Grips and Technique

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the different grip and technique options we have as drummers, and reconsidering which ones I show to my beginner students. For a long time I’ve defaulted to the way I was originally taught, prefacing the discussion with my classic line, “This is the grip that I feel is both the easiest to learn, and most versatile.” So I feel that it’s time to take a closer look at how we approach the grip, and discuss some of the more underrated and unheard of approaches to see how they might serve us as drummers.

First let’s talk about what we want out of an effective drumstick grip. We want to hold the stick in such a way that we are as free from unnecessary tension as possible, so we don’t risk injury and undue fatigue. We want to have the stick be able to move independently from the hand, to a certain degree, in order to provide extra leverage and power behind the stroke. And, we want to be able to have adequate control over the movement of our sticks.

When it comes to grip, there are a couple different dimensions. The first deals with the way the stick sits within your hand. Let’s call this the “grip fulcrum,” since it’s the fulcrum point within your hand that defines this aspect of the grip. The second deals with how your hands and arms are rotated as you are playing, and this is your “grip orientation.” So we’re going to take a closer look at our choices within each dimension, and also discuss some of the more effective combinations of grip fulcrums and grip orientations.

With your hands rotated out (pronated), so that you are looking at the back of your hands as you look down on them, this is called the German Grip. If your hands are rotated inward, not quite supinated, which would be palms facing up, but rather with the thumbs up on top, this is the French Grip. These are the two extremes, and the names originated from the classical tradition of timpani playing. The Germans, favoring power and depth of sound for their music, liked to be able to use the hinge of their wrist joint to their full potential. The French, on the other hand, favored a more delicate touch on the drums with a lighter tone, and especially liked to be able to use their fingers to execute smooth rolls. So the German grip puts the hands in position to rotate the wrist in its strongest and most flexible direction. But the downside of the German grip is that it’s more difficult to use the fingers, and puts some strain on your shoulders if you have to play on a drum or cymbal that’s not directly in front of you. And the French grip, with the thumb on top, allows easy access for the fingers to pull against the stick, driving the motion that way. French grip’s weakness is an inability to take advantage of the wrist rotation in the direction where it’s strongest and most flexible. But it’s excellent for playing on a drum or cymbal that’s off to the side of your kit, because it involves an outward rotation, allowing you to keep your shoulders relaxed while putting your hand into the playing position for that particular instrument. There is a third grip, known as the American grip, which can basically be thought of as a compromise between the two. Not fully pronated with the palms facing downward, but not quite in the French grip position, either. This grip developed much later, as the drum set came into existence in the USA during the early 21st century. So here, we have the best of both worlds, being able to use the wrist turn effectively, but also allowing for relatively easy use of the fingers. And it happens to be great for getting your hands around the kit at high speeds. So the strength of the American grip lies in its versatility and mobility. In a nutshell, those are the pros and cons of each orientation. I should add that i’s actually a continuum, rather than 3 discrete and separate grips/orientations.

On the drum set, however, it becomes a bit more complicated. Practically and realistically speaking, you’re likely to make use of the full spectrum of grip orientations. For example, you might use a German grip on your snare for the backbeats for extra power, or on the floor tom, but then use more of an American grip when doing a fill around the toms. The French grip is naturally well suited to the parts of your kit that are more off to the side, since it involves an outward rotation of the hand. A perfect example is playing on the ride cymbal, where you want to be able to stay relaxed while your hand is on the ride cymbal for a long time, and also use the fingers to articulate faster rhythms. And while using the French grip on the ride, you might be using a German grip on the snare at the same time. So it’s important for an advanced drummer to be familiar with all of these, in order to transition easily from one to the other, depending on what the situation demands.

Now let’s look at the other aspect of the grip, which is the way the stick actually sits in the hand. As I already mentioned, the most important characteristic of the grip is that there is some flexibility of the stick that allows it to move independently of the hand. I tell all my beginner students in the first lesson that they need to make sure the stick can wiggle around in the hand, sort of bouncing between the palm and the fingers. And there are a few different ways to achieve this.

Let’s start with what I call the “index finger fulcrum.” For this, you can think of the stick working as a lever in the hand, with the fulcrum point being the thumb and index finger. You can then apply force with the fingers, pulling up on the stick, and causing the front of the stick to move downward. So this technique pairs perfectly with the French grip, because as you hold the stick securely with the thumb and index finger, it makes the back 3 fingers available to pull. It also works well with the American and German grip. But it’s worth noting that if you use the French grip, this is pretty much your only option, because what good is the French grip if you can’t even use your back fingers? On a high tension drum like a snare drum, the index finger fulcrum seems to be the best way to play fast double stroke rolls, or multiple bounce rolls. Some would say it’s also the best way to play a single stroke roll on a snare drum (using the fingers) but I think this point is debatable, depending on the individual drummer, and the desired effect of that single stroke roll. I think you also get a bit more control at extremely soft dynamic levels, compared to the other grips.

