How to Do a French Upstroke on Snare Drum

The French style of drum striking can be viewed as the polar opposite of the German style. While the German style is spread far apart, requires a lot of energy and draws its power from the wrists, the French style is very close together, very smooth and draws all its power from the fingers.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Snare drum
• Drum sticks

How to Do a French Upstroke on a Snare Drum

1. Grab the stick a few inches up from the bottom. If you grab it too high, you won’t have as much power. If you grab it too low, you’ll use up more energy with your hits.

2. Cradle the stick with your fingers, and keep your thumb flat on its back. Hold on very loosely. The French grip is meant to be very fluid. The power in this grip comes from the fingers not the arm or wrist. When a louder hit is desired, you can grip the stick a little harder and flick with your wrist.

3. Keep your forearm low and the drumstick very close to the snare head. Since this is an upstroke, most of your movement should be upward not downward. Your fingers should be down toward the face of the drum while your thumb rests on top of the stick. The thumb keeps a light but sturdy grip on the stick. Most of the movement will be coming from your fingers.

4. Tap the drumstick lightly downward by pulling up with your fingers. This hit does not require a lot of power. It is an accent hit, and most of the technique's characteristic sound comes from the fifth step.

5. Pull your fingers and the drumstick backward to a vertical position without moving your thumb or forearm very much. Imagine that you are pulling the sound out of the drum or pulling a fish out of the water with a fishing pole. This will give your strike the distinctive sound of the upstroke.