BOBBY THOMPSON and LES PARKS UN-TRADITIONAL SNARE GRIP

AN UN-TRADITIONAL GRIP
New drummers find the traditional method of holding the left-hand drumstick challenging to learn, and many have abandoned the style in favor of matched grip. The truth is that right-handed people will always have difficulty getting the left stick under control, regardless of grip technique. Let us assume that you have overcome the stereotypical resistance and have discovered for yourself the joy of playing traditional grip—this information is for you.

There is a uniquely American innovation to the traditional left-hand grip that is alien to most drummers. The method is often referred to as “the Bobby Thompson grip” because he did so much to promote it through his performance as a drummer with the Sons of Liberty and instructor for the Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights. Thompson developed the method while working with Les Parks when they performed together in The Sons of Liberty fife and drum corps from Brooklyn, New York (1947-1968.)

Les Parks was the founder and director of The Sons Of Liberty; he was a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where he studied percussion under Morris Goldenberg.¹ Les Parks instructed the St. Vincent Cadets, Garfield Cadets, the Hawthorne Caballeros, the New York Skyliners, and many others during his career.

The concept behind this unique grip method was to better facilitate left-hand stick control by using more of the index finger and less of the thumb. A palm-up, flat-handed thumb grip could not deliver the kind of precise control and power needed for competitive rudimental drumming.

The Thompson/Parks method resembles the traditional left-hand grip in every respect except that the little finger is curled back, supporting the ring finger. The middle finger extends alongside the stick to balance and guide the strokes, but it does not touch it. The index finger acts as the primary controlling digit by pushing down or pulling in. The thumb lightly meets the index finger, creating a narrow fulcrum point for the stick to balance on.

As a drummer with The Golden Knights, Marty Hurley learned from Bobby Thompson; he said, “When the pinky finger is back, it forms a better bridge for the stick to rest on. The ring finger is less likely to move. Les and Bobby spent hours perfecting the technique. They wanted a method that had the left hand under more control.”²

Hurley was the percussion arranger/caption head of the Phantom Regiment (1976-1992.) He was inducted into the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame in 2012.

According to Marty Hurley’s brother, Jim Hurley, curling the little finger under the fourth finger was “Bobby Thompson’s idea, not Les Parks.” Jim Hurley also said, “The elbows are positioned about one fist width out from the body ... stroke power originates at the shoulder.” JH remembers Thompson as mild-mannered and kind. “You never heard Bobby curse or saw him angry. All the kids in the corps loved him, they would do anything for him.”³

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THOMPSON/PARKS
LEFT-HAND GRIP

1. The forearm is rotated with the thumb to the top creating a narrow fulcrum point where the stick balances.

2. The curled little finger acts as a natural pendulum, which helps rotate the palm to position the thumb topside. More arm muscles can then be involved to enhance power, control, and stamina. The forearm has a more outward rotational range available to play full strokes and accents.

3. Upward support from the curled little finger enables the ring finger to work as a springboard under the stick; this creates a more secure grip by helping the left-hand muscles apply pressure where needed.

4. It helps ensure that the left-hand stroke motions are more direct and not moving in an elongated elliptical path.

The Thompson/Parks method does not require the player to deviate from the correct underhand technique’s established principles. However, it enhances awareness of how one uses it, helping the drummer focus and burn the underhand grip habit into the muscle memory until it becomes a natural and unconscious act.

The traditional underhand stick grip has been with us for hundreds of years, and the Thompson/Parks technique is genuinely a modern American drumming innovation.

NOTES

1. Mazur, Ken. “Who Took the Drum Out of Drum Corps?” Who Took the Drum Out of Drum Corps? | RudimentalDrumming.com. Accessed January 19, 2013. http://rudimentaldrumming.com/node/17.

2. Mazur, Ken “The Perfectionists: The History of Rudimental Snare Drumming from Military Code to Field Competition,” Percussive Notes 43, no. 2 (April 2005), 10-21.

3. “Jim Hurley Explaining Bobby Thompson Techniques.” Telephone interview by author. July 28, 2021.
Jim Hurley, and his brother, Marty, were snare drummers with the Blessed Sacrament, Golden Knights under the instruction of Bobby Thompson.