I started playing open handed because it’s what naturally came to me when I picked up the sticks. Other experienced drummers encouraged me to do what feels natural, not fight it. I try to learn and play all methods, but open hand is my absolute core and natural playing. Sometimes I run into things that would be ‘easier’ with cross hand but I just improvise and it works all the same! Allows for some really wild and creative stuff (triple bass drumming…two pedals and one hand playing the stick off of the bass drum…or single bass pedal and two sticks on the bass drum!)….its all art and exploration. Rules were created by people who decided others should play how they thought is best. ‘Rules’ are guidelines, not requirements.
That last statement was ON POINT. The first time I sat down behind a kit, I INSTINCTIVELY went open handed. There were no readily available videos back then (1983, I didn't have MTV yet) of drummers playing. It wasn't until I saw the "Looks That Kill" video by Motley Crue, that I switched to cross-playing because I thought seeing Tommy Lee was the "proper" way to play. I stuck with that until very recently, because I noticed the imbalance between my left an right hands, on certain things. Now, I'm using a combo of the two styles, depending on what I'm playing. Glad I saw this today.
Tommy Bonezoni Same here. I am only 12 and started drumming about seven months ago and I had a little bit of time to practice before my first lesson and open hand drum and just felt more natural to me.
Glad this is on here, a lot of people used to ask me why I played open handed, my answer is that when i had lessons at school there where 5 of us in all and I was the only lefty in the group so instead of changing the kit around all the time I played this style. I have thought about putting my drums to a left handed setup but i'm used to playing open handed with my right foot being the lead on the bass drum. As always Drumeo, good work :)
Thank you I’ve been playing open handed for 45 years and have been very comfortable with playing this way although people refused to teach me in the 1970s saying it was wrong I love Simon Philips and others that I discovered and loved your video
When I first learned drums, I hadn't really seen anyone actually play drums before. It made most sense to me to play open-handed. After a few years playing like, for some reason I felt like I should change to playing closed-handed, so I played exclusively like that for a few years. And now I can play both styles and switch between them on any beat without interrupting the flow, and yeah... the freedom is fantastic.
As someone left handed, I didn't know any better. I played the hats with my left because it was on my left side. Didn't make sense to cross my arms. It wasn't until later I realized that's uncommon
@@NoNameForThisGuy as for today - I have been playing open handed for the entire time since my last comment. I just started with lowering the hi-hat. Leave ride cymbal where it currently is. Personally it was very difficult to lead with my left hand on ride even though I switched to left hand lead on hi-hat 6 months earlier
I'm a lefty and used to play my friends righthanded set when he went to school. I'm so glad I learned that way. It opened up a lot of and styles as well as Drum setups.
Thanks for this video, I thought i was doing something wrong by always playing open handed. They always want me to play closed handed or regular you could say. But i always feel more free when i play open handed.
I'm a guitar player who always wanted to play the drums. So in 2 days when my kit shows up I'm finally going to start learning. I had no idea what "open-handed" drumming was until today. I have no aspirations to be a fast technical drummer, I want to be a groove drummer. I know most drummers cross over, but to me it always seemed like I should be using my dominant (right) hand to hit the snare. That's a huge part of the groove sound to me and I noticed everyone was using their left hands to hit the snare and it just didn't seem right. So I started looking into it. Come to find out all of my favorite drummers play open handed, using the right hand to hit the snare, and the left on the hi-hats. As a guitar player I never even paid attention to this, I just heard their sound and groove and fell in love with their drumming. Now I know why. I think I know which why I'll be learning now.
its been a fun realization with me, I'm left handed, but I learned to play drums right-handed "regular", after many years it started to just "make sense" for me to switch to open-handed for certain things. I play guitar "normal," shoot "right" in hockey, write left, switch hit (stop laughing)... I hit my snare "usually" with my leftt hand, but when I switch to my right I can really smash the shit out of it. (EDIT: I realized I said the last part backwards when I looked down at my hands. regular, not open, right-handed is hit snare with left hand. why is it easier for me to hit harder with my non-dominant hand? wth is going on here)
It is definitely becoming more common. But you are right about most drummer starting out in the traditional style - I've been trying to work on OHD for a few months now but it's such slow progress and I don't even feel comfortable trying it in practice with my band yet!
I've always naturally drummed Open Hand - I'm ambidextrous and also play guitar/piano. I learned limb separation/autonomy by forcing myself to cross during repeating phrases (if a song is verse, chorus, verse, chorus for example, I play one of each open handed, one of each cross).
At 3:35 he mentions other open handed drummers. I checked them out right after this. I'm really glad I learned on my own and didn't have anyone to correct me. I'm ambidextrous and have always led with the left hand and right foot, but lately I'm trying to play cross handed and even traditional just to mess with my mind and work my coordination. I can't really play in a band so now with so many lessons available I can really expand my playing. Sometimes when I finally get some crazy pattern, it feels like I just learned how to juggle. And places online where people can setup a time to jam with others over the internet?
