Things You'll Need:
- Snare drum
- Drum sticks
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Step 1
Grip the stick with the hand you feel most comfortable with. It will help to practice this technique with both hands eventually. As drummers advance in skill, they will need to use both of their hands to pull off difficult maneuvers.
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Step 2
Hold the stick as though you were holding a hammer, except place your thumb flat on the backside of the stick. Don’t squeeze too hard, or your wrist will be too tight and your snare hit will be too rigid. This is supposed to be a fluid motion. The reason this is an American upstroke is because it is an amalgam between the French drum grip (thumbs up, hands close together) and the German grip (thumbs down, hands far off to the sides). The American grip is thumbs up like the French and hands a medium distance apart like the German.
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Step 3
Keep your forearm level and about six to eight inches above the face of the snare drum. You don’t have to break out your measuring stick for this. It should be just about where your elbow hangs down from your arm or where you feel most comfortable playing.
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Step 4
Twist your wrist to strike the snare. It’s important that you do not move your forearm. This move is designed to conserve energy and allow for faster movement around the drum kit to do things such as fills and more complex rhythms.
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Step 5
Let the stick bounce back to its original position when it comes in contact with the snare head. Again, this will conserve energy, allowing you to move more quickly across the drum kit.
