Sounds like the way traditional was originally explained to me, the whole give-someone-the-finger-then-slide-the-stick-in-grip. It worked for a while, then I had some uh, "more enlightened" teachers adjust it accordingly.

The most noticeable difference for me with the straight finger was the slower snap motion out of my left hand.

How about giving Terry his genitals back <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.Seriously, I thought this thread was for constructive criticism, not for poorly "piggy-backing" other peoples responses.

This is off topic but I recently had the chance to learn from Marty for a couple of days. The guy's hands are absolutely insane. Another thing, he has the stick resting on behind the first knuckle on the ring finger (not around the cuticle where most of us have it). Does anyone know why modern drummers have the stick resting in front of that knuckle instead of behind?

i feel that i have the left grip down fine but is seems that i have problems getting the stick up to the same heights as my right. is this normal or is there like an exercise i can use?

Something should be kept in mind throughout all this. Every drumline instructor/teacher/tech etc has his/her own style and will want things done a certain way. I don't honestly think that any one technique is perfect, nor do I think that mine is either. The basic principles for stick control and quality of sound are vital. Everyone has their own way of seeing that those requirements are met. There's a lot of different left hand styles out there. The key is finding the one that fits your abilities and the requirements of the ensemble that you're gonna be performing in.

Peace.

I didn't read all fifteen pages of this left-handed technique thread, but I thought I'd briefly discuss what my school's line uses. I can't say I'm perfect at this, because I'm just a bass drummer and have no traditional-grip snare experience. But, I have discussed the trad grip with a snare drummer or two (mainly the section leader), and this is my very best attempt to replicate it.



(EDIT: Whoops. I just noticed that the pinky issue I was going to discuss was discussed on page 3.) Our school uses the "pinky curled back" method. Which was, from what I've heard here, once a popular method.

Being a bass drummer, I can't say much on how the snares play at our school. Sorry. =(

i have no spaces between my fingers. stick on first ring finger joint,thumd ooon middle joint.i use my wrist. My section leader says my left is good.

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but 29 page is really long.

Are a little bit of slicing allowed when you use downstroke with your left hand?

No.

All you are doing in a downstoke is stopping the stick. It doesn't require movement of the stick to stray off of its path. Left hand traditional downstroking should be the same stick movement as right hand downstroking.