Once I had a great technical drum-teacher, told me the same things about the gap and the fingers. Its nice to hear these things more than 45 years later. Thanks a lot for refreshing. I had fun
Had been drumming for many years in my 20's and started getting pretty decent with heavy styles ( hardcore, metal and their subgenres) ..long story short life and work got in the way and I had stop for about 10 years , I lost almost everything, took me about another 10 years on and off to get some back ( but I had nowhere near the control and speed I had before) , by then I decided that I just wanted to play drums for therapeutic purposes but I longed to play with more dynamics as that was the music I enjoyed to listen ( still have soft spot for the heavy stuff🤘), a big reason I was having a hard time was that my basic fundamentals sucked so I had no "solid ground " on which to build on.. Fast forward to 2020 pandemic and I made the decision to rebuild my drumming from the ground up, found a great coach/mentor and really got into the beginner mentality and focused on the fundamentals and building from there. I'm on track to be a better drummer than I was in my 20's and it's taking me half the time/ effort ! The big difference being that I never feel above my day one now, meaning I always go back to the fundamentals, specially when dealing with new drumming challenges... I urge any beginner drummer and or musician not to forgo these basic but super important steps in their journey, don't learn the hard way like I did.
I am speechless. Your instruction is amazing. I got it and I'm not a drummer. I like drumming but felt like I was missing something and this is it. The stick and handling it correctly. Thanks Respectfully Me..
Hi Dimitri, this is THE most important early lesson an aspiring drummer should hear and practice. With huge respect, one thing I think is slightly glossed over with ‘American’ or ‘German’ grip is the comment about the fulcrum point, whether it is the index or middle finger. It seems you start with advising index but later both you and your expert colleague actually use a middle finger fulcrum with index as more of a guide. Obviously, French grip shifts to index as the fulcrum. Thanks for this important video lesson. Regards, Peter (U.K.)
you are correct, and this is explained further in depth in my free fundamentals video! I don't use middle finger fulcrum either... I use something "in between" index and middle most of the time :)
Excellent and well communicated grip tips! I practice a lot on my drum set, but perform most often these days on orchestral timpani. While always going for that relaxation/tension balance, I never want to drop a timpani mallet....no place to hide in that circumstance. BTW, another excellent resource to study are Rick Dior's videos on grip and stroke. He studied with Joe Morello, and it shows.
I think the opening of the index finger is a natural evolution as you progress. For me it also changes with tempo: at bpm higher than around 90 bpm my index starts to loosen up.
Dimitri I've found your videos to be extremely helpful. I wanted to ask you if you ever covered stick size? I can't settle on any particular size. Is stick size a matter of volume and where you're playing, or should you match the stick size to hand size and use one size for all situations? This is something I've never understood.
Great question! I change up stick model to get different feels and sounds. The tip shape affects the cymbal sound greatly, and the sound of the drums to a small degree (depends on your drum heads, cymbal sound changes a lot more) It’s really personal preference, nowadays, I gravitate towards the diameter of 5B or close to it (0.580 - 0.595” dia.) and I prefer a longer taper for more rebound, and a barrel tip for my favorite stick sound on the cymbals. Right now, that’s the Vater 9A which is my go to (I like both hickory and maple versions). you should experiment with a bunch of sizes and models over time!
Very cool, I have heard Murray Spivack talk about using the index finger as the guide with the thumb, but not on the first knuckle (Can't remember the anatomically correct terminology lol). But he talks about the space between the second and third knuckle?
I can see that working! As long as you aren’t tightly wrapping around the stick with your index finger, you will be less likely to injure yourself and be able to let the stick vibrate and rebound naturally.
nothing wrong with leaving the gap. for grip, use stick wax, especially in dry weather. a looser grip follows naturally. do not teach that "if youre dropping sticks, you're gripping correctly".
Grear video. Since I started playing in a punk tribute band about 18 months ago I've playing high intensity, load, very fast patterns, over about a 140 minute continuous stage show. I've noticed my lead hand (left) has begun having that closed gap, with the stick sitting bang in the centre of the middle phalanx, away from that distal crease. If I try and reposition to the grip youre describing (that I used to have) I get rapidly fatigued in the top muscle between my thumb and forefinger, and along my forearm, and 8th note ride patterns at 200bpm seem alot harder. Are there any exercises you could recommend for getting back on track with a better grip?
if adjusting the index finger is giving you a lot of fatigue, it sounds to me like your back fingers aren’t on the stick! but I’d have to see to be absolutely sure. are you coming to next week’s technique workshop?
** QUESTION ** OK, I'm confused and need help here. You say it's imperative that we don't close the gap between thumb and forefinger and don't wrap the forefinger around the stick. You use Noah as your example, yet the footage of her playing at 0:21 clearly shows her tightly closing the gap and wrapping the forefinger around, and I see plenty of pro drummers doing this. Please can you clarify?
Yes, I will say we all do it a little bit sometimes but try to minimize it as much as you can!! There are always exceptions to any technique rule - and I make mistakes myself still to this day… I try to be aware of them and correct them as much as I can!
