THE PERPLEXING CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE TRADITIONAL DRUMMING GRIP

During the 1970s, when the “matched grip only” school of thought began to propagate, theoretical arguments were made to support its presumptive superiority. Here are some of those old arguments against traditional grip with counterpoints:

1. You can never achieve a hand-to-hand evenness of sound unless both hands hold the sticks the same way.

Really? If that is true, why do so many matched grip players exhibit such an uneven hand-to-hand sound? The primary reason for unevenness in sound from hand-to-hand is that the strong hand tends to strike with more authority regardless of what grip method is being used. To achieve an even hand-to-hand sound, the same kind of strokes must be played with equal intent and velocity from an even stick height. The bead of the stick from either hand should impact the drum and rebound with controlled and directed energy and not in the manner of a sloppy, glancing ricochet. Evenness can be achieved using a variety of grip methods, including traditional grip. When all components of each stroke are precisely and correctly applied, there will still be differences in left to right sound for the simple reason that the strokes impact the head from opposing angles. A realistic goal is to minimize hand-to-hand sound differences to the least perceivable level. The ability to do that using either matched or traditional grip is equal as long as the strokes are accurately executed.

2. More muscles are used to turn the wrist using an overhand grip than to rotate the forearm with an underhand grip.

Is that true, and if so, who cares? If your body needed “more muscles” to rotate the forearm than it uses to turn the wrist, it would have them. What makes using “more muscles” a good thing anyway? Indeed, using “fewer muscles” is an indication of greater efficiency. Beyond that, wrist turning is not the only muscle groups used to play drum strokes. Many other variables, including the fingers, forearm, and upper arm muscles, are needed to adjust to continually changing musical requirements like dynamics and tempo. 

3. Matched grip is “more natural” than the traditional grip. The observation often follows this statement that when a pair of drum sticks are handed to a child or a non-drummer, the recipient will “naturally” assume the matched grip.

Yes, indeed, a child or a non-drummer will usually grasp drum sticks with something kind of, sort of, like matched grip, but it’s more as if they’re grabbing a hammer than a drum stick; good for pounding nails, but not for drumming. There is nothing unnatural about a mixed underhand and overhand grasp. Violinists hold their instrument with the left hand under the neck while drawing the bow overhand with the right. A guitar is played with the left hand under the neck while picking and strumming with a right overhand. Does anybody believe those hand positions are “unnatural?”

4. Other than the snare drum or drum set, all percussion instruments are played using matched grip: tympani, timbale, vibes, etc.

There is no rebuttal here; that is a pretty darn good argument, but nobody is saying you should not learn or never use a matched grip. Serious percussionists must learn matched grip. Serious percussionists also know that there are secrets to be unlocked by learning traditional grip.

The traditional grip makes you think differently about what you play and how you play it, resulting in a broader understanding of your art. Mastering classical methods with a left underhand technique will enhance your awareness of how strokes need to be played when using the matched grip, too, because you will develop a more universal and intuitive understanding of the physics that underlay the drum strokes.

You can blindly follow the dictates of those who would claim “there is only one way to play” and be done with it. In fairness, perhaps the drummers who make such claims have studied, experimented, and practiced to find that, indeed, the matched grip is the best way for them to play. Even so, does that make it so for everybody?

Inevitably your style, techniques, and creative approach will change over time. Hopefully, you will make an honest effort to explore various methods and make your conclusions through study, practice, and experience.

“If anybody tells you that there’s only one way to hold the drumstick you have to look at them in disbelief. Because there is no more wandering thing than the fulcrum of a hand-hold when you are really playing loud one time and soft another time.” – Jim Chapin