Traditional grip - Why?

[oldtimedrummer]

Traditional grip is just a style - much like, well anything that looks good but has no technical purpose.  Sure, matched grip may be more practical, but trad looks SOOOO much better.  But if this activity were all about practicality, then why march in circles (not literally) on a field when you could just stay in place and get a better sound from not having to move around???  It's just because it enlightens the show, brings some style into it - like traditional grip does for the snareline.

Right. And if the activity were all about practicality, it seems that the first thing that should be tossed is the uniforms -- they're expense to purchase and maintain, are restrictive in the image they present, and aren't always the most comfortable things. But then it wouldn't be drum corps, right? So it's an excellent point: traditional grip is utilized because that is the *essence* of drum corps.

I agree, it's kinda like the color guard spinning rifles. It's a prop, but one that defines the activity. I also agree with Cheezedogg, this has been a great discussion/ debate without the flame.

[yogi]

Hmmm...nice discussion. I don't know if anyone has taken a look at the situation from this angle. But...using traditional grip...I was kind of messing around with the different positions of where a tilted (sling) drum would be, and where your typical modern marching snare drum would be. The different stroke styles in the left hand don't really differ at all between the two positions. The only difference is that your elbo is pushed pretty far back while using the technique to play a sling drum. You can try it yourself. Stand up straight with a pair of sticks and act like you're going to play a sling drum. After you do that, just take your hands and put them in front of you as if you were going to play a Yamaha sfz. The angles of your wrist and arm should be all the same (in theory), at least they were with me. And really...I feel a lot more relaxed with the hands just chilling in front of my body. There is a lot less strain on my shoulder.

I'm a firm believer that all percussionists should be introduced to as many different styles of playing as they can be. I think that one of the most important things about being a musician is knowing as much as you can possibly know about your instrument. The more you know, the better....right? Just for the purpose of discussion...I teach my students both grips. However, I do start them off (for quite some time) with matched grip.

I just thought I'd interject my thoughts to the convo.

-Yogi

Cavaliers Snare Line

[dmfootworks]

Hmmm...nice discussion. I don't know if anyone has taken a look at the situation from this angle. But...using traditional grip...I was kind of messing around with the different positions of where a tilted (sling) drum would be, and where your typical modern marching snare drum would be. The different stroke styles in the left hand don't really differ at all between the two positions. The only difference is that your elbo is pushed pretty far back while using the technique to play a sling drum. You can try it yourself. Stand up straight with a pair of sticks and act like you're going to play a sling drum. After you do that, just take your hands and put them in front of you as if you were going to play a Yamaha sfz. The angles of your wrist and arm should be all the same (in theory), at least they were with me. And really...I feel a lot more relaxed with the hands just chilling in front of my body. There is a lot less strain on my shoulder.

I tried the two positions as you suggested and was surprised to find you're correct. Except for the elbow being pulled back while stroking on the horizontal snare surface, there doesn't seem to be much difference.

Do keep in mind, however, that in the days of the sling the snare drum worked differently as an instrument than it does today. The shell served more of a useful purpose as a resonating chamber. The heads weren't max-torqued like they are now and a lot of the sound came from the interplay between the snares and the shell. This made for some differences in technique, I suppose, that differ from the more "machine-like" playing of today (not meant negatively), where most of the sound is generated off the head. I would suggest that marching snares in drum corps don't even need to be as deep as they are now ("deep" in terms of size) and that they maintain their size for the sake of traditional (sans sling) appearance.

Looking forward to seeing you play this year.