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Which grip is better? Thumbs on top, or Thumbs on the side?

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spanky

spanky

By Jim Mcarthy
Which grip is better? Thumbs on top, or Thumbs on the side? French grip or German Grip?This is one of the questions I get asked the most frequently, and it is one of the most fundamental aspects of your grip on the drumstick, so it’s very important. I’ve seen these variations on the basic hand position all over the internet by various names, and different people all seem to have contrasting yet strong opinions about which you should use.Just for the record, this is actually not at all a new debate – in fact it dates back to before the drum kit was ever invented. Going back to the late Classical and Early Romantic periods of music history (Think Mozart and Beethoven) there was already this distinct difference between the way the German and French timpanists held the mallets. I’m not sure where they stood on the matter in Italy, but I suspect that being “right next door” in more ways than one, they tended towards the French “thumb on top” grip. Now this type of history is not my area of expertise, so if you want to be absolutely sure of these facts, then consult a better historian than me. I am 100% sure though, that when I first started learning drum technique well over 20 years ago, these basic differences in grip were commonly referred to as the “German grip” and the “French timpani grip.”
[img]Which grip is better? Thumbs on top, or Thumbs on the side? German10[/img]
German vs FrenchThe pictures here show the differences in the two grips. The French grip – or thumb on top – has the forearms rotated outwards such that the palms of the hands face inwards, and the tips of the thumbs sit directly on top of the stick. The thumbs make a strong fulcrum (pivot point) for the stick to rotate around when using the fingers to propel the stick. The German grip – or thumb on the side – has the forearms rotated inwards such that the palms face downwards and the thumbs are on the inwards side of the sticks. The fulcrum is created by gripping the stick between the thumb and the index finger. (Some drummers actually use other fingers for the fulcrum, or even no fulcrum at all! Most use the index finger though. For more about this subject read the next installment here!)

The million dollar question – which grip do we use?

Well it’s not black and white – it depends on what type of drummer you are and what you are trying to achieve. Each grip has its strengths and weaknesses. There’s simply not enough space to give a full explanation here, but the condensed version is this:

There’s no doubt that the French style grip is superior in one department – namely if you want to play very fast single strokes. It is no coincidence that all the record breakers in the “world’s fastest drummer” type competitions use this type of grip. The essential reason for this is that the thumb is directly behind the rebounding drumstick. When the stick bounces from the drum, it is moving upwards, and the thumb being on top of the stick creates a strong fulcrum with no muscular effort at all! For fast driving of the stick with the fingers this is great, because there is no static tension in the fingers to impede their movement, and also because it is very easy to make the fulcrums identical. This is important for keeping the hands even when using rebound only. I suspect that this is the main reason why the French preferred it for playing timpani. For those who are not familiar with orchestral timpani – a roll is always played using single strokes, and the best tone is achieved by letting the head tension control the rebound with as little interference from the hand/fulcrum as possible. It is also very common to see jazz drummers play with the French style grip. For the fast but small finger movement required for a fast swing pattern on the ride or high-hat, this grip is fairly effective.

The weakness of the French style grip is that it places the wrist joint such that its natural hinging direction is sideways. This means that we become quite limited when wanting to play notes with bigger movements, or notes which require that rebound is not used. Obviously the drummer can bend at the elbow to get bigger notes, but that is a pretty drastic leap. For the “middle-range” notes, users of the French grip usually do one of two things. One: force the wrist to hinge sideways to its natural direction. It is possible for the wrist to do this, but firstly it’s not very good at it, and secondly this action is not very good for the wrist, so there is a much greater risk of developing tendonitis type injuries over time. Think about the wrist joint like a car. Firstly it’s our primary mode of transport. Without it we wouldn’t go many places. Secondly it is built with a reverse gear. It needs this to be flexible enough for a wide range of use. We do not drive the car in reverse most of the time though, as it is designed with going forward in mind. If we drove in reverse all the time, our driving would be much worse, and the car would wear out faster. Our wrist is designed with one hinging direction in mind. The other “middle range” method sometimes used by French grip users, is to keep the wrists bent backwards close to 90 degrees and the hands close together. The forearms are then rotated with a “screwdriver” action to create the movement of the stick. There are two problems with this technique. Firstly it uses the bigger and slower muscles of the upper arm, and secondly the “bent back” position of the wrist is really quite bad for it. Especially under impact. This type of playing often leads to carpel tunnel problems.

So in summary of the French grip – if you want to play super fast single strokes that are medium to soft, then this is the grip to use. If your playing is going to include anything much else, then increasingly this grip causes inefficiency, and potential injury problems.

I personally use a grip much closer to the German style grip, and in my opinion this is by far the better grip for general playing – particularly for the modern drummer who frequently needs to address louder notes as well as soft ones, and let’s face it – super fast single strokes are great and impressive, but there is a whole lot more required of the versatile and musical drummer.

The strength of the German grip is that it can utilize the wrist very effectively. The wrist is hinging in the way it is designed for and the smaller/faster muscles of the forearm are used. These are actually the same muscles used when driving the stick from the fingers, so it makes it very easy to use the wrist and fingers together for strong double strokes and relaxed general playing without the fatigue.The down side of the German grip is that there is always some degree of tension required between the thumb and index finger to create the fulcrum. The tension itself is undesirable, but the more complex nature of the fulcrum also means that it is more difficult to make the hands exactly the same. The main muscles used to create and control the fulcrum are the ones at the base of the thumb, and between the thumb and finger. These are used to pull the thumb inwards towards the fingers. These small muscles can take some time to build and develop to the point where they can maintain an effective fulcrum – particularly for younger drummers. For this reason students often turn to a French style grip in their early stages simply because it is easier to get a functioning fulcrum quickly – it requires less muscular development so the results can be instant with finger control. The problem with this is of course that without working on the German style fulcrum, those muscles NEVER really develop and the general hand technique becomes limited as a result.Even though the fulcrum of the German grip can be a weakness, there are many refinements of the grip that can be developed to minimize the problems. Developing the refinements of this German style grip requires a fair bit of knowledge and understanding, but the benefits to your general playing abilities will be well worth the effort and time spent in my opinion.Jim McCarthy
(Author of “Stick Technique”)
www.sticktechnique.com for more information on grips.

Topics: drumming technique |

Woody

Woody

I play between on top and on the side.
Sort of a 45 degree angle on the thumbs.

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/robertwoodbury

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