Gaddabout Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I was introduced to traditional grip -- BD style -- back in the early 80s when there was a split between corps and grip. SCV snares, for example, famously used matched grip. Watching videos from this year I have yet to see a corps use matched grip on snares. Maybe I've missed a corps, but wondering what happened between way back then and now. Back then the prevailing theory was traditional grip would die out (since the harness was invented and nobody slung their drums anymore) and everyone would be using matched. But that didn't happen. It's gone the other direction. Even stranger, more and more set players are using traditional (and a lot of them look self-taught, sadly). What gives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWhacker Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 You might want to check out this thread. Match Grip Discussion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlamMan Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I was introduced to traditional grip -- BD style -- back in the early 80s when there was a split between corps and grip. SCV snares, for example, famously used matched grip.Watching videos from this year I have yet to see a corps use matched grip on snares. Maybe I've missed a corps, but wondering what happened between way back then and now. Back then the prevailing theory was traditional grip would die out (since the harness was invented and nobody slung their drums anymore) and everyone would be using matched. But that didn't happen. It's gone the other direction. Even stranger, more and more set players are using traditional (and a lot of them look self-taught, sadly). What gives? Thankfully, matched grip went away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TastyWaves Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Somewhere along the line, People became ignorant and got in in their heads that Matched grip is "Easier". Apparently the rules of physics and the application disappear when you hold both hands the same way. There is nothing harder about traditional grip. I wish people would just admit that they like the aesthetic look of Traditional grip before congratulating themselves on how hard the style is to play. I guess all quad lines are inherently bad because they play matched grip. If any of these guys were so hot on Traditional because its so hard, why play only one hand traditional? Why not play them both that way? lol. Sorry... end of rant. But yeah, thats what happened. SCV did it in 05 and had a great line that was undervalued because of the grip they played. I was playing 05 SCV in a room full of drummers once and they were all hyping it and actually reversed themselves when they heard it was done playing matched grip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaddabout Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 I can tell you this debate has been equally divisive in the drum set world. Traditional is seen as the "educated" grip, because so many session masters use it, whereas match is the instinctive or "caveman" grip. What's funny is most traditional grip guys use both, including the masters -- Gadd, Weckl, Colaiuta, etc. Weckl said it's an emotional choice for him. Matched grip is also viewed as "anti-swing," yet I defy anyone to listen to Ari Hoenig and tell me that guy can't swing. Having left the DCI culture a long time ago and studied under grip gurus, I can tell you there's no mechanical advantage to traditional grip. If you're wanting to use fingers (and I hope everyone who plays the drum set does), matched grip has numerous advantages. And having spent some time teaching grip to friends who've developed injuries like carpal tunnel, I can tell you grip is far less important than mechanics (i.e. maintaining a proper fulcrum, allowing the stick to pivot freely, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIHasBeen Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Bottom Line: Traditional grip looks more bad-###ed than match grip. It may be harder and make know sense to a logical mind, but bad-### still wins in most circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarnia sam Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 There is nothing harder about traditional grip. I suppose that all depends on what level you take your playing to. Wait... it does depend on what level you are taking your playing to. Regads, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaddabout Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 I suppose that all depends on what level you take your playing to. Wait... it does depend on what level you are taking your playing to.Regads, John Traditional grip is only 'harder' in the sense it's not intuitive to the left hand the way matched grip is. In matched grip, the left hand already has some muscle development for most people because picking up any object in matched is the most natural way. So traditional grip left hand usually requires some extra sweating because you end up training muscles to move in a way they've never moved before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarnia sam Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Traditional grip is only 'harder' in the sense it's not intuitive to the left hand the way matched grip is. In matched grip, the left hand already has some muscle development for most people because picking up any object in matched is the most natural way. So traditional grip left hand usually requires some extra sweating because you end up training muscles to move in a way they've never moved before. In my experience, you have to train the right hand just as much as you train the left, matched or traditional. If anyone really took the time to look at what is going on with matched grip, you'd find there's nothing matched about it. Nobody has the same left and right arms, just like one foot is always bigger than the other. And the arms and wrists move differently too. I have found its much harder to get, two, three, or more drummers to have a similar motion and range on both hands with matched grip than with traditional. That's my opinion and experience in 45 years of drumming and teaching. However, when teaching a drummer fresh out of the box, matched gets them up to speed very quickly compared to traditional. All that said, when playing many drums (marching or set) matched rules (except for jazz and blues on a set), when playing snare I land on the traditional grip as preferred. I think the evidence of two really good lines using matched in the last 40 years of drum corps verses the dozens of really good lines that played traditional speaks for itself. Regards, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slow Adam Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 In my experience, you have to train the right hand just as much as you train the left, matched or traditional. If anyone really took the time to look at what is going on with matched grip, you'd find there's nothing matched about it. Nobody has the same left and right arms, just like one foot is always bigger than the other. And the arms and wrists move differently too. I don't think this is true. If it were really an issue of discrepancies in human anatomy, why not have both hands play with an underhand grip, or have left handed drummers play in a "reversed traditional" grip? I will continue to assert that the prevalence of traditional grip in the marching community has everything to do with how it looks, and nothing to do with anatomy, playability or anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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