@@DimitriFantini hey thanks for the quick reply, Dimitri, love your channel. Would you say that drummers tend to close the gap when hitting harder, in order to prevent the stick from either moving about or pushing back into the gap.
I find with my specific hand dimensions (a little stubbier and fatter) keeping the gap open is virtually impossible for me BUT I do not feel any tension at all in my forearms so I am just accepting that it's my stubby fatter fingers😂
do what works best for you. there is much debate in the community about this, but you can easily find examples of great drummers using certain techniques that may not feel good for you. As long as you can play the stuff you intend to play comfortably, you aren't really doing anything wrong.
ive watched so many videos about this but none of them goes to the part where they talk about how to hold the sticks when you move around the kit. the toms for example... i looked at so many drummers who had the thumb on top of the sticks when playing the toms. why does nobody talk about this? it´s a totally different feel ... at least for me... would be nice to see somethings about this topic ...
Absolutely gets talked about a lot! But also those grips can be personal preference sometimes, I generally don’t play rack toms with French grip as much as some others. It’s a more recent trend.
I don't like hanging the index finger over the stick. I feel like you lose some control, or tend to squeeze the stick more. Also by having the gap open, your stick has room to be loose in there. So not a huge fan of this technique, but hey if it works for you...
It’s all good info. But Too much information like this on youtube can cripple a young drummer. Back in the day I got a book called Drum Workout with a DVD by Pete Sweeney that covers all this stuff.
I hate to disagree but as long as you're holding the sticks match grip which you have to do if you're playing to a band that's OK. But if you really want to do great intricate solos there is no way to do it match with you have to learn how to play standard grip because you can do so much more with your left hand.
Once I had a great technical drum-teacher, told me the same things about the gap and the fingers. Its nice to hear these things more than 45 years later. Thanks a lot for refreshing. I had fun
So, hold on loosely, but don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control.
that sounds like a song lyric
Nice👌👌😏😏
@DimitriFantini yes. 38 Special
Ha, I see what you did there!!
Hell yeah!
Been drumming for 47 years and this is the best video for holding your drumsticks. Thank you for sharing.
You’re very welcome!!
Had been drumming for many years in my 20's and started getting pretty decent with heavy styles ( hardcore, metal and their subgenres) ..long story short life and work got in the way and I had stop for about 10 years , I lost almost everything, took me about another 10 years on and off to get some back ( but I had nowhere near the control and speed I had before) , by then I decided that I just wanted to play drums for therapeutic purposes but I longed to play with more dynamics as that was the music I enjoyed to listen ( still have soft spot for the heavy stuff🤘), a big reason I was having a hard time was that my basic fundamentals sucked so I had no "solid ground " on which to build on.. Fast forward to 2020 pandemic and I made the decision to rebuild my drumming from the ground up, found a great coach/mentor and really got into the beginner mentality and focused on the fundamentals and building from there. I'm on track to be a better drummer than I was in my 20's and it's taking me half the time/ effort ! The big difference being that I never feel above my day one now, meaning I always go back to the fundamentals, specially when dealing with new drumming challenges... I urge any beginner drummer and or musician not to forgo these basic but super important steps in their journey, don't learn the hard way like I did.
thanks for sharing, it's really true! I think of absolutely everything I play as the fundamentals - you have to build one brick at a time.
I am speechless. Your instruction is amazing. I got it and I'm not a drummer. I like drumming but felt like I was missing something and this is it. The stick and handling it correctly.
Thanks
Respectfully
Me..
Great information! Thanks.
Hi Dimitri, this is THE most important early lesson an aspiring drummer should hear and practice. With huge respect, one thing I think is slightly glossed over with ‘American’ or ‘German’ grip is the comment about the fulcrum point, whether it is the index or middle finger. It seems you start with advising index but later both you and your expert colleague actually use a middle finger fulcrum with index as more of a guide. Obviously, French grip shifts to index as the fulcrum. Thanks for this important video lesson. Regards, Peter (U.K.)
you are correct, and this is explained further in depth in my free fundamentals video! I don't use middle finger fulcrum either... I use something "in between" index and middle most of the time :)
@ understood! Your answer is much appreciated. I will follow up with your Fundamentals video. Peter
Another banger video, Dimitri!
Thank you my friend!
Excellent and well communicated grip tips! I practice a lot on my drum set, but perform most often these days on orchestral timpani. While always going for that relaxation/tension balance, I never want to drop a timpani mallet....no place to hide in that circumstance. BTW, another excellent resource to study are Rick Dior's videos on grip and stroke. He studied with Joe Morello, and it shows.
‘Stick’ with it, guys
hehe
I think the opening of the index finger is a natural evolution as you progress. For me it also changes with tempo: at bpm higher than around 90 bpm my index starts to loosen up.
Dimitri I've found your videos to be extremely helpful. I wanted to ask you if you ever covered stick size? I can't settle on any particular size. Is stick size a matter of volume and where you're playing, or should you match the stick size to hand size and use one size for all situations? This is something I've never understood.
