When you learn how to play drums, there are two main types of ways to hold your sticks. These are referred to as matched and traditional grips.
Traditional grip was a lot more popular decades ago, but there are still plenty of drummers who use it.
In this guide, we’ll explain the differences between the two, as well as their benefits.
Traditional grip refers to when you hold your sticks in different ways for each hand. Your dominant hand will hold the drumstick in a matched grip position, having the stick facing away from you.
Your non-dominant hand will have the stick in the traditional grip position. This is when you face your hand upward and rest the stick on your thumb. You then point the stick through the middle of your other four fingers.
The first-ever drummers used this grip because it was the only way of playing marching snare drums. When they moved over to drum kits, the grip stuck with them.
Matched grip is the common way of holding your drumsticks. With both hands, you rest the sticks between your index fingers and thumbs, and you face point them away from your body.
There are three different ways of holding the sticks in a matched grip position. These are known as French grip, German grip, and American grip.
For French grip, you need to face your palms toward each other. With German grip, you face your palms straight down and move your elbows out. American grip is a combination of those two.
The biggest benefit of traditional grip is that you get a bit more finesse from your snare drum hand. You can play lighter notes on the snare and play around with dynamics easier than you can with matched grip.
It makes playing jazz a bit easier, as you can play snare comping patterns without having to strongly control the upper part of your wrist.
You can also angle your snare when playing traditional grip to get a more comfortable setup.
Many drummers find it easier to play rudiments with traditional grip, as you can control your fingers a bit better. That’s why you’ll see marching drummers using it.
The biggest benefit of matched grip is that it’s easier to learn than traditional grip. Most people perform matched grip naturally, speeding up the learning process.
With traditional grip, you have to train your hand to hold the drumstick like that. Some people never quite get there due to how uncomfortable it can feel.
Another benefit is that you can get much louder strokes. You can lift your arm up to get more power, whereas you don’t have as much range when using traditional grip.
Yes, you can definitely play jazz with matched grip. A lot of people think you need to use traditional grip to play jazz, as that’s what all the jazz drumming legends used.
However, you can get most of the same sounds out of your snare drum when using matched grip. It may just be a bit harder to get varied dynamics.
Larnell Lewis is a good example of a jazz drummer that doesn’t use traditional grip. Watch a few videos of him playing with a jazz band, and you’ll see how he can get a wide range of textures with matched grip.
Most famous drummers from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s used traditional grip. Modern famous drummers that use it include Stewart Copeland, Nate Smith, Dave Weckl, Todd Sucherman, Steve Smith, Vinnie Colaiuta, Cindy Blackman, and Virgil Donati.
One type of drumstick grip isn’t better than the other. There are benefits of using both traditional and matched grip, and it’s sometimes great to switch between the two.
Every drummer should start with matched grip, as that makes it easier to learn. You can then learn how to use traditional grip to expand your skill set.
Remember that traditional grip isn’t something that only jazz drummers use. You can use it to play any style.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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