I took lessons when I was a kid, and being left handed, my instructor figured traditional lefty would make sense. He would re-arrange the kit every time to show me rudiments! Just a few years ago, I tried open hand and it felt much more natural. I'm better at keeping time with my left, but for some reason controlling the hi hat with my left foot and kick with my right also feels more comfortable. Go figure
I really wish I could 'unlearn' how I was forced to play in lessons as a child. This is so much more practical, especially considering I'm a lefty, forced to play traditionally on a right handed kit. It doesn't feel quite so natural now to play left handed, but it does make me wonder whether it's worth the effort to at least give this a thorough go.
In my seventeen years of drumming, open-hand playing was the single best adjustment I ever made. Absolutely it's worth it. It is very difficult to train your limbs to lead in the opposite way, but most of the hard work is best done away from the kit: tap your fingers when you're bored, waiting on a bus, bored in church, whatever. Re-train yourself between sessions at the kit by working out the coordination away from the kit. Start with meat-and-potatoes rock, and then slowly work in the trickier stuff.
Carter Beauford would be an amazing guest. I've seen the drummers on your show, no reason CB wouldn't crash into you with some cornbread. let em know I said thank you for being one of the most outstanding musicians to ever Grace the cosmos!
I find playing really slow poly type rhythms easier with my left hand leading and right doing the strokes and fills around the kit. Im right handed but practice open hand a lot.
When i was taking lessons..i could understand what was being taught but was unable to do it or do it well because my brain would sputter. Yet done things i could play as if I'd played your years. After a long white of accepting things for what they are....i noticed something.....i enjoy reading about my favorite musicians, i found the guys i can comfortably play along to are left handed. I am dyslexic. I am right handed. Luckily as this video confirms...the south paw style sounds magnificent. I may not be a true leftie but my brain is. Yaaaaaaayyyyy for this excellent vid.
Being a left handed drummer, I have been playing open handed since I ever started playing when I was young. I had a drum teacher once who wanted to "fix" my drumming style by making me play cross and I hated it.. rock on!
My dad is lefty and I was going to be lefty to but I was forced to be right handed I realize this as an adult when I start to figuring out that I open the bottles with my left and many more examples,When I started to play drums on a church I find out that I was playing openhanded and I always ask myself why I don’t cross hands but it feels so unnatural especially with the right food on the kick and now this answer all my questions thank you so much
Not exactly “open-handed” player personally, but everything I’ve learned, I’ve made sure I can lead with my left or right hand so I never have to think about what hand I’m leading with. I also keep my hats nearly in front (left of center, my hands never come close to my chest when I play.
Well for me i started playing open handed cuz i am a leftie and i was watching right handed musicians play so i tried to mimic what they do but by switching hands all my friends told me i was wrong but i stuck with it but now i knew that it existed even since the late 50's anhway thank you drumeo
As a lefty playing open handed on a standard kit felt more natural and in fact I always felt the hat on the left and snare on the right made me confused that anyone played cross handed to begin with One major benefit is because my snare hand is not impeded by my hat hand on top I can raise my snare hits as high as I like and thus hit as hard as I need, a big influence was At The Gates drummer Adrian Erlandsson who had to develop a bizarre technique to compensate for the limitations of his cross handed playing to make sure his snare hits were as hard and consistent as they needed to be, realising that inherent limitation I stuck with open handed drumming to make sure I’d never have such restrictions put on the speed, power and consistency of my snare hits at high tempo beats
Currently teaching myself open-handed drumming. It forces you to co-ordinate your limbs in unusual combinations which allows greater flexibility when drumming. Carrier over to normal life a little bit too.
Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys did this naturally. Many during his time thought it primitive. He was ahead of his time. Very powerful and completely self taught.
I've always played open-handed naturally, because I have a weird condition called mixed handedness. It is not the same as ambidextrous. It means I do some things left handed and some things right-handed. I eat, write, and ride my cymbals with my left hand. I throw and play sports and guitar right handed. My hands play lefty, my feet play righty.
I found it interesting, when I started playing already in my teens (in the 90's), i instinctively crossed arms. I don't remember if that's because I had seen people playing, but what I remember is that we broke into my friend's dad garage studio and first song I tried was "Aneurism" by Nirvana (my friend on guitar) and my arms just went instinctively to crossed positions... And we were surprised I could almost play the song, considering it was my first time on any drum kit.
Let me begin by saying you can play both "cross stick" and open-handed, during songs or sets. There are no rules. I play both methods depending on the song or my mood. Learning to play open-handed is the best thing a serious drummer could do. I was a pro drummer for 35 years, before I saw Simon Philips play open-handed. I was hooked and jumped right on board. As far as I am concerned, there are no disadvantages to open-handed playing and you need not shift any drums or cymbals. It makes a right hand dominate player become ambidextrous. It opens new worlds. It is true freedom. In the past three years of playing open-handed I have advanced in my drumming skills, greatly. I have come farther in 3 years, than I did in the first 35 years.
