Playing a drum requires that you pick up a stick (unless it’s played with a foot pedal or a bare hand, but that’s another story altogether). While this action might seem simple enough, the majority of beginners go about it in a very inefficient way. Although not as serious as surgery, drumming requires manipulating a hand-held device to perform an “operation;” why wouldn’t we do it in an efficient manner? Of course, a drum doesn’t know if it is being struck with an efficient technique or not, thus many beginners, as well as “quasi-drummers,” pound away, caveman-like, satisfied that they are making sounds with a grip that is tense and potentially harmful to their muscles. Let’s try to do better!

*The following description of a grip is not meant as a “rule.” Rather, it is one example of an efficient combination of a drumstick and a hand.

My explanation of the grip involves three main points:

1) The alignment of the stick in your palm

2) The alignment of the “top” of your grip

3) The alignment of the “bottom” of your grip

THE PALM

Lay your hand out, palm up, and notice its creases. They mainly run along two directions: side to side (somewhat perpendicular to your fingers) and diagonally from the base of your index (pointer) finger, bending around the base of your thumb joint. We will eventually place the stick along this diagonal crease, closer to the base of your thumb, which will allow the hinge-like motion of your wrist to move the stick more easily.

Before we place the first half of your grip on the stick, it’s helpful to know that every stick has a natural BALANCE POINT or FULCRUM that will allow it to move most efficiently when gripped. For a well-balanced stick, the fulcrum can be found at about one third of the stick’s length from the butt. *My favorite stick maker, Vic Firth, coincidentally has placed a logo, a stylized “flag,” at this approximate point on their sticks.

THE TOP

The first “half” of your grip is the combination of your index finger and thumb. For an approximation of how these two digits work to form the top half of a sound grip, simply make a “gun” with your hand, your bottom three fingers curled into your palm, index finger and thumb extended. Now, lay your thumb forward, aligning it alongside your index finger. Curl your index finger around the tip of your thumb, with your thumb’s “pad” (fingerprint) resting just on top of your finger (your thumb slightly arching upward). Your thumb should be resting against your index finger just between the second and third knuckles. Where they are touching will be the points of contact on opposite sides of the shaft of the stick. Place this half of your grip on the top of the stick, so that the tip is wedged between your finger and thumb. Now, slide the stick through until you reach the balance point.

That’s the first half; now, for the second…

THE BOTTOM

With your bottom three fingers extended, curl them toward your palm until they’re touching the stick. With the stick placed along the crease I mentioned earlier, the pads (where your fingerprints are) should rest on the shaft. It’s important to note that the pads are touching the stick as opposed to the stick sliding into the fingers, which will make your gripsignificantly less efficient. When the stick is gripped inside of the curl of your bottom three fingers, I call this a “baseball bat” grip, as it’s more suited to swinging a bat than a drumstick. The bottom three fingers will become more involved in moving the stick and controlling its rebound as your abilities improve, so we want to train them properly from the beginning.

I often compare the pads of your bottom three fingers to the soles of a surfer’s feet, the similarity being that a surfer is both reacting to his board’s movement AND affecting its movement with his feet. Your bottom three fingers operate in the same manner, sensing when to absorb the energy of your strokes and when to “squeeze” more sounds from them accordingly.

With your grip in place, check out the points of contact.

1) Is the stick positioned against the base of your thumb in your palm?

2) Is the top half of your grip at the balance point and are the finger and thumb on opposite sides of the stick?

3) Are the pads of your bottom three fingers resting gently on the stick?

If so, voila! You now have a working grip in place on your well-balanced drumstick (er hem, Vic Firth SD 1 General).

As always, keep your hand relaxed and as free of tension as possible. TENSION WILL RUIN YOUR GRIP. Repeat the steps above as many times as you can until you don’t need to look at your hand or the stick to know you have an efficient grip placed at the balance point of the stick. I suggest placing your grip on your sticks 1,000 times!