Great question!
I change up stick model to get different feels and sounds.
The tip shape affects the cymbal sound greatly, and the sound of the drums to a small degree (depends on your drum heads, cymbal sound changes a lot more)
It’s really personal preference, nowadays, I gravitate towards the diameter of 5B or close to it (0.580 - 0.595” dia.) and I prefer a longer taper for more rebound, and a barrel tip for my favorite stick sound on the cymbals. Right now, that’s the Vater 9A which is my go to (I like both hickory and maple versions).
you should experiment with a bunch of sizes and models over time!
Hi Dimitri, amazing instuctions .What number stick are you using e.g.5A ..which drum pad
My most used stick is the Vater 9A, and the pad is the Chopping Block pad from Revolution Drum
Thanks-
You are very welcome!
Control the stick like the halapino dose one Jeff's puppits do it's called the whip
Very cool, I have heard Murray Spivack talk about using the index finger as the guide with the thumb, but not on the first knuckle (Can't remember the anatomically correct terminology lol). But he talks about the space between the second and third knuckle?
I can see that working! As long as you aren’t tightly wrapping around the stick with your index finger, you will be less likely to injure yourself and be able to let the stick vibrate and rebound naturally.
nothing wrong with leaving the gap.
for grip, use stick wax, especially in dry weather. a looser grip follows naturally. do not teach that "if youre dropping sticks, you're gripping correctly".
I used every style it's funny every grip work's
Grear video.
Since I started playing in a punk tribute band about 18 months ago I've playing high intensity, load, very fast patterns, over about a 140 minute continuous stage show.
I've noticed my lead hand (left) has begun having that closed gap, with the stick sitting bang in the centre of the middle phalanx, away from that distal crease. If I try and reposition to the grip youre describing (that I used to have) I get rapidly fatigued in the top muscle between my thumb and forefinger, and along my forearm, and 8th note ride patterns at 200bpm seem alot harder.
Are there any exercises you could recommend for getting back on track with a better grip?
if adjusting the index finger is giving you a lot of fatigue, it sounds to me like your back fingers aren’t on the stick! but I’d have to see to be absolutely sure. are you coming to next week’s technique workshop?
** QUESTION ** OK, I'm confused and need help here. You say it's imperative that we don't close the gap between thumb and forefinger and don't wrap the forefinger around the stick. You use Noah as your example, yet the footage of her playing at 0:21 clearly shows her tightly closing the gap and wrapping the forefinger around, and I see plenty of pro drummers doing this. Please can you clarify?
Yes, I will say we all do it a little bit sometimes but try to minimize it as much as you can!! There are always exceptions to any technique rule - and I make mistakes myself still to this day… I try to be aware of them and correct them as much as I can!
@@DimitriFantini hey thanks for the quick reply, Dimitri, love your channel.
Would you say that drummers tend to close the gap when hitting harder, in order to prevent the stick from either moving about or pushing back into the gap.
there are a lot of reasons why it can happen!
Closing the grip helps, or is needed, for buzz rolls, no?
I absolutely can NOT keep the gap open.
I find with my specific hand dimensions (a little stubbier and fatter) keeping the gap open is virtually impossible for me BUT I do not feel any tension at all in my forearms so I am just accepting that it's my stubby fatter fingers😂
do what works best for you. there is much debate in the community about this, but you can easily find examples of great drummers using certain techniques that may not feel good for you. As long as you can play the stuff you intend to play comfortably, you aren't really doing anything wrong.
What is the max speed recommended to play just using the wrists with this grip ?
as long as you are staying relaxed, with good timing, and you can control your dynamics and articulation, then you're in good shape
ive watched so many videos about this but none of them goes to the part where they talk about how to hold the sticks when you move around the kit. the toms for example... i looked at so many drummers who had the thumb on top of the sticks when playing the toms. why does nobody talk about this? it´s a totally different feel ... at least for me... would be nice to see somethings about this topic ...
Absolutely gets talked about a lot! But also those grips can be personal preference sometimes, I generally don’t play rack toms with French grip as much as some others. It’s a more recent trend.
@@DimitriFantini ah ok thanks
What about the conventional grip???
this is it lol.
You mean the French grip? Where the hand is in similar angle to when doing a handshake.
I don't like hanging the index finger over the stick. I feel like you lose some control, or tend to squeeze the stick more. Also by having the gap open, your stick has room to be loose in there. So not a huge fan of this technique, but hey if it works for you...
What ever works for you. Non pro's might be doing it right. And the pros are doing it wrong. What is a pro anyways?
It’s all good info. But Too much information like this on youtube can cripple a young drummer. Back in the day I got a book called Drum Workout with a DVD by Pete Sweeney that covers all this stuff.
I hate to disagree but as long as you're holding the sticks match grip which you have to do if you're playing to a band that's OK. But if you really want to do great intricate solos there is no way to do it match with you have to learn how to play standard grip because you can do so much more with your left hand.
Ich habe kein einziges Wort verstanden
scherzkeks ^^
es dir zu erklären ist sehr einfach ...