The French Downstroke on Snare Drum

Series Summary

The drum is the oldest known musical instrument in the history of man and its basic design has not changed in thousands of years. Far from today’s uses as a percussive foundation for pop music or for fueling marching band excitement, drumming has a more profound history as a method of communication, and the drum as an implement of religious symbolism. The drum was perhaps first created from the primal idea of mimicking the human heartbeat, yet today its music has developed into a technical, complex arrangement of beats and grooves.

The modern approach to drumming is to try and master the fundamentals of beat and time signature, and then to create fresh, innovative patterns and fills for each song. In this free instructional video series you will learn how to play several different drum stroke techniques including the French, American and German up and downstrokes. Each are a completely different sound and style for each hit but our expert Joel Siegel will share techniques for creating the best stick sounds as you add fills. He offers tips and advice and walks you through some great informational steps to becoming a more advanced and original drummer.

Video Transcript

"JOEL SIEGEL: Alright, so we've talked about the different grips in the hand. The other aspect or one other aspect of striking the drum is going to be your stroke. There are basically three different types of stroke. There's upstroke, downstroke, and a full stroke. These are going to vary depending on what the music calls for, what you hear, and what feels natural as well. Your downstroke and we'll start with the French grip. Your downstroke involves coming from all the way up, going down, and then staying down. Your stick is going to remain close to the skin of the drum at the end of the stroke, after you strike the skin. And so, it should look and sounds like this."