In my experience, the index finger fulcrum is the most commonly taught grip. I think nearly every student who goes into their band program in grade school is taught this method, and for good reason. I remember in my school concert band/wind ensemble experience, the director was ALWAYS yelling at whichever percussionist was playing the snare drum, telling them to play softer! It’s as though you can never play soft enough in one of these school band settings. Also, multiple bounce rolls (buzz rolls), and grace note rudiments like the ruff (and its variants) are a staple of wind ensemble repertoire, and using the index finger fulcrum is the easiest way to play them. In marching band, double stroke rolls are a huge part of the musical vocabulary, and with the extremely high-tension drums used in modern marching percussion, the index finger fulcrum works great for snares and quads. So even though the desired sound is quite different between the concert band and the marching band, the grip that a student might use for each setting can remain consistent.

Let’s look at the other end of the spectrum, which is the pinky finger fulcrum. This seems to be a rarely taught, rarely talked-about grip that deserves more attention. Keeping the main point of contact between the hand and the pinky finger does an incredible job of reducing the shock of impact one might experience with extremely loud and hard playing. It also seems to more directly transfer the energy of the wrist turn to the stick itself. This is actually the grip that Sanford Moeller (of Moeller Technique fame) described as the grip preferred by “ancient” military drummers, before the 20th century. A surprising fact for many people is that the muscle that contracts the pinky accounts for about half of our grip strength. A quick google search says that Surgeons agree that the worst finger to lose is the pinky, since it contributes so much to forming a strong grip. Although it may feel awkward at first, the muscle(s) involved are easily trainable, and require relatively little practice to form a strong and effective pinky fulcrum grip. I have seen a similar grip taught to keyboard percussionists, and especially with 4-mallet technique, one of the mallets in each will be handled in this manner. The best application of this technique is when you need a lot of power for your strokes, especially aggressive styles of music like Metal, Punk, Hip-Hop, and Hardcore. I had an experience with one particular band where I needed to find a new way to hit the drums, especially the snare, because using the index finger fulcrum to produce the desired sound was taking too much effort, and still not really cutting it. So I tried the pinky finger fulcrum grip instead, paired with a primarily German grip orientation, and the Moeller technique, and it was the answer to that problem. I never had any issues with getting a huge, powerful sound while retaining my stamina through a gig after making that change. And as it turns out, a lot of modern music calls for a super punchy, popping snare sound, so I’ve found myself using this technique in a lot of other musical situation ever since. So I would recommend that anyone who wants to be a well-rounded drummer give this grip at least a little attention. For even more power, some drummers will combine a forearm rotation (as with turning a doorknob) with the standard wrist turn, which again reminds me of 4-mallet keyboard percussion technique.

Another option is the middle finger fulcrum. This is similar to the index finger fulcrum in some ways but also shares many of the advantages as the pinky finger fulcrum. Like the American grip orientation, this might be the “best of both worlds” approach. You can still play fast double strokes on a high tension drum with ease, and the multiple bounce roll seems to work well with this technique, as well. And, the movement of the stick is more closely tied to your wrist turn, compared to the index finger fulcrum, and thus is capable of generating more power. You can use your back two fingers to pull, if you want to go that route; just maybe not quite as effectively as with the index finger fulcrum.

So, in terms of versatility, the middle finger fulcrum with the American grip orientation seems like our winner here. I place a lot more importance on the wrist movement than the fingers, so I tend to be a little closer to a German grip, but I think this is down to personal preference. This would be my recommendation for a “go-to” technique. But be aware that some situations would be better approached with a more specialized technique. A serious student should familiarize themselves with all viable options so that they may apply them at will.

Phew, that turned into a long post! And I still feel like I left out a lot. I wanted to talk even more about specific applications, but I think I’ll have reserve that for YouTube videos. These points will be much more clear with visual support, anyways. If you read all the way to the end, congratulations, and I hope I’ve opened your eyes to some new information.

I’m turning comments on for this blog post, because some people will likely disagree with some points, or have questions, and a discussion of the grip issue could be helpful for all involved! Thanks for reading.

If you found this post interesting, and would like help with your own grip, technique, or any other aspect of playing drums, please email me to set up a free trial lesson.