I know at least 5 friends who play drums, which is a lot (or not).

They, ironically, all play different genres.
1. Punk
2. Emo
3. Rap (WTF)
4. Hip-hop (WTF)
5. Traditional

None of them play metal, the emo kid just does double bass and almost no hi hats/ride.

What would be the best way to hold the sticks, for rolls and regular playing? Ive had FIVE different ways told to me, and there has to be a better way before my joints give out on me.

read the thread below this one

__________________

Weld sticks to some medievil gauntlents.

There is no best way to hold sticks, its personal preference.

__________________

But there ARE BETTER ways. like dont hold it with your teeth first try it with yuor hands to begin with.

You are a fucking genius.

__________________

Ahh fuck you beat me to it.

I haven't played drums very much, but I always liked holding sticks with my hands.

__________________

actually go traditional, i wanna see blasts from that grip, im too lazy to learn it myself

__________________

Like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBEh...etal%20drumming

__________________

damn!

__________________

Yeah that dude kicks some ass.

__________________

I hate traditional grip, may it rot in hell. Most people who play trad grip switch to matched grip at some point. I'll explain my personal preference here and see if it helps.

Ok, this is hard to explain...

1.I start with an open palm. I put the stick in the little dip just where the fingers start then curl them around the stick gently.

2. Then I put my thumb on top of my index finger, so the tip of my thumb ends right at the top joint.

3. Then I angle both of my hands so the index finger is sort of on top and the sticks rest in a sort of a wide V on any flat surface. I never let my thumb go on top or under the stick as that causes pain (basically some of the shock from the stick bounce goes into the thumb).

4. I hold the stick very loosely, so anyone can take it out of my hand with very little effort. I use a drop-and-catch technique where I use the bounce of the stick as much as possible. Basically, I barely hold the stick.

The bitching thing with holding sticks very litghly is that it takes a long time to learn to control them, and for about 6 months or so it means that sticks constantly fly out of your hands, but in the end it means more sensitive,speedy playing with less effort. Just be careful, I pretty much obliterated my left wrist using this technique wrong.

__________________

scary

__________________

It's not scary, just difficult to explain. Holding sticks is pretty intuitive business and there is very little that can go wrong. I took a picture of how I do it, but remember that holding sticks is very personal. I play matched grip myself, others do the wanky traditional grip, but it's up to you. You have to find the best balance spot on the stick yourself.

Attached Images

stick_hold.JPG (71.0 KB, 117 views)

__________________

this is the best way to go.

traditional is cool, mostly the jazz crowd does it. some people start out out still using it.

i hate stick tricks tho, thats useless. but either traditional or matched doesnt really impact techniques

__________________

Well, you'll find that most trad grip players will switch their grip to matched to play certain things. I don't like it, but as I said, drums are very personal. My drum teacher is a jazz player by the way and abhores trad grip.

__________________

It's up to how you handle your sticks, just remember epmhasise your hands movement!

That's similar to the way I do it too. Mostly with my right hand whenever I perhaps play on the ride.

But most of the time I just play using regular matched grip, with the thumb on top of the stick.

If I ever do play traditional, it's only for screwing around, and I can only do it left handed, meaning my left hand is the hand I use to wrap my hand around the stick the way you would usually do it with your right hand. Can't do buzz rolls if I had it in my right hand that way. Wierd.

The biggest problem when doing buzz rolls or open double stroke rolls is I eventually start sticking my pinky and index fingers out. I try my best not to, but if I do a roll long enough, I'll end up looking like a queer at a tea party.

__________________

I cannot sometimes control my fingers when I do some or the rollings! But when you emphasise It, Whew, I got It perfectly!

__________________