This article is one among many in the long history of articles exploring the vices and virtues of Matched Grip versus Traditional Grip. This debate began in the late 1960s as the use of percussion in the concert hall, and solo and percussion ensemble literature began to expand. The debate continued as drum carriers, which hold drums flat, were developed for use in the marching drum line and became widely used. Authors of the kinds of articles I have mentioned have addressed physiological comparisons, the technical advantages and disadvantages, and the musical basis for using one grip over another. Many of those authors who, by the way, learned to play with Traditional Grip give more reasons to learn and play with Matched Grip than to maintain Traditional Grip. I will touch upon some of their thought processes, but my intent in this article is to address a situation I have encountered in my own teaching and make a suggestion.
I have had students come to their lessons and announce they have to learn how to play using Traditional Grip because that is the style their drum line has decided to use.
Some Background
It is important that the members of today’s drum lines understand the history of Traditional Grip. As most music educators know Traditional Grip was used by all marching drummers who attached their drum from one point with a sling. When a drum is held with a sling it slants to the right and slightly away from the player making playing with Matched Grip very uncomfortable. The modern drum carrier eliminated the necessity to continue using Traditional Grip.
The use of percussion in the concert hall in the early 19th century compelled percussionists to begin to refine their techniques. The literature for percussion solos and percussion ensemble expanded. Percussionists were at a crossroads - until this time much of percussion usage and training revolved around the marching band. John “Tony” Ruka says, “The marching drummer was the only real percussion pedagogist.”[1] He goes on to explain that there was “no stable percussion technique” established for drummers other than that used in “rudimental drumming until relatively modern times.”
Marching snare drums of today are barely shadows of their former selves. Today’s modern marching snare drums use heads made from Kevlar and Mylar, synthetic snares, steel counter hoops and hardware, and free floating systems, which are used to displace the head tension from the shell. I’m surprised that today’s field drums have not been a feature on the History Channel’s, Modern Marvels!
Rudiments have expanded exponentially from the Original Thirteen to the 40 P.A.S. Rudiments and there are countless “hybrid” rudiments, but the culture of drumming has held fast to the Traditional way of holding the sticks. Mark Fluegal, a founding member of the Percussive Arts Society journal, Percussionist, wrote that in the early- to mid-60s Matched Grip was thought of as an “experimental grip,” even briefly called “primitive grip”. Early on it was referred to most commonly as “Like-Hand Grip.”[2]
I recall my first reaction to Traditional Grip… it seemed to portray a higher level of developmental maturity (as I always saw my instructors playing that way). There is a certain elegance and perhaps romance to it.
The Heart of the Issue
I have no problem using Traditional Grip in my own playing. I have no problem with my students playing with Traditional Grip. I have no problem teaching my students how to play with Traditional Grip. The problem lies in when to introduce Traditional Grip.
There are many different grips percussionists use to play the whole spectrum of percussion instruments, particularly in today’s demanding and diverse situations. They exist for several reasons:
We now have commonly accepted terms for all the grips in use: German or Matched, French, American, and Traditional. There are variations on most of these grips. Joe M. Pullis outlines four variations of Traditional Grip such as the “Double Rabbit Ear Grip”, the “Single Rabbit Ear Grip”, the “Beginning Rudimental Grip”, and the “Advanced Rudimental Grip”.[3] There are several four-mallet grips commonly used on keyboard percussion instruments: Burton, Musser, Stevens, scissors, and cross. Some percussionists use all or most of these because of the type of literature they are playing or the instrument upon which they are playing. I have played a lot of contemporary music and have had to use a combination of grips and even invent some! Some percussionists would argue that learning more than one or two essential grips would be a waste of time and slows the learning process. Most authors of the articles I have mentioned champion the latter reasoning.
My Suggestion
I am not condemning any of these schools of thought or any of the grips. In fact the use of several different grips is often necessary, particularly for professional students of percussion. It is important to take the time to learn how to use and implement them properly. My point here is to strongly suggest that band directors work together with their drum line instructor(s) and educate students early on about any technique or concept that will be expected of them in the future. The time to introduce Traditional Grip is not the first rehearsal of band camp, but several years before the first rehearsal of band camp. It would be counter-productive to expect players, even the most talented ones who have never played with Traditional Grip, to make that change in a couple of weeks or months and expect a successful or even a quality marching season.
