DRUMMER CAFE

 Yes, that's why I was careful not to even use the term 'matched grip' because in truth, I don't have a matched grip that way. Actually my left isn't stiff. I have a relatively loose grip with alot of wrist action. I think, if anything, my wrists are my strength among many weaknesses in terms of drumming. I've got quite strong and flexible in all directions wrists lol. My strokes are fairly compact. Only drums I really ever put alot of arm into are my floor toms. I am sure, however, the grip likely changes at least a little as I play in terms of position. Not something I really notice while I'm playing. Just not that technically knowledgeable about it. I just know I naturally tend to hold the sticks that way. Doing it the 'right' way, traditional grip I doubt I could even play the drums at all, just never worked for me.

When I first heard of these 3 distinctions, back in the '70s, it was in connection with timpani playing. The French grip was indeed held with the thumb on the top, so when you are looking straight down at your hand, you see the thumb. But it's more than just a position, it's also how you use the back fingers, a lot more finger control of the stroke than wrist. German was explained to me as pretty much the standard snare drum grip, back of the hand up, more of a wrist stroke than fingers.

Then a graduate student came in to North Texas who had been studying Timpani in Germany for 3 years. Completely destroyed what I had thought German grip was. Yes, the back of the hand is up, but the sticks were held very loosely, back fingers completely off the stick, and the stroke was a Moeller type. The mallets were also very different, very thin shafts with very large, puffy heads. Extremely relaxed, very dark tonal sound.

American would be what I was taught by Kal Cherry of the Dallas Symphony. Closer to the French, but the hand slightly tilted to the inside, so the muscle between the thumb and index finger is on top. The stroke, however was completely different, a wrist rotation similar to what I do now with 4-mallet marimba using Stevens technique.

I wish Dom had explained the rotation of the forearm in the French Grip. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding of the thumbs-up grip. I see a lot of people play with their thumbs on top, but their forearms are spread too far apart and they're using the limited motion of the wrist side to side and the the elbow to produce the strokes - a recipe for disaster in the wrist and thumbs. It's SOOOO important, with all the bad information kicking around on the web, etc., to emphasise that the French Grip uses the rotation of the radius over the ulna bone like when you're waving to someone.