Drum stick holding questions...

[weldman]

I don't know all the technical terms when it comes to this part of drumming so bear with me.

Whenever I play at the kit I play matched grip while keeping my right hand at my right the while time...I'll use my left hand on the hi-hat.

However now I feel I should try to learn playing the hi-hat with my right hand but I feel very limited playing the snare with my right hand crossed over the top. I feel I can't get much room to really hit the snare drum hard enough.

Anyone have any tips?
Am I doing something wrong?

I normally play with the hi-hat fairly low...so I figured I would raise that up some more.

[Big Bopper]

In my opinion, as I've said before, there is no 'right' and 'wrong.' Except for maybe what you plug into the wall socket.

You might try moving your hi-hat to the middle, depending on the type you have. Most of 'em are pads, and some have stands that attach to the tubes on the rack. So if you can, I recommend the middle. Use the search engine and you can find some discussion of this, or click the link below for one example.

http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthre...ghlight=middle

Shalom
Bruce

[Michael Render]

You probably just need to practice playing from the wrist more. You can get a serious snap just using the wrist and you don't need much space to lift it.

Playing the hats with the left is not wrong per say, but if you start doing shuffle and funk grooves it may be a lot easier using the right.

[janpaw73]

However now I feel I should try to learn playing the hi-hat with my right hand but I feel very limited playing the snare with my right hand crossed over the top. I feel I can't get much room to really hit the snare drum hard enough.

Why do you think you should switch to hand crossed playing? Open handed playing is a powerful technique.
Check Dom Famularo cyber-lessons on open-handed:

http://www.vicfirth.com/education/dr...mfamularo.html

I wish I could play o-h like I play hand crossed.

[r3t]

I'm a lefty and have played open handed from the start. I have tried playing crossed, but I feel more constrained that way. On top of that, it's much easier when playing on a kit which isn't mine, since they are almost always set up for right handed players.

[vjboc]

It wouldn't hurt to play with the right hand. It will give you alot of flexability.

[cstoliker]

I have Seen a lot of drummers play that way. Even ones who are right handed. Just use what works for you. I play as a traditional crossed right hand but have recently started playing your way to strengthen my left hand coordination.

[Colquhoun]

I you want to do cross-handed, try setting up your hihat a few more inches further away from your snare. By that I mean if you are right handed, move the hihat to the left. I find that if the hihat is too close to the snare, my right and left arms will cross at the wrists, giving me VERY little room for my left hand. If I move the hihat further to the left, the right wrist crosses my left arm closer to the elbow, giving me MUCH more freedom with the left arm.

['lectric drumma]

Why do you think you should switch to hand crossed playing? Open handed playing is a powerful technique.
Check Dom Famularo cyber-lessons on open-handed:

http://www.vicfirth.com/education/dr...mfamularo.html

I wish I could play o-h like I play hand crossed.

Amen to that. In fact, we all should start playing hi-hat with left ánd with right, the moment one starts to play drums... I wish I had done that, and that open handed playing would just feel natural to me...


Stijn

[Copper]

Why do you think you should switch to hand crossed playing? Open handed playing is a powerful technique.
Check Dom Famularo cyber-lessons on open-handed:

http://www.vicfirth.com/education/dr...mfamularo.html

I wish I could play o-h like I play hand crossed.

Just a few days ago I watched this series on open-hand playing. I've been experimenting with my pad placement, and I think I've got a good setup now. Now my left hand feels more comfortable with traditional grip on the hi-hat, but it also feels better with matched grip as I move around the kit.

You are right about moving the hi-hat up, you will probably find a comfort level between 2" & 4" above the snare, and away from the snare a little.

I agree with the Big Bopper, that there is no wright or wrong way to play. But with every new technique you try, you gain another experience to use in the future. Good luck.

Martin

[Relayer]

+ 1 for playing open-handed. I had a teacher try and get me to do that back in college, but he was teaching for only one semester and I didn't keep up with it. He was all about ambidexterity - used to make me do exercises where all four limbs keep a different time sig on the same pulse. I can still do it a bit - makes for a good parlour trick when I'm around other drummers.

Lenny White and Simon Phillips would be just two phenomenal drummers who play this way. If it feels natural, I'd go with it. The logic of it makes a lot of sense.

Cheers.

Steve

EDIT: here's a video of Lenny in action - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RspVB-jt-GA

[Big Bopper]

Also, if you think you can't hit the snare hard enough, you could turn up the amp.

Shalom
Bruce

[weldman]

Why do you think you should switch to hand crossed playing? Open handed playing is a powerful technique.
Check Dom Famularo cyber-lessons on open-handed:

http://www.vicfirth.com/education/dr...mfamularo.html

I wish I could play o-h like I play hand crossed.

Open handed playing, thats the term haha

well I feel comfortable playing at the kit now but I have always played this way and feel it would be nice to learn some different playing techniques.

Anyways thanks for all the tips everyone.

[Myrk-]

Open handed always looks much more relaxed to me in terms of playing metal, not sure about other techniques. I'm the inverse of you though, I really wanna learn open hand but my left hand doesn't feel right on the hi hat. I suppose I just need to practice it really. I once thought of actually flipping my kit, but thats too much effort!

At the end of the day being ambidextrous is the best way for a drummer.