I think Traditional Grip is a very important part of drumming and is historically important to understand. Traditional Grip should be introduced to all students of percussion along with learning Matched Grip, but it is a daunting task – read on.
A good time to introduce Traditional Grip is after students have completed their first set of elementary level books[4] (about a year to 18 months into their training).
Once the grip is properly introduced a careful practice routine should be established. The first thing I tell students beginning to study Traditional Grip is that they need to learn how to play all over again with their left hand. I tell them to return to their beginning books and start all over again using Traditional Grip. This may sound drastic but it is the reality. This practice routine should include:
Starting over does not mean students should repeat all the longer “Studies” and “Etudes”, except at the discretion of their instructors. Students should continue to the next level of resources using Matched Grip.
In addition to the common technique books, Developing Dexterity, by Mitchell Peters and Stick Control, by George L. Stone there are some other fine resources which may help students concentrate their efforts to developing their facility with Traditional Grip: Left Hand Control for Right-Handed Drummers, by Joel Rothman and The Weaker Side, by Dom Famularo and Stephanie Chamberland.
Along with the authors already mentioned the following is a list of articles to read before committing to a drum line that uses Traditional Grip:
[1] Ruka, John “Tony”. “The Case for Matched Grip Today.” Percussionist
[2] Fluegel, Neal. “A Likewise Grip For Holding Snare Drum Sticks.” The Instrumentalist, January 1963.
[3] Pullis, Joe M. “Developing the Rudimental Snare Drum Grip.” The Instrumentalist, October 1971.
[4] The first set of elementary books I require for my students are: Developing Dexterity, Peters, Mitchell and Elementary Snare Drum Studies, Peters, Mitchell.
[5] The Percussionist journal is the predecessor to Percussive Notes both published by the P.A.S. (Percussive Arts Society).
I have had students come to their lessons and announce they have to learn how to play using Traditional Grip because that is the style their drum line has decided to use.
Some Background
It is important that the members of today’s drum lines understand the history of Traditional Grip. As most music educators know Traditional Grip was used by all marching drummers who attached their drum from one point with a sling. When a drum is held with a sling it slants to the right and slightly away from the player making playing with Matched Grip very uncomfortable. The modern drum carrier eliminated the necessity to continue using Traditional Grip.
The use of percussion in the concert hall in the early 19th century compelled percussionists to begin to refine their techniques. The literature for percussion solos and percussion ensemble expanded. Percussionists were at a crossroads - until this time much of percussion usage and training revolved around the marching band. John “Tony” Ruka says, “The marching drummer was the only real percussion pedagogist.”[1] He goes on to explain that there was “no stable percussion technique” established for drummers other than that used in “rudimental drumming until relatively modern times.”
Marching snare drums of today are barely shadows of their former selves. Today’s modern marching snare drums use heads made from Kevlar and Mylar, synthetic snares, steel counter hoops and hardware, and free floating systems, which are used to displace the head tension from the shell. I’m surprised that today’s field drums have not been a feature on the History Channel’s, Modern Marvels!
Rudiments have expanded exponentially from the Original Thirteen to the 40 P.A.S. Rudiments and there are countless “hybrid” rudiments, but the culture of drumming has held fast to the Traditional way of holding the sticks. Mark Fluegal, a founding member of the Percussive Arts Society journal, Percussionist, wrote that in the early- to mid-60s Matched Grip was thought of as an “experimental grip,” even briefly called “primitive grip”. Early on it was referred to most commonly as “Like-Hand Grip.”[2]
I recall my first reaction to Traditional Grip… it seemed to portray a higher level of developmental maturity (as I always saw my instructors playing that way). There is a certain elegance and perhaps romance to it.
The Heart of the Issue
I have no problem using Traditional Grip in my own playing. I have no problem with my students playing with Traditional Grip. I have no problem teaching my students how to play with Traditional Grip. The problem lies in when to introduce Traditional Grip.
