That sounds like the Stevens grip. The whole point is so you can use your thumb to "roll" the mallet out and in to change range.

Actually, if they're between vertical and flat, it sounds more like Musser grip to me, though I could be wrong.

well what is the cross grip or whatever?

True, lots more people are plying with Steven's grip, but for marching band and outdoor activities, the preferance is still Burton's because it has more power.

I believe that you can produce "power" from any of the grips. Check out Micheal Burritt. He can produce some sound. The whole argument is like saying, " You can't produce sound with traditional grip on snare drum." You can produce sound, but you have to use proper technique and work a liltime. With Burton or cross grip there's lil' room for error. It feels more natural (for some) than Stevens. When we use our hands and fingers our wrist are slighty more flat than they are with Stvens. Plus if one were to use a hammer they wouldn't pick it/ hold it up with their ring and pinky fingers, lol.

The general rules I teach ,and have adapted from other great percussionist both keyboard percussion and other genres our: Velocity = sound, to treat the mallets as if they are typewriter hammers on a typewriter, (slighty snapping your wrist), relax...no tension, and most importantly that volume and power will come with time; height should start right away. Focus on the height of the strokes, not the power behind them. With that being said, you can produce sound with any grip.

Don't go double posting on us, Darkquad

Drummermanic:

For a reference to cross grip go here...: http://www.nancyzeltsman.com/pdfs/4malletgrip.pdf

ok so whats the difference between stevens and burtons caz i heard someone say to me stevens burtons. so now Im really messed up and confused.

the grip i use (since i am now VERY confused about the name) is the one on vic firth. if you go on their site and go ton 4 mallet online lessons. that would be the grip that i use. any idea what its called?

You use STEVENS technique, which is what Giff's online lessons are for. Reas the rest of this thread (i.e. the beginning) to get a description of both Stevens grip and Burton grip. Yes, they are very different.

Stevens is taught by Giff Howarth on the VF.com lessons.

Burton is rather simple to describe:

Place first mallet in between the Index and Middle fingers.

Place second mallet in between the Thumb and Index finger.

Cross the two mallets, with the "first" being closest to your palm. The mallets can extend beyond the meaty part of your palm up to one inch, but no more.