They always talk about open handed playing but being a drummer you also need your feet. For example, I"m left handed but right footed. I started playing on a rigth handed drum (open handed) for several years but a drum teacher advised me to turn the drum left-handed to be able to do better drumfills (cuz we lefties always start fills with the left). After several years of playing on a left-handed drum set, the left foot on the bass drum remained the weak link. That is why I have now placed a remote hi-hat right in front of me and I operate it with my weak left foot. In this way my dominant foot on the right can operate the bass drum which feels much more natural. I still doubt whether I should not cross my hands by using a remote hi-hat (place right but operate left foot) and a double bass drum pedal (place bass drum left but operate right). But maybe this is getting too complicated ... The point is, too little account is taken into the dominant foot. And with today's possibilities (remote hi-hat / double bass drum pedal ...) I think a drum kit should always be placed taking into account both the dominant hand and the dominant foot. Unless putting the hi-hat right in front of you (like Danny Carey from Tool in Pneuma) becomes the new evolution in drumming! To think about! Greetings Andy
I sat down on my fathers right handed kit one day in high school and just started playing. I’m a lefty I guess, so I play lefty-open handed, on a righty kit, and I’ve just always done it this way because it felt natural to me! I’ve tried switching the kit around to make it a lefty kit, and nope I can’t cross to save my life. Also, the bass and high hat peddles flop on me when I change the kit, and my damn feet don’t want to change what they already know haha
Now I don't feel so bad. I bought Roland V-Drums a couple of years back and taught myself to play by using songs on my iPad. I had no idea about the traditional way of drumming until someone told me I was playing open handed!
As a left-handed I started playing open handed. But then I simply reversed the kit. The other drummers were oftenly pissed obviously, and visiting other churches was a nightmare. That was so long ago...
And guys like me, who used to play cross-over, were SO disheartened when we visited other churches and then there was this leftie setup! Oh man! How will the local drummer react if I change everything? Anyways, I am currently in a transition - going over to open handed. It always felt more natural to play open handed, even if my left hand is a bit slower. So, maybe instead of making a split between churches that has rightie or leftie drummers, maybe we can work together for our awesome cause! Open handed drummers creating unity! :-)
Of course, if you are just starting out, do the open handed. I don't think it makes sense for someone already into it and close to middle age. Like Billy Cobham, who was born ambidextrous advocating playing his way. Some have a natural advantage over others. Now, there's also what the music requires and I don't think if you are playing bop there's going to be any advantage. However, if you are in a world beat band there could be an advantage. Note cats like Gadd and Weckl do some open hand when called for anyway. So, it's not an all or nothing concept. Excellent video and good points by the Claus!
I'm a right handed person that plays open handed. I don't know how it happened, but I started playing accents in snare drum with my left hand and it all went lefty from there.
Being left handed this is how I had to learn. No one wants you moving there ten million dollar kit. I usually just have my ride set up next to my high hat.
Lol I've always played open handed even after watching multiple tutorials it just always felt more logical to me to hit the snare with my dominant hand and get my hands jumbled together when moving in for fills. I never knew this was called open handed
So I’m right handed but started late and have always “hand drummed” with my left as lead, and I just could NOT get cross to work for me so here we go I guess I’ll just drum open
I've been playing drums for majority of my life and I am 42 years old play traditional for a long time I have begin to play much more open-ended in the past few years and it's strange because I feel much more Liberty and creative and I either ride the hi-hat differently. And I play a lot less mechanical this way
I started playing in middle school and always saw people play "normal " but it just always felt uncomfotable to play that way and i thought " if my hi hat is on the left why wpuld i use my right hand ... i am also ambidextrous on some things meaning i am right handed at some things and left handed at others
PS: Gene Hoglan is one of the most solid drummers of any genre and hes dominant with both hands, which is why his playing and approach is so unique in the metal scene. You couldn't write his stuff playing cross over.
Can this Old Dog (myself) learn new Tricks? I have actually experimented by playing with using the Traditional Grip in both hands, which is interesting in itself and also gives the balance he speaks of; just in a different sort of way. Try it yourself and see what I mean. I think I'll give this a try and have fun with it. Peace everyone.
hello sir. i have some question. i'm not drum player though, but i really want to know what is splash cymbal, chinese crash, and ozone crash for?? because sometime i looked up while other player playing drum and i know which part you must use hit-hat, crash, ride cymbal. but for three other, i' don't have any idea when we must use it. i'm very common at this, so sorry for my bad english and my knowledge
Its generally easier to teach it that way, not the only way, but usually the easiest. It's also the traditional method of playing pretty much since the beginning of the drum kit (as far as I know). What I think makes it easier to learn though is that it helps you learn how to not get the habit of hitting the snare and kick drum at the same time in a groove.