Our next lesson will involve both a discussion of the various types of grips and how to make efficient strokes with them.

Let’s begin by knowing the parts of the stick. Top to bottom, any drumstick is made up of the same parts: the TIP, the SHOULDER/SHANK, the SHAFT and the BUTT.

The TIP is the part that normally strikes the surface of the drum or cymbal that is being played. It is sometimes called the HEAD, but we don’t want to use the same name for two different components in a drummer’s life; a DRUMHEAD is the membrane stretched over the openings of a drum’s shell. *Incidentally, these drumheads were originally made from animal skins, mostly calf, and were consequently called “SKINS.” Plastic drumheads were invented in the late 1950’s.

The SHOULDER or SHANK is just below the TIP, where the stick begins to increase in diameter (a reverse taper). This part of the drumstick can be used to create more volume as needed, considerably more than the TIP. Also, the use of both the TIP and SHANK allows a drummer to choose between two distinct tone qualities when striking a cymbal or a drum. The SHANK can be used to strike the BELL of a cymbal and for producing a loud RIMSHOT on a drum. Alternating between these two sounds on either cymbals or drums can create interesting, sophisticated patterns.

The SHAFT of a stick is simply the “handle” of the drumstick. There’s not much to say about it other than to mention the importance of where your grip is placed on it, which will be discussed later.

Finally, there’s the BUTT. I purposely go from TIP to BUTT in a thinly veiled attempt at humor to end a rather unfunny topic. In lessons, snickers, grins and laughter usually follow the mention of this part. I completely understand. What you’ll notice about this word, though, is that its definitions involve the words “hit” and “strike,” as in “to hit with…” or “to strike against something.” You’ll also notice that the mass of the stick is most concentrated here, similar to the SHANK, so maximum volume is the main goal for using this part of the stick. While it’s true that most drummers who play with their BUTTS (!) are going for maximum volume, there are instances where you might see a drummer holding one stick in this “reverse” position. It’s most likely the hand used for playing CROSS-STICK or RIM KNOCKS in a LATIN or AFRO-CUBAN groove. We’ll discuss both this technique and these types of groove in a later lesson.

So, now you know the parts of any drumstick. This basic design has been around since the creation of the first drumstick and, much like the wheel, won’t ever change; however, there are variations on this design that result in radically different possibilities of sound. Bundled dowels, bundled broom straw, felt-headed mallets and wire brushes are just a few of the many examples of these variations available to us to create different sounds just by changing the tools in our hands.

In our next lesson, we will discuss the GRIP.

To begin with, I have 3 Rules:

Have FUN!

Remain RELAXED.

Be CONFIDENT.

I call these directions “rules” because I feel so strongly about them, but it’s more accurate to call them “tenets.” If followed, these rules will guarantee success in your drum studies. As a matter of fact, following these instructions will guarantee success in just about anything you do! More on that topic later…

HAVE FUN

Now, I don’t want you to think that becoming a competent drummer is “all giggles and ice cream,” but I do want you to know that being able to express yourself on this instrument is incredibly gratifying and there are few things more fulfilling than performing, whether solo or in an ensemble. The work and dedication it takes to improve are well worth the effort for the sense of accomplishment with which you are rewarded.

STAY RELAXED

Relaxation means different things according to what we’re talking about. I teach two types of relaxation: mental and muscular. The mental relaxation you feel when you are comfortable is a state of mind that can be learned and applied to both the learning process and performance, while the physical relaxation that allows your muscles to work without fatigue is necessary for the speed and power that everyone associates with accomplished drumming.

BE CONFIDENT

Confidence is an attitude that can be learned. Used positively, a confident attitude is a powerful tool. The confidence gained by allowing you to make mistakes and learn from them is central to my teaching concept. What begins as a “baby step” will snowball into full-blown self-confidence when you let the fear of failure go and decide to just do your best, no matter what.