Germanic grip, the drummer has to hold the drumsticks at the fulcrum point also known as the balance point, with the index finger and thumb. The rest of the fingers must be placed on the bottom of the stick. The angle, in which a drummer plays with the sticks, makes this grip style different. When the drumsticks are placed on the snare drum, a 90 degree angel must be made with it. Once a drummer is able to find this angle, his or her elbows will stick out a bit, which is normal.
American Grip:
Germanic grip and American grip are somewhat similar; however, the angle of the sticks changes a bit in American grip. In this grip style, the elbow of the drummer does not stick out or the drumsticks are not held at an angle of 90 degrees. In fact the drummer can relax a bit and let his or her arms fall. The sticks usually cut down at a 45 degrees angle or so. This is the most comfortable and common style of drumming.
French Grip:
This grip style is not similar to American and Germanic grip. Drummers can relax their arms even more and bring the sticks together. The drumsticks are brought so close that they become almost parallel. This is considered to be a very unique style because the sticks are held palms up and not palms down. Due to this, it becomes possible to use the fingers and get more speed. But the lack of power from the strokes is the main drawback of this grip style.
Using The Traditional Grip:
Traditional grip is another style of drumstick grip and it is commonly used in corps drumming and jazz drumming. Drummers in army corps, who had snare drums resting on their hips, designed this style. It was difficult for them to play their snare drum at that angle with matched grip. Therefore, they introduced the new traditional grip in which they held their hand underneath the drumsticks. If a drummer wants to achieve this grip, he or she will have to hold the stick palms up or upside down with their hand. It is essential to find the stick’s balance point and place it in the pocket of the index finger and thumb. The stick must be rested on the last two fingers and the middle and index finger must be on top of the stick.
As far as rock drumming and other heavy drumming styles are concerned, traditional grip is not very popular. This is because in this style, the drummer has to play with his hands underneath the drumsticks and there is not much power in the strokes. Due to this, traditional grip is used for jazz and other softer styles of drumming. If you do not play this style properly, there are strong chances that you might get hurt. So learn it the right way in order to prevent such disaster.
No matter what style of drumming you are interested in, it is essential to learn how to hold drumsticks in every style. Make sure that you learn traditional as well as matched grip styles because in the long run it will help you have more control and feel.
Do you want to learn drums? Visit LearningDrums.com for more information.
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