Questions for people who play both matched and traditional grip

Huw Owens said:
1 - I find that for me if I can play something trad grip then it’s pretty easy to play the same thing matched. So if I was working on double paradiddles, for example, I’d practice trad, then expect to have it down instinctively when I tried it matched.

2 - I set the snare pretty flat , and don’t change to suit the grip.

:)
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Same here. Changing the grip doesn't necessarily change the muscle memory.

I use trad grip about 90% of the time. I started out playing matched but found my hands were way more even when I played traditional grip. It makes shuffles and brushes a lot easier for me too.

Even though I'm a trad grip player, my snare is perfectly flat. I can use any grip on a flat snare.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to give flat a try for a while so I can play both grips. It's tough to find a snare height that works for both but I think working on my matched grip left hand will help me get away with a higher snare height.
 
Philaiy9 said:
Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to give flat a try for a while so I can play both grips. It's tough to find a snare height that works for both but I think working on my matched grip left hand will help me get away with a higher snare height.
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Here’s another idea, which is what I do. I have my snare angled slightly toward me for when I play matched, but when I switch to traditional I set the flange of the bottom hoop onto the top of the left snare basket tip. This tilts my snare to the right and slightly away from me, and it only takes seconds.

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TK-421 said:
Here’s another idea, which is what I do. I have my snare angled slightly toward me for when I play matched, but when I switch to traditional I set the flange of the bottom hoop onto the top of the left snare basket tip. This tilts my snare to the left and slightly away from me, and it only takes seconds.

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Iv'e also heard of guys who will keep a little block of wood with them, and put it underneath one of the legs of the snare stand too...
 
For me, I try to keep a balance between both grips, but it really depends on what I’m working on. If I’m playing more traditional jazz or something that benefits from traditional grip, I’ll dedicate more time to it in my practice routine. But I don’t just leave matched grip behind—I still practice both to keep everything feeling natural. Some days I’ll split it 50/50, other times I’ll just warm up with traditional grip and then switch back to matched for the heavier stuff. I think it’s important to stay comfortable with both so I can switch effortlessly when needed.

As for snare angle, I mostly keep it the same since I’ve found a setup that works for both grips, but I do tweak it a little if I’m going to be playing mostly traditional grip for a gig or session. A slight tilt towards me makes traditional grip a bit more comfortable, but I don’t go extreme with it. I know some drummers have their snare way angled for traditional grip, but I like keeping it in a middle-ground position so I don’t feel awkward switching back and forth. It’s all about finding what feels natural while still keeping good technique. Curious to hear how others approach this!
 
Rock is mostly single strokes jazz and fusion is a lot of doubles
So it's not only genre it's your fills and types of fills..

like I previously said 'practice pad trad' for sneaky shapely ideas and then when you get to the set do what's appropriate
like a young Jack DeJohnette playing 60s Motown
I mean the early DeJohnette was like double stroke heaven listen to solo on Live-Evil 1971 'What I Say' for a double-stroke trad grip bonanza.
One of the hippest solos of all time to this point in time. Or his VHS almost implied 3 strokes per trad grip hands I know he went matched later years) I'm talking prior) it was bounce. In a Gadda Da vida was diggity diggity dum dum. Singles. Ginger threw some double strokes in his solos. And everyone went "jazz!"..
Everytime a Rock drummer threw in double strokes (late 60s earliest 70s) in pattern or solo- it was like "O my Gawd He's so Jazz".
😁 sorta true..
 
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Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
Iv'e also heard of guys who will keep a little block of wood with them, and put it underneath one of the legs of the snare stand too...
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I haven’t tried that, but it seems like that could make the snare unstable. Doesn’t sound like the best idea to me.
 
Philaiy9 said:
1. How do you split your practicing between the two grips? Do you only practice one way and break out the other when needed? Or do you practice both equally?

2. Do you change your snare angle depending on the grip you will primarily be using or keep it the same?

Thanks in advance, am curious to hear your responses. I play pretty much everything traditional grip with the snare tilted away and to the right, making rimshots easy for both hands. I've periodically worked on my matched grip but it always falls by the wayside--hoping to build that back up. It would be nice to be adept in both like Gadd or Colaiuta.

Please do not turn this into a "one grip is better than the other thread".
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I don't. I can play traditional because that is what my teacher insisted on but I have not played it in many years other than the occasional goof. I play matched and have seen absolutely no reason to use both. it just further dilutes available practice time. If my right hand can play jazz rolls etc. then my left hand certainly can as well
 
AudioWonderland said:
I can play traditional because that is what my teacher insisted on
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all elementary lesson books from the 60s had a picture of "how to hold" and it was Trad.
The reason for trad goes further than that
well after leaving 6th grade private lessons at 12 years old.
Buddy Tony Art Elvin on and on
To think they were merely "holding on" (at up to 80+ years of age) to 6th grade lessons I find a stretch

