kiltiesdrumguy Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 The last snare line I was in was Kilts '78 and we marched match grip that year. My traditional grip left hand completely blows, I still have pretty good chops amazingly enough but I need help. Does anyone have any exercises or gimmicks (stick weights?) that would help me? Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strutta Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 so you want to know how to improve your left hand grip...hmmm... TOO EASY! Never mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickCogley Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 I posted this in a thread called chop-o-gram before, so check that out but for starters - == Hey drummers - any stuff you swear by for building chops or skills? Here's mine. Regards Rick * practicing on a taped-up old hardcover book. My first drum instructor said "pad? why would you want a pad!? Don't be a siss!" * using a gyroscope exerciser. I have one called a "dynabee" which is like holding a 40lb weight when it gets going. Good results fast. Relatively quiet and you can take it jogging with you, but people might look at you funny! Check out - http://cp.digiweb.com/prod03.html * using a guitarist finger exerciser – it's a little square thing with buttons on springs. You put it in your palm and press the buttons in succession, presumably to practice left hand finger coordination. I used to use it in both hands to develop my finger strength. No noise at all on this one. I've seen them at various music stores, so I imagine it's a pretty common thing. * endurance laps around the field or down the street with the drums on doing what we called a "roll stroll." Beware of getting "Fonzie thumbs." * Ken Mazur's book about competitive rudimental drumming. He sells copies sometimes, and that book was my bible when I marched. Sometimes it's listed on - http://home.att.net/~rbeckham/ or http://www.rudimentaldrumming.com * resistance exercises with rubber pulling the sticks either up or down. I had a hook above my head in the basement to which I hooked rubber tubes knotted in a loop. I would put the stick in the loop and press down and hold for a minute etc. * practice on pillows or an old tom-tom with a loose head stuffed with foam. If you can roll on a feather pillow, you can roll on anything. * timing – various syncopated timing exercises. * levels and speeds – same rams at various levels and speeds. * left hand lead – for right handers, this forces you to develop left hand strength. Switch for left-handers. * "if it can be flammed, flam it" Basically, a ram with flammed everything. * Scottish style exercises – various stuff in the style of pipe band drumming, because those helped a lot with 27th's book. * tricks – backsticking, flips, drum-to-drum, shell-taps, spirit-of-atlanta-style-3-sticks-in-one-hand etc etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 so you want to know how to improve your left hand grip...hmmm...TOO EASY! Never mind. :spit::spit::spit::spit::spit::spit: Nice!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickCogley Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 The gyroscope thing works very well to get your muscles back in shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strutta Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 so you want to know how to improve your left hand grip...hmmm...TOO EASY! Never mind. :spit::spit::spit::spit::spit::spit: Nice!! Why is it only we sopranos find that funny, Sam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummer1784 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 To seriously get your left hand not only playing notes, but also looking good while doing it, you should try to find and instructor that marched snare in drum corps that lives around you. I know that is sounds like a dumb idea, but as you said your chops are still good, all you need help with is holding the stick. With all of the little things that goes into the PROPER left hand traditional grip, thats what I would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 so you want to know how to improve your left hand grip...hmmm...TOO EASY! Never mind. :spit::spit::spit::spit::spit::spit: Nice!! Why is it only we sopranos find that funny, Sam? I get it...and yes it does work. ha ha ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FakeFlam Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Three basic exercises repeated ad infinitum will resurrect your chops more quickly than you might imagine: 8 on a hand Accent Tap Double Beat / Triple Beat Bill Bachman has a nice feature on www.vicfirth.com called the 'Get Good Quick Plan' that revolves around these 'magic 3'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notquitedeafdrummer Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Ah! the Dilema! I had this same problem coming form marching a summer of bass and then jumping into the role as center snare for my high school drumline this last fall... I consulted my snare teacher/idol/drumming buddy, Mr Pat Fitz-Gibbon, aka "Patty-cakes", and he contemplated for a few seconds and then looked at me and said: "8's. Put in your favorite movie and watch it and play 8's the whole time... switch to your right hand every once in awhile to give your left hand a break, but keep that left going as much as possible no matter how much it burns." Well I invited the snares over the next night for a little "Office Space Sectional" and ohhhh man that was the longest that movie has ever been! But it really helped, and I would recommend it! ~~ crazyfish <*)))>< ~~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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