How a pro drummer ACTUALLY holds their sticks

[@ZenZoba]

Been drumming for 47 years and this is the best video for holding your drumsticks. Thank you for sharing.

[@DimitriFantini]

You’re very welcome!!

[@RPSchonherr]

So, hold on loosely, but don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control.

[@DimitriFantini]

that sounds like a song lyric

[@smokesreefer9417]

Nice👌👌😏😏

[@johnrobinson8323]

​@DimitriFantini yes. 38 Special

[@darinwood2183]

Ha, I see what you did there!!

[@Topjunkie-r4s]

Hell yeah!

[@Sheepstealer8927]

Had been drumming for many years in my 20's and started getting pretty decent with heavy styles ( hardcore, metal and their subgenres) ..long story short life and work got in the way and I had stop for about 10 years , I lost almost everything, took me about another 10 years on and off to get some back ( but I had nowhere near the control and speed I had before) , by then I decided that I just wanted to play drums for therapeutic purposes but I longed to play with more dynamics as that was the music I enjoyed to listen ( still have soft spot for the heavy stuff🤘), a big reason I was having a hard time was that my basic fundamentals sucked so I had no "solid ground " on which to build on.. Fast forward to 2020 pandemic and I made the decision to rebuild my drumming from the ground up, found a great coach/mentor and really got into the beginner mentality and focused on the fundamentals and building from there. I'm on track to be a better drummer than I was in my 20's and it's taking me half the time/ effort ! The big difference being that I never feel above my day one now, meaning I always go back to the fundamentals, specially when dealing with new drumming challenges... I urge any beginner drummer and or musician not to forgo these basic but super important steps in their journey, don't learn the hard way like I did.

[@DimitriFantini]

thanks for sharing, it's really true! I think of absolutely everything I play as the fundamentals - you have to build one brick at a time.

[@adityatyagi4009]

Another banger video, Dimitri!

[@DimitriFantini]

Thank you my friend!

[@oguzhancebe9833]

I think the opening of the index finger is a natural evolution as you progress. For me it also changes with tempo: at bpm higher than around 90 bpm my index starts to loosen up.

[@khetti1253]

‘Stick’ with it, guys

[@DimitriFantini]

hehe

[@nickrails]

Grear video. Since I started playing in a punk tribute band about 18 months ago I've playing high intensity, load, very fast patterns, over about a 140 minute continuous stage show. I've noticed my lead hand (left) has begun having that closed gap, with the stick sitting bang in the centre of the middle phalanx, away from that distal crease. If I try and reposition to the grip youre describing (that I used to have) I get rapidly fatigued in the top muscle between my thumb and forefinger, and along my forearm, and 8th note ride patterns at 200bpm seem alot harder. Are there any exercises you could recommend for getting back on track with a better grip?

[@DimitriFantini]

if adjusting the index finger is giving you a lot of fatigue, it sounds to me like your back fingers aren’t on the stick! but I’d have to see to be absolutely sure. are you coming to next week’s technique workshop?

[@hot_trash_beats]

Very cool, I have heard Murray Spivack talk about using the index finger as the guide with the thumb, but not on the first knuckle (Can't remember the anatomically correct terminology lol). But he talks about the space between the second and third knuckle?

[@DimitriFantini]

I can see that working! As long as you aren’t tightly wrapping around the stick with your index finger, you will be less likely to injure yourself and be able to let the stick vibrate and rebound naturally.

[@DennisBremermann]

ive watched so many videos about this but none of them goes to the part where they talk about how to hold the sticks when you move around the kit. the toms for example... i looked at so many drummers who had the thumb on top of the sticks when playing the toms. why does nobody talk about this? it´s a totally different feel ... at least for me... would be nice to see somethings about this topic ...

[@DimitriFantini]

Absolutely gets talked about a lot! But also those grips can be personal preference sometimes, I generally don’t play rack toms with French grip as much as some others. It’s a more recent trend.

[@DennisBremermann]

@@DimitriFantini ah ok thanks

[@jimlaw8199]

** QUESTION ** OK, I'm confused and need help here. You say it's imperative that we don't close the gap between thumb and forefinger and don't wrap the forefinger around the stick. You use Noah as your example, yet the footage of her playing at 0:21 clearly shows her tightly closing the gap and wrapping the forefinger around, and I see plenty of pro drummers doing this. Please can you clarify?

[@DimitriFantini]

Yes, I will say we all do it a little bit sometimes but try to minimize it as much as you can!! There are always exceptions to any technique rule - and I make mistakes myself still to this day… I try to be aware of them and correct them as much as I can!

[@jimlaw8199]

@@DimitriFantini hey thanks for the quick reply, Dimitri, love your channel. Would you say that drummers tend to close the gap when hitting harder, in order to prevent the stick from either moving about or pushing back into the gap.

[@jeffwaters2470]

Thanks-

[@DimitriFantini]

You are very welcome!

[@terrybaker8041]

What about the conventional grip???

[@DimitriFantini]

this is it lol.

[@sabbis]

You mean the French grip? Where the hand is in similar angle to when doing a handshake.

[@StreamOfBlack616]

Ich habe kein einziges Wort verstanden

[@DennisBremermann]

scherzkeks ^^