Drum Stick Grips

Video Transcript

"In this segment, we're going to learn how to hold the drum sticks correctly. Two different ways you can hold them: the first one, we'll call "match grip". It's where you hold the sticks the same, they're matched, just like this. Thumbs on the stick, first finger under the stick, and holding it, gripping it like this. Back fingers lightly touching the stick, lightly. If it's grabbing like this, you can't bounce to do a drum roll. So you've got to keep it real loose. You can do a nice bounce like that. The other way is traditional grip. This is what you might call the old fashioned way. However, most of today's great drummers still hold the stick this way and it's important to learn how, I think. But in traditional grip, the left hand, we now place the stick right in there. You've got to get good at doing this. Then, of course, you take these fingers and put them over the top for control. And it's very important in traditional grip that you use your wrist to make the stick strike the drum, not your elbow. You don't want to do this. You want it turned this way. It's between the wrist and in here that causes the action to happen."