I'd say it's just easier to learn and once you learn a groove, you can immediately apply it to any cymbal (or Tom). When playing open handed, you need to be able to play grooves with both the left and the right hand as the "leading hand" that's playing on the HiHat/Ride/Crash etc. This makes it much harder to pick up (especially when starting out).
Probably due to gear...hi hats/pedal being at your left foot (if you're right handed). You need some extra pedals and gear to set up left footed hi hats on the right side of your kit. If you can afford all the gear, or two sets of hi hats like this kit, go for it.
It's because people are right handed, and the hi hat takes the most coordination to play. I'm an open handed drummer, and I definitely see a lot of benefits to playing cross-handed. Playing open handed is much more complicated, in my experience.
i have to learn this style becaus im a lefty and need to play on others kits without swappin it all around. question tho, i see some put the ride over near the hats so the same hand keeps time. to me your style will take way more practice to master because you have both hands doing it all. what do you think? worth it like this or move the ride to same side??
I have played open-handed ever since I began playing but I'm wondering if there's a specific difference for basic rudiment practice trying to find a video on stuff like that
so now we are waiting for the next lesson, how to start playing open-handed ? :) Well, of course, we just have to work our usual beats open-handed, but some advices would be great isn't ?
Daniel G. Well i have some advice...uhm for me (a left handed drummer who is an open handed drummer) i tried to mimic the lessons but by switching hands on a right handed kit...i dunno how to explain further more but when i listen to the instructions i just switched hands automatically since i m a leftie, you can try that if it works for you.
I gotta ask, 'cos it's been bugging me. Why aren't any of the Drumeo dudes doing open-handed playing? Never mind polyrhythmicmetric double linear quadratic inverted fills. If any of you Drumeo hosts would just make the effort to switch to open-hand playing, it will be the single biggest and most rewarding change you will ever make, and will open up your drumming more than you will have believed.
Open handed drumming is for a left handed drummers unless you wanna force your self to have your naturally weaker hand to do the hardest part. It’s like for a right handed drummer to start the drum fills with the left hand.
As a lefty drummer that plays open handed, we need more content like this.
Me too
I'm right handed but I play open handed
Is it more easier to play open handed when ur a lefty
Yes Meeee tooo. Learning from Right handed Drummers have been a on going challenge for me. Makes my brain 🧠 😓 Sweat
I thought he was a righty, Paice is a lefty in my logic. More drummers have snare on their left than right. Logic screw up.
I started playing open handed because it’s what naturally came to me when I picked up the sticks. Other experienced drummers encouraged me to do what feels natural, not fight it. I try to learn and play all methods, but open hand is my absolute core and natural playing. Sometimes I run into things that would be ‘easier’ with cross hand but I just improvise and it works all the same! Allows for some really wild and creative stuff (triple bass drumming…two pedals and one hand playing the stick off of the bass drum…or single bass pedal and two sticks on the bass drum!)….its all art and exploration. Rules were created by people who decided others should play how they thought is best. ‘Rules’ are guidelines, not requirements.
That last statement was ON POINT. The first time I sat down behind a kit, I INSTINCTIVELY went open handed. There were no readily available videos back then (1983, I didn't have MTV yet) of drummers playing. It wasn't until I saw the "Looks That Kill" video by Motley Crue, that I switched to cross-playing because I thought seeing Tommy Lee was the "proper" way to play. I stuck with that until very recently, because I noticed the imbalance between my left an right hands, on certain things. Now, I'm using a combo of the two styles, depending on what I'm playing. Glad I saw this today.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Open handed players represent!
I play this way because it's always felt more natural.
Tommy Bonezoni Same here. I am only 12 and started drumming about seven months ago and I had a little bit of time to practice before my first lesson and open hand drum and just felt more natural to me.
Carter beauford
I'm lefty and fells more comfortable with open arms and using both hands together
I play openhanded and cross handed (is that what it’s called?) but I’m also a lefty. Both ways feel pretty good to me tho
Same
I always thank you Drumeo! You guys such a precious work for all drummers. Just thank you bottom of my heart!
Totally
Glad this is on here, a lot of people used to ask me why I played open handed, my answer is that when i had lessons at school there where 5 of us in all and I was the only lefty in the group so instead of changing the kit around all the time I played this style. I have thought about putting my drums to a left handed setup but i'm used to playing open handed with my right foot being the lead on the bass drum. As always Drumeo, good work :)
Same :D
honestly, i regret not learning open handed drumming. it’s much more ergonomic
Thank you
I’ve been playing open handed for 45 years and have been very comfortable with playing this way although people refused to teach me in the 1970s saying it was wrong
I love Simon Philips and others that I discovered and loved your video
And for over thirty years I did not know Billy Cobham is right handed.
