Beware of Tradition

On your first lesson your teacher will probably tell you there are two types of stick grip: 'Matched' and 'Orthodox'. I'd seen jazz drummers use the Orthodox grip and, although it looked uncomfortable, I convinced myself that it was the choice of the true professional (and contained benefits that I would only understand at a later stage). After months of practising with the Orthodox grip, my left hand was covered with cracks and blisters across the thumb and forefinger (that regularly needed plasters) and when I actually started to experience bruising and pain, I finally stopped and asked myself, 'Hang on. Where did this grip actually come from?'

It turns out that the Orthodox grip was designed for side drum, not drum kit. Imagine a marching drum hanging from your left hip: The right-hand stick can easily strike the centre of the skin, but the left-hand stick can't - so it was repositioned between the thumb and fingers and this became known as the 'Orthodox' grip. Even though this grip was never designed for drum kit, you will still see many drummers using it today – not because it's practical but because, 'It's traditional.'

Crossing the hands between the hi-hat and snare drum is another example of tradition over practicality. The early hi-hat was known as a 'low boy', which was a small pair of cymbals operated by a foot pedal. Someone then had the idea of making the cymbals bigger, raising them up to stick level and, as most people are right-handed, drummers of the time simply crossed their hands. This became the 'norm' and, although crossing your hands only makes playing anything with a pair of sticks more difficult, this is still the way drum kit is taught – because, again, 'It's traditional.'

Beware of tradition. With regards to stick grip, the idea is simply to make the sticks bounce and do 90% of the work for you. Your grip may well change over the years and when I was drumming for 6 hours straight at the carnivals in Brazil I had to change grips, just to stop my hands seizing up. With regards to kit setup, everything on drum kit is modular and can be adjusted and moved to where you find it most comfortable to play. There are no 'rules' - it's completely up to you.

Whilst there are some great teachers and players out there, too many of them are simply repeating what they were taught without ever asking why; and just because something is traditional, doesn't mean it's a good idea.

For complete books with exercises and audio clips, please visit these websites:

Study packs and audio for drum kit and percussion group HERE

Sheet music with MP3 files for drum kit (make your own book) HERE

Sheet music with MP3 files for drum kit (make your own book - PAS format) HERE and HERE