Feeling the Murray Spivack, Richard Wilson drumstick grip.

To learn the Murray Spivack, Richard Wilson drumstick grip, learn to feel the difference between their grip and the one you're using now.

[@JT-wm7np]

This right here is some drumming gold. Thanks for putting this out.

[@richardmartinez1699]

Thank you JT. Very much appreciated!

[@MrAngryTwinkie]

Hugely helpful, thank you for sharing this information!

[@richardmartinez1699]

Thank you, much appreciated! More coming soon.

[@ZackPomerleau]

Curious how you would approach fast shuffles using such an approach, such as Prima grooves like “When You’re Smiling” or “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead” where the left hand shuffles quite fast?

[@richardmartinez1699]

Hi Zack, a couple of things you can try, learn to play (singe handed) doubles as a shuffle. You'll be playing four notes. The back-beat is created by giving more force to the first note of second set of doubles. The other thing to try is to learn the Up and Down Motion (see my video). In this instance, once you get the basics of the technique, you'll be playing two up, two down The Up and Down Motion will help you achieve twice the speed with half the effort. I played a Louis Prima stage show about his life, that was a lot of fun!

[@ZackPomerleau]

Richard Martinez interesting. Do you use rebound at those tempos to achieve those strokes or fingers? My curiosity is when the song is 230-250 bpm you do two down to ups where does rebound eventually come I to play? I’ve seen videos of Bobby Morris where he certainly is moving his arm in that up and down fashion. At those tempos I can’t imagine doing anything but dropping the stick for two rebounds then grabbing and pulling up for two.

[@richardmartinez1699]

Zack Pomerleau, I agree with you and it’s why I wrote, “a couple of things you can try”, because there are a lot of techniques one can use to achieve the result you seek, and I use many of them not just two. Here’s an interesting point to consider, as the tempo increases, the technique you use has the potential to “modulate” into other forms. For example, if you start playing 16th doubles at 40 bpm, to get the notes to sound even you might play each note as an individual wrist turn. However, as the tempo increases there is a point where you’ll have the option, while remaining relaxed, to achieve the same end by letting the stick rebound. As you continue to speed up there will be a tempo where two wrist turns are no longer comfortable, but a single wrist turn for two notes is. So what changed? Not your desire for those two notes, only the technique to achieve the end. What do I do? I modulate through multiple methods until I find the one that is comfortable and relaxed.

[@joeycommisso9214]

@@richardmartinez1699How might I set up a lesson with you kind sir?

[@triplesixes4u]

Thanks Richard, very inspiring. I have a question about picking up this technique after years of probably pretty bad form. I can maintain a good grip when practicing on a pad when I can 100% focus on the grip but when playing songs with a band I find myself going back to my older poor grip. How does one get to the point where you stop reverting back during performance? I may not have stated that the best but hopefully that makes sense. Let me know if you have any feedback. Thanks again!

[@richardmartinez1699]

Hi Mike, what I learned from Richard Wilson when I asked a similar question is you keep practicing the grip, technique, on the pad until it takes over when you're playing on the drums. The practice pad is what I like to call, "a rarefied environment," that is a place where we can examine, adjust, and implement changes we'd like to make. This gives us the opportunity to create new muscle memory that given time and persistence will eventually take over on the drums. Thanks for the question!

[@webstercat]

The way I was able to feel this method was to focus on playing everything at p. To play a clean doubles in the center of the head at p.

[@CrappyProducts]

I'm currently studying the Spivack technique. How do you determine how much pressure you put on the index + thumb? how to know you're not chocking the stick vs being firm

[@richardmartinez1699]

Hi Rafael, here are a some things to try and think about: Depending on how much pressure you use, how many rebounds can you get and what is their quality? You'll notice that the tighter you hold the stick the fewer rebounds you'll get and the rebounds will be shorter in length. You’ll also notice that you’ll have to use more force for rebounds - If you hold it too tight, you could change the location of the fulcrum. If you’re using the middle finger as the fulcrum, holding it too tight can move it to the index finger and thumb. You want the stick to have the quality of lying in the hand.

[@CrappyProducts]

@@richardmartinez1699 Thanks for the reply Richard. Kevin talks so much about you, it's great :)