I'll have to think about that ...as they don't seem to be such sticklers of the past.. or of a stern 5th grade teacher
I think there was and is a bounce/free left/ lightness/ factor was why they persisted on with it.
Not because some old teacher told em to
 
jda said:
all elementary lesson books from the 60s had a picture of "how to hold" and it was Trad.
The reason for trad goes further than that
well after leaving 6th grade private lessons at 12 years old.
Buddy Tony Art Elvin on and on
To think they were merely "holding on" (at up to 80 years old) to 6th grade lessons I find a stretch

I'll have to think about that as they don't seem to be such sticklers of the past.. or of a stern 5th grade teacher
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I do think the genre or type of music one plays does have an impact on grip. I do think that jazz generally lends itself to traditional grip. All of the intricate left hand work that is done with jazz. I have not seen any or many drummers doing that stuff with matched grip. Not saying no one does. I do recall another drummer in high school who played matched grip. Much better drummer than I was and probably still is. But when they played jazz, there was absolutely no finesse in their left hand playing. It was actually painful to listen to. However, if all someone plays is other stuff besides jazz, there may not be a need to play traditional grip.
 
TK-421 said:
I haven’t tried that, but it seems like that could make the snare unstable. Doesn’t sound like the best idea to me.
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the ones I saw were only like a 1/4" thick, if even that. If you wanted a serious tilt, it definitely wouldn't work
 
the idea of putting one arm of the snare stand up the rim (to the bearing edge) the other two arms at the flange
is feasible to dial in a snare angle. It's a incremental not always possible or worth fidgeting with the stand adjuster
 
Long ago I saw Dave Sanborn
can't remember the venue or who he was opening for.
All I remember the drummer was a black cat he wore a baseball cap and he had four toms in front of a single bass natural wood Pearl set. As I watched he would switch Trad to Matched with in four bars in every song it seemed.
And it wasn't Dennis Chambers. Could have been it was long long ago like 1978.
Dude was bad as heck
I saw Dennis in a local (real local) bar years later one of the band Niacin was from here (Greensburg) and they did a gig at the local. I must have been the only drummer there that knew of it and got to talk with Dennis for a minute or so between breaks.
I asked him who was the highest paid drummer (how I came up with that I dunno) and he replied "Steve Gadd"
🤣 This was after Dennis did the Steely Dan 94 tour. I dunno why I asked him that
 
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Usually I'm 90/10 one or the other for some indeterminant time (a few months to a year), and then I'll switch to 10/90 the other way around for awhile, and so on.

Generally speaking, I'll be "working on" one grip while "maintaining" the other.

I tend to keep my snare angle more or less flat, which is mostly born out of convenience. I can lead with and also play trad in either hand, so in addition to a more easily reproducible setup it just helps keep everything balanced and provides the hands a constant reference between the permutations of closed handed matched, closed handed traditional, open handed matched, and open handed reverse traditional.
 
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I play jazz traditional grip and have a different kit that I use on those gigs, so the snare basket is positioned appropriately (drum tilted slightly forward and down to my right). Everything else is matched.

When practicing, I try to do about 30% right hand and 30% left hand, matched, then 40% left hand in traditional grip as I'm currently working on left hand finger technique.
 
Philaiy9 said:
1. How do you split your practicing between the two grips? Do you only practice one way and break out the other when needed? Or do you practice both equally?

2. Do you change your snare angle depending on the grip you will primarily be using or keep it the same?
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I play drumset and pretty much everything matched grip. I play rope tension snare drums (which are held on slings at an angle) traditional grip. The only reason traditional grip exists is because drums were held on slings at an angle, so I use the grip for that. For me I'll only play traditional on a tilted drum.

For practice I tilt my pad and go nuts in traditional grip teaching lessons at a couple different schools for 4+ hours twice a week. The rest of my life is matched grip.
 
Thanks for all the responses everyone. I've been working on this the past few months--there's definitely a nice middle ground height that makes it comfortable for both grips without the need to tilt. Traditional grip can be done on a low drum but you're going to lose power due to the high angle of contact and I'll almost certainly injure myself if I'm trying to do lots of rimshots this way (because you have to contort your wrist). I've also realized that matched grip is not actually that tough to play on a high drum, and may even be better for finesse if you have good technique. It looks like Bonham kept his snare pretty high:

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For whatever reason, this kind of height seems to be more common in the rock scene these days. Not trying to say that Travis Barker has bad technique.

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snare height's not independent of the rest of set ; bass drum height, tom tom and floor tom height; is part of the whole package. And why some sets are disliked and others melt into you like butter.
We're talking drum set : )
Seat height
allows one of two things. Do your shoulders drop down allowing gravity to do it's thing (desirable)
Or Seat height that causes to raise up shoulders and (hence arms.

I think I'm getting this figured out... ; )
 
Philaiy9 said:
For whatever reason, this kind of height seems to be more common in the rock scene these days. Not trying to say that Travis Barker has bad technique.

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Now you’ve got me wondering why Travis is strapped into his chair or throne or whatever that is? Did someone wheel him out to his kit, ala Hannibal Lecter?

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