When I first learned drums, I hadn't really seen anyone actually play drums before. It made most sense to me to play open-handed. After a few years playing like, for some reason I felt like I should change to playing closed-handed, so I played exclusively like that for a few years. And now I can play both styles and switch between them on any beat without interrupting the flow, and yeah... the freedom is fantastic.
As someone left handed, I didn't know any better. I played the hats with my left because it was on my left side. Didn't make sense to cross my arms. It wasn't until later I realized that's uncommon
I am a right-handed drummer and decided to go open-handed after 13 years of playing the drums. Let the agony begin!
Damn this is exactly the same as me, and now I've been doing it for a year. Best decision I've ever made!
how did you go about it? Ive been thinking about the Harry Miree setup but its a hell of an investment just to try something out
@@NoNameForThisGuy as for today - I have been playing open handed for the entire time since my last comment. I just started with lowering the hi-hat. Leave ride cymbal where it currently is. Personally it was very difficult to lead with my left hand on ride even though I switched to left hand lead on hi-hat 6 months earlier
@@NoNameForThisGuy I'm about to try it. Really just gonna put a ride on my left 🙃
Soooo i am 16 years old, i play drums for 13 years and i now started learning it. The story begins again 🫡
I started as a right handed player..then taught myself to play open...it wasn't easy..but with a lot of practice..I mastered it
I'm a lefty and used to play my friends righthanded set when he went to school. I'm so glad I learned that way. It opened up a lot of and styles as well as Drum setups.
Been playing open handed for 40 years love it. Alway have other drummers looking how the heck do you do that.
Thanks for this video, I thought i was doing something wrong by always playing open handed. They always want me to play closed handed or regular you could say. But i always feel more free when i play open handed.
"they" who?
Open handed drummer here :-) Really appreciate this. Thanks
I'm a guitar player who always wanted to play the drums. So in 2 days when my kit shows up I'm finally going to start learning. I had no idea what "open-handed" drumming was until today. I have no aspirations to be a fast technical drummer, I want to be a groove drummer. I know most drummers cross over, but to me it always seemed like I should be using my dominant (right) hand to hit the snare. That's a huge part of the groove sound to me and I noticed everyone was using their left hands to hit the snare and it just didn't seem right. So I started looking into it. Come to find out all of my favorite drummers play open handed, using the right hand to hit the snare, and the left on the hi-hats. As a guitar player I never even paid attention to this, I just heard their sound and groove and fell in love with their drumming. Now I know why. I think I know which why I'll be learning now.
its been a fun realization with me, I'm left handed, but I learned to play drums right-handed "regular", after many years it started to just "make sense" for me to switch to open-handed for certain things. I play guitar "normal," shoot "right" in hockey, write left, switch hit (stop laughing)... I hit my snare "usually" with my leftt hand, but when I switch to my right I can really smash the shit out of it. (EDIT: I realized I said the last part backwards when I looked down at my hands. regular, not open, right-handed is hit snare with left hand. why is it easier for me to hit harder with my non-dominant hand? wth is going on here)
waited for this lesson a long time...open handed is next evolution in drumming!!!
It is definitely becoming more common. But you are right about most drummer starting out in the traditional style - I've been trying to work on OHD for a few months now but it's such slow progress and I don't even feel comfortable trying it in practice with my band yet!
It isn't really an evolution, drummers have been doing it for decades.
Claus is amazing and very humble. I met him at the berklee percussion weekend this year and he's really nice.
I've always naturally drummed Open Hand - I'm ambidextrous and also play guitar/piano. I learned limb separation/autonomy by forcing myself to cross during repeating phrases (if a song is verse, chorus, verse, chorus for example, I play one of each open handed, one of each cross).
At 3:35 he mentions other open handed drummers. I checked them out right after this. I'm really glad I learned on my own and didn't have anyone to correct me. I'm ambidextrous and have always led with the left hand and right foot, but lately I'm trying to play cross handed and even traditional just to mess with my mind and work my coordination. I can't really play in a band so now with so many lessons available I can really expand my playing. Sometimes when I finally get some crazy pattern, it feels like I just learned how to juggle. And places online where people can setup a time to jam with others over the internet?
I took lessons when I was a kid, and being left handed, my instructor figured traditional lefty would make sense. He would re-arrange the kit every time to show me rudiments! Just a few years ago, I tried open hand and it felt much more natural. I'm better at keeping time with my left, but for some reason controlling the hi hat with my left foot and kick with my right also feels more comfortable. Go figure
I’ve always played a right handed kit but lately I’ve been playing left-handed kit open. It feels like I’m going commando! Loving it
I really wish I could 'unlearn' how I was forced to play in lessons as a child. This is so much more practical, especially considering I'm a lefty, forced to play traditionally on a right handed kit. It doesn't feel quite so natural now to play left handed, but it does make me wonder whether it's worth the effort to at least give this a thorough go.
