Playing With the Match Grip

Video Transcript

" Hi! My name is Frank. In this clip we’re going to talk about matched grip. In matched grip the right hand and the left hand, just like the name infers, are the same: they’re matched. The right hand is a pretty natural feel, the left hand is a pretty natural feel since they’re the same. Most people most students that I have run into this problem and I did too, and I still work on it just to keep my skills up. Whatever hand is your dominant hand, that’s the hand that usually is going to be the most powerful, the most controlled. So if you’re right handed, you’re going to find yourself playing matched grip like this…when it should be this… So what you have to do to work matched grip is get the left hand, or whatever hand is your weak, it’s your left or your right, to get as strong as, as coordinated as, and as comfortable as your right hand. One technique that I use and I teach is, whatever you do with your right hand give it to your left hand for a while: at dinner grab your glass with your left hand, open doors with your left hand exclusively, carry your books in your left hand, grab the backpack that weighs six million tons and raise it to your shoulder with your left hand… tried it, don’t write with your left hand that’ll be sad. But do try everything else with your left hand, and you’re going to find that even brushing your teeth with your left hand, as dangerous as that will be for the first few times, what you’ll find is you’re going to start developing muscles… in your dominant hand you’re already going to have it. In your weak hand you’ll develop it; you’ll be much better for it. There are three variations of matched grip: there’s French, German and American, and we’ll talk about those in some other clips."