There are many different grips percussionists use to play the whole spectrum of percussion instruments, particularly in today’s demanding and diverse situations. They exist for several reasons:
- The player’s orientation to the instrument
- The type of instrument surface; tight, loose, membranophone, or idiophone
- The type of stick or mallet
We now have commonly accepted terms for all the grips in use: German or Matched, French, American, and Traditional. There are variations on most of these grips. Joe M. Pullis outlines four variations of Traditional Grip such as the “Double Rabbit Ear Grip”, the “Single Rabbit Ear Grip”, the “Beginning Rudimental Grip”, and the “Advanced Rudimental Grip”.[3] There are several four-mallet grips commonly used on keyboard percussion instruments: Burton, Musser, Stevens, scissors, and cross. Some percussionists use all or most of these because of the type of literature they are playing or the instrument upon which they are playing. I have played a lot of contemporary music and have had to use a combination of grips and even invent some! Some percussionists would argue that learning more than one or two essential grips would be a waste of time and slows the learning process. Most authors of the articles I have mentioned champion the latter reasoning.
My Suggestion
I am not condemning any of these schools of thought or any of the grips. In fact the use of several different grips is often necessary, particularly for professional students of percussion. It is important to take the time to learn how to use and implement them properly. My point here is to strongly suggest that band directors work together with their drum line instructor(s) and educate students early on about any technique or concept that will be expected of them in the future. The time to introduce Traditional Grip is not the first rehearsal of band camp, but several years before the first rehearsal of band camp. It would be counter-productive to expect players, even the most talented ones who have never played with Traditional Grip, to make that change in a couple of weeks or months and expect a successful or even a quality marching season.
I think Traditional Grip is a very important part of drumming and is historically important to understand. Traditional Grip should be introduced to all students of percussion along with learning Matched Grip, but it is a daunting task – read on.
A good time to introduce Traditional Grip is after students have completed their first set of elementary level books[4] (about a year to 18 months into their training).
Once the grip is properly introduced a careful practice routine should be established. The first thing I tell students beginning to study Traditional Grip is that they need to learn how to play all over again with their left hand. I tell them to return to their beginning books and start all over again using Traditional Grip. This may sound drastic but it is the reality. This practice routine should include:
- Stick Control patterns
- Double stroke roll development exercises
- Accent/unaccented (tap) patterns
- Rudiments
Starting over does not mean students should repeat all the longer “Studies” and “Etudes”, except at the discretion of their instructors. Students should continue to the next level of resources using Matched Grip.
In addition to the common technique books, Developing Dexterity, by Mitchell Peters and Stick Control, by George L. Stone there are some other fine resources which may help students concentrate their efforts to developing their facility with Traditional Grip: Left Hand Control for Right-Handed Drummers, by Joel Rothman and The Weaker Side, by Dom Famularo and Stephanie Chamberland.
Along with the authors already mentioned the following is a list of articles to read before committing to a drum line that uses Traditional Grip:
- Carrico, Jerry. “The Matched Grip vs. The Unmatched Grip.” The Instrumentalist, June 1965
- Clark, Forrest. “Pros and Cons of Matched Grip Snare Drumming.” Percussionist[5], March 1969
- McKenzie, Jack. “The Matched Grip – Yes.” Percussionist, December 1963
- Miller, Ben and Papastefan, John. “Snare FUNdamentals” PASIC Publications, November 2000
- Peters, Gordon; Ames, Tony; Wickstrom Jr., Tony A. “Expert Advice for Percussion Students.” The Instrumentalist, May 1980
- Pollart, Gene. “The Study of Muscle Efficiency in Comparing the Matched Grip and the Traditional Grip.” Percussionist, May 1967
[1] Ruka, John “Tony”. “The Case for Matched Grip Today.” Percussionist
[2] Fluegel, Neal. “A Likewise Grip For Holding Snare Drum Sticks.” The Instrumentalist, January 1963.
[3] Pullis, Joe M. “Developing the Rudimental Snare Drum Grip.” The Instrumentalist, October 1971.
[4] The first set of elementary books I require for my students are: Developing Dexterity, Peters, Mitchell and Elementary Snare Drum Studies, Peters, Mitchell.
[5] The Percussionist journal is the predecessor to Percussive Notes both published by the P.A.S. (Percussive Arts Society).