In my seventeen years of drumming, open-hand playing was the single best adjustment I ever made. Absolutely it's worth it. It is very difficult to train your limbs to lead in the opposite way, but most of the hard work is best done away from the kit: tap your fingers when you're bored, waiting on a bus, bored in church, whatever. Re-train yourself between sessions at the kit by working out the coordination away from the kit. Start with meat-and-potatoes rock, and then slowly work in the trickier stuff.
Carter Beauford would be an amazing guest. I've seen the drummers on your show, no reason CB wouldn't crash into you with some cornbread. let em know I said thank you for being one of the most outstanding musicians to ever Grace the cosmos!
I find playing really slow poly type rhythms easier with my left hand leading and right doing the strokes and fills around the kit. Im right handed but practice open hand a lot.
When i was taking lessons..i could understand what was being taught but was unable to do it or do it well because my brain would sputter. Yet done things i could play as if I'd played your years. After a long white of accepting things for what they are....i noticed something.....i enjoy reading about my favorite musicians, i found the guys i can comfortably play along to are left handed. I am dyslexic. I am right handed. Luckily as this video confirms...the south paw style sounds magnificent. I may not be a true leftie but my brain is. Yaaaaaaayyyyy for this excellent vid.
Being a left handed drummer, I have been playing open handed since I ever started playing when I was young. I had a drum teacher once who wanted to "fix" my drumming style by making me play cross and I hated it.. rock on!
My dad is lefty and I was going to be lefty to but I was forced to be right handed I realize this as an adult when I start to figuring out that I open the bottles with my left and many more examples,When I started to play drums on a church I find out that I was playing openhanded and I always ask myself why I don’t cross hands but it feels so unnatural especially with the right food on the kick and now this answer all my questions thank you so much
I play a mixture of open handed and the crossing over! Naturally learnt open as I'm left handed but drum teacher taught me the crossing over way
Jezus the opening groove! Straight bagging mate
Not exactly “open-handed” player personally, but everything I’ve learned, I’ve made sure I can lead with my left or right hand so I never have to think about what hand I’m leading with. I also keep my hats nearly in front (left of center, my hands never come close to my chest when I play.
Love your style man 👍
Great open handed playing, and that kit OMG
Good Job,,,,,I saw Simon Phillips do this in the 80's....
I'm a right handed drummer. I have barely attempted open handed I really just got into it and it's like unlocking a Part of your brain
Awesome tutorial
Well for me i started playing open handed cuz i am a leftie and i was watching right handed musicians play so i tried to mimic what they do but by switching hands all my friends told me i was wrong but i stuck with it but now i knew that it existed even since the late 50's anhway thank you drumeo
As a lefty playing open handed on a standard kit felt more natural and in fact I always felt the hat on the left and snare on the right made me confused that anyone played cross handed to begin with
One major benefit is because my snare hand is not impeded by my hat hand on top I can raise my snare hits as high as I like and thus hit as hard as I need, a big influence was At The Gates drummer Adrian Erlandsson who had to develop a bizarre technique to compensate for the limitations of his cross handed playing to make sure his snare hits were as hard and consistent as they needed to be, realising that inherent limitation I stuck with open handed drumming to make sure I’d never have such restrictions put on the speed, power and consistency of my snare hits at high tempo beats
Currently teaching myself open-handed drumming. It forces you to co-ordinate your limbs in unusual combinations which allows greater flexibility when drumming. Carrier over to normal life a little bit too.
Great video.
Thanks.
“Have the heart of a child.” #5
👍🏽
Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys did this naturally. Many during his time thought it primitive. He was ahead of his time. Very powerful and completely self taught.
I play my bass drum with my left foot. Great info for benefits of open handed playing!
I've always played open-handed naturally, because I have a weird condition called mixed handedness. It is not the same as ambidextrous. It means I do some things left handed and some things right-handed. I eat, write, and ride my cymbals with my left hand. I throw and play sports and guitar right handed.
My hands play lefty, my feet play righty.
I found it interesting, when I started playing already in my teens (in the 90's), i instinctively crossed arms. I don't remember if that's because I had seen people playing, but what I remember is that we broke into my friend's dad garage studio and first song I tried was "Aneurism" by Nirvana (my friend on guitar) and my arms just went instinctively to crossed positions... And we were surprised I could almost play the song, considering it was my first time on any drum kit.
great video I've been playing open handed for yrs and I love it but have been looking for some different stuff to do
I started as an open handed drummer! My band teacher hates it and i still am open handed!
I sometimes used to feel fraudulent as a lefty playing on a right handed kit but now I know it’s alright :) Big up the open-handers!
Bravissimo!
Let me begin by saying you can play both "cross stick" and open-handed, during songs or sets.
There are no rules.
I play both methods depending on the song or my mood.
Learning to play open-handed
is the best thing a serious drummer could do.
I was a pro drummer for 35 years, before I saw Simon Philips play open-handed.
I was hooked and jumped right on board.
As far as I am concerned, there are no disadvantages to open-handed playing and you need not shift any drums or cymbals.
It makes a right hand dominate player become ambidextrous.
It opens new worlds.
It is true freedom.
In the past three years of playing open-handed I have advanced in my
drumming skills, greatly.
I have come farther in 3 years, than I did in the first 35 years.
They always talk about open handed playing but being a drummer you also need your feet. For example, I"m left handed but right footed. I started playing on a rigth handed drum (open handed) for several years but a drum teacher advised me to turn the drum left-handed to be able to do better drumfills (cuz we lefties always start fills with the left).
After several years of playing on a left-handed drum set, the left foot on the bass drum remained the weak link. That is why I have now placed a remote hi-hat right in front of me and I operate it with my weak left foot. In this way my dominant foot on the right can operate the bass drum which feels much more natural.
I still doubt whether I should not cross my hands by using a remote hi-hat (place right but operate left foot) and a double bass drum pedal (place bass drum left but operate right). But maybe this is getting too complicated ...
The point is, too little account is taken into the dominant foot. And with today's possibilities (remote hi-hat / double bass drum pedal ...)
I think a drum kit should always be placed taking into account both the dominant hand and the dominant foot. Unless putting the hi-hat right in front of you (like Danny Carey from Tool in Pneuma) becomes the new evolution in drumming! To think about! Greetings Andy
I sat down on my fathers right handed kit one day in high school and just started playing. I’m a lefty I guess, so I play lefty-open handed, on a righty kit, and I’ve just always done it this way because it felt natural to me! I’ve tried switching the kit around to make it a lefty kit, and nope I can’t cross to save my life. Also, the bass and high hat peddles flop on me when I change the kit, and my damn feet don’t want to change what they already know haha
Now I don't feel so bad. I bought Roland V-Drums a couple of years back and taught myself to play by using songs on my iPad. I had no idea about the traditional way of drumming until someone told me I was playing open handed!
As a left-handed I started playing open handed. But then I simply reversed the kit. The other drummers were oftenly pissed obviously, and visiting other churches was a nightmare. That was so long ago...
RE;"""visiting other churches was a nightmare."""".....did they take your love offering??? lol
And guys like me, who used to play cross-over, were SO disheartened when we visited other churches and then there was this leftie setup! Oh man! How will the local drummer react if I change everything?
Anyways, I am currently in a transition - going over to open handed. It always felt more natural to play open handed, even if my left hand is a bit slower.
So, maybe instead of making a split between churches that has rightie or leftie drummers, maybe we can work together for our awesome cause!
Open handed drummers creating unity! :-)
I tried switching the kit around but can’t for the life of me switch my bass and high hat peddles. My feet don’t want to learn
Of course, if you are just starting out, do the open handed. I don't think it makes sense for someone already into it and close to middle age. Like Billy Cobham, who was born ambidextrous advocating playing his way. Some have a natural advantage over others. Now, there's also what the music requires and I don't think if you are playing bop there's going to be any advantage. However, if you are in a world beat band there could be an advantage. Note cats like Gadd and Weckl do some open hand when called for anyway. So, it's not an all or nothing concept. Excellent video and good points by the Claus!
I've just always done it
Im a lefty drummer with a righty kit set up... Lol been playijg like that for 10 years. I feel just... Like im playing wrong.
Loved this video! Hope we can get Mike Mangini (one of the masters of open handed drumming) on Drumeo someday.
Hopefully! :)
Or Simon Phillips
I'm a right handed person that plays open handed. I don't know how it happened, but I started playing accents in snare drum with my left hand and it all went lefty from there.
Ay I'm left handed and I play with open hands, always liked it more, it just doesn't look natural but I think it's better
Being left handed this is how I had to learn. No one wants you moving there ten million dollar kit. I usually just have my ride set up next to my high hat.
I'm a lefty, but play righty with an aux hi hat on the right side. In effect, I'm playing open-handed, as my naturally stronger hand is free to roam.
Lol I've always played open handed even after watching multiple tutorials it just always felt more logical to me to hit the snare with my dominant hand and get my hands jumbled together when moving in for fills. I never knew this was called open handed
🔥❤️🥁❤️🔥Thank You Master
No mention of Carter Beauford??
I feel like i'm going mad. I have seen so many kits recently with the reversed rack toms.
I do open-foot drumming. I stopped cross-foot drumming years ago. 😂
I don't have any drum but I'm always watching drum videos, wishing someone help me to have one
Hloo drumeo thank you for the lessons but it would be nice if you start bringing left handed drummers
Awesome! I wonder when the day will arrive when the majority of drummers are open handed players.
So I’m right handed but started late and have always “hand drummed” with my left as lead, and I just could NOT get cross to work for me so here we go I guess I’ll just drum open
I've been playing drums for majority of my life and I am 42 years old play traditional for a long time I have begin to play much more open-ended in the past few years and it's strange because I feel much more Liberty and creative and I either ride the hi-hat differently. And I play a lot less mechanical this way
I don't know how to play close handed but I need to, and also like open handed
I started playing in middle school and always saw people play "normal " but it just always felt uncomfotable to play that way and i thought " if my hi hat is on the left why wpuld i use my right hand ... i am also ambidextrous on some things meaning i am right handed at some things and left handed at others
Lenny White, Gary Husband, Gene Hoglan, Mike Bordin, Bobby Jarzombek, ...
6th benefit; getting one step closer to travis orbin's level
7th,,,,,,can grab a drink & play w/o missing a beat
PS: Gene Hoglan is one of the most solid drummers of any genre and hes dominant with both hands, which is why his playing and approach is so unique in the metal scene. You couldn't write his stuff playing cross over.
0:47 Amen Break
Danny Carey or Tomas Haake next?
Is there any benefit of knowing both?
Im right handed but I taught myself open handed but I can do both.
Can this Old Dog (myself) learn new Tricks? I have actually experimented by playing with using the Traditional Grip in both hands, which is interesting in itself and also gives the balance he speaks of; just in a different sort of way. Try it yourself and see what I mean. I think I'll give this a try and have fun with it. Peace everyone.
I'm ambidextrous by nature so thank you. I keep switching back and forth. I just started so it's kinda confusing.
hello sir. i have some question. i'm not drum player though, but i really want to know what is splash cymbal, chinese crash, and ozone crash for?? because sometime i looked up while other player playing drum and i know which part you must use hit-hat, crash, ride cymbal. but for three other, i' don't have any idea when we must use it.
i'm very common at this, so sorry for my bad english and my knowledge
Epic
Why is the conventional way cross handed drumming? I don't really get it
Its generally easier to teach it that way, not the only way, but usually the easiest. It's also the traditional method of playing pretty much since the beginning of the drum kit (as far as I know).
What I think makes it easier to learn though is that it helps you learn how to not get the habit of hitting the snare and kick drum at the same time in a groove.
I'd say it's just easier to learn and once you learn a groove, you can immediately apply it to any cymbal (or Tom). When playing open handed, you need to be able to play grooves with both the left and the right hand as the "leading hand" that's playing on the HiHat/Ride/Crash etc. This makes it much harder to pick up (especially when starting out).
Joe Lau
are you left handed?? Cuz if you are, that would be why it don't make sense to you
Probably due to gear...hi hats/pedal being at your left foot (if you're right handed). You need some extra pedals and gear to set up left footed hi hats on the right side of your kit. If you can afford all the gear, or two sets of hi hats like this kit, go for it.
It's because people are right handed, and the hi hat takes the most coordination to play. I'm an open handed drummer, and I definitely see a lot of benefits to playing cross-handed. Playing open handed is much more complicated, in my experience.
i have to learn this style becaus im a lefty and need to play on others kits without swappin it all around. question tho, i see some put the ride over near the hats so the same hand keeps time. to me your style will take way more practice to master because you have both hands doing it all. what do you think? worth it like this or move the ride to same side??
Yooo thats a really good idea! I think you should try it!
I have played open-handed ever since I began playing but I'm wondering if there's a specific difference for basic rudiment practice trying to find a video on stuff like that
so now we are waiting for the next lesson, how to start playing open-handed ? :) Well, of course, we just have to work our usual beats open-handed, but some advices would be great isn't ?
If open-handed way is so great, why it's not taught by default, e.g. here in Drumeo?
hey guys from drumeo, loving this video! Do you think, some day you can invite simon phillips? He is my all-time favorite drummer ;) Cheers, Daniel
Daniel G. Well i have some advice...uhm for me (a left handed drummer who is an open handed drummer) i tried to mimic the lessons but by switching hands on a right handed kit...i dunno how to explain further more but when i listen to the instructions i just switched hands automatically since i m a leftie, you can try that if it works for you.
God bless you all!!
Instead if moving around the kit i just need this
I gotta ask, 'cos it's been bugging me. Why aren't any of the Drumeo dudes doing open-handed playing? Never mind polyrhythmicmetric double linear quadratic inverted fills. If any of you Drumeo hosts would just make the effort to switch to open-hand playing, it will be the single biggest and most rewarding change you will ever make, and will open up your drumming more than you will have believed.
So I’m actually not playing the drums wrong, nice.
Im actually right handed- but I do open handed drumming cause its easier for me weirdly enough...
Please please please get Travis Orbin into the Drumeo family!
Ach Mensch, der gute Klaus.
Why not just have extra drums on the left side? Seems much more practical for a righty at least.
Open handed drumming is for a left handed drummers unless you wanna force your self to have your naturally weaker hand to do the hardest part. It’s like for a right handed drummer to start the drum fills with the left hand.
Ich glaube das, we should start by playing open handed
Ther kids never cross the arms when they play, is natural to play open handed!