Authentic Right-Hand Grip

Do you want to take your impression up one more notch? Or would you like to explore alternative grips? Try mastering the authentic right-hand grip and experience the true “traditional” grip.

Today, when we talk about traditional grip, we tend to focus on the left hand, which is the most obvious difference from the modern match grip.

However, the right-hand grip for centuries was very different from the modern grip.

The modern right-hand grip allows for faster, more flexible speed. But the authentic grip has more power, which is helpful when playing on calfskin heads and when trying to produce a strong sound.

Modern v. Authentic Grip

The modern school of thought teaches drummers to grip the stick between the thumb and first finger, keeping the back three fingers loose. Gripping in this manner allows the drummers to do two things:

1. play predominately in the wrist with a knocking motion and
2. use the back fingers to utilize rebound while playing at faster speeds.

This was not the grip taught, it seems, prior to the mid-1800s, and even then was a newly emerging technique.

Original Right-Hand Grip

Beginning with The Young Drummer’s Assistant (c. 1780), the author explains that:

“The lower or right hand Stick, to be gripped fast with the little Finger, and to be held as a Man may use a Stick in Fencing.”

The Young Drummer’s Assistant (1)

Potter (British, 1817) elaborates on this:

“the right Hand stick to be grasp’d with the whole Hand about two inches and a half from the Top (or more if requir’d) as Drum sticks are not all of the same Weight similar to grasping a Sword or Stick when going to play Back-sword.”

Potter (2)

We see two additional descriptions in American 1812-era manuals that provide similar information. In Rumrille & Holton (American, 1817), they explain that:

“The right hand must be held fast with the little finger, to play through the hand as a man may use a stick in fencing.”

Rumrille (3)

And Hazeltine (American, 1817) provides a little more description:

“the three little fingers of the right hand should be clinched round the stick to the hand, the four [pointer] finger should be loosely clinched round the stick to the thumb.”

Hazeltine (3)

Right-Hand Grip During the American Civil War

This advice remains the traditional technique up to and past the American Civil War. George Bruce’s explanation of the right hand in The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide (1862) is essentially a copy of Rumrille & Holton (5).

Gardiner Strube in his Drum and Fife Instructor (1869) explains that:

“The right-hand stick should be held with the thumb and all fingers closed around it; the little finger should press it harder than the rest, so as to allow it to play through the hand when beating.”

Strube (7)

Nearly a century later, Sanford Moeller’s book The Moeller Book thanks Bruce and Strube for their influence as master drummers and he too describes the correct right hand grip in a similar manner as the 18^th and early 19^th century manuals:

“the attention might be drawn to the fact that the right stick is held almost entirely with the little finger […] When the stick is placed on the drum the other fingers are closed around the stick, but very lightly, if touching it at all. This gives a most powerful and safe grip, but not rigid, and at the same time anatomically correct, allowing a comfortable hang to the arm, preventing stiffness, cramp and fatigue.”

Moeller (4)

It’s interesting to note that every drum manual from 1780 to 1820s that explains the right-hand grip, explains this older version. By the mid-1800s, manuals written by military drummers with a specific emphasis on writing for military duties (Klinehanse, Bruce, Strube), all continue to describe this more traditional grip.

Emergence of the Modern Right-Hand Grip

Two major manuals published during the American Civil War, however, show the first shift towards the more modern grip. Elias Howe writes:

“The stick in the right hand should be held naturally; that is, it should pass between the thumb and fingers; the little finger should be loosely closed round it, and it should be held firmly with the thumb and fore-finger.”

Howe (4)

Similarly, H. C. Hart explains that:

“The right hand stick should be held snug, with the whole hand closed, the ball of the thumb against the side of the first finger joint, the stick just balancing where the thumb and first finger grasp it.”

Hart (3)

Both of these men served in militia bands and were writing to help prepare militia and volunteer drummers for military service. This newer grip is easy to teach, especially for non-professional drummers, and easier to use while play the faster, fancier quicksteps that militia bands would have been interested in by the ACW.

As the first mention of such a grip does not appear until 1862 (Hart; Howe), 18^th Century and 1812-era drummers should ideally strive to develop the older, more traditional grip.

Summary of the Authentic Right-Hand Grip

Ultimately the grip being describes requires a few changes from a more modern approach:

1. Choke up a little higher on the stick. Potter notes the pinky should be about 2.5 inches from the butt of the stick.
2. Squeeze the stick with the pinky, using that finger to create a firm grip on the stick. If you don’t squeeze with the pinky, you’ll find your hand slipping forward.
3. The ring and middle finger seem to provide a little more support to the pinky, as indicated by Hazeltine, but overall should not be creating the pivot / grip.
4. The pointer finger and thumb should wrap around the stick, with the thumb resting against the pointer finger’s first knuckle. Don’t squeeze the thumb and pointer together.

Once you’ve mastered this new grip, you will also have to change how you approach striking the drum.

The pivot of the stick is now in the back of your hand – the pinky – and therefore the “knocking” motion from the wrist will not feel comfortable and cannot make a strong strike. Instead you will have to twist at the forearm, just like you do with the left hand. While this may feel strange at first, this movement makes the left and right strokes mirrors of each other and makes a great deal of sense.

The downfall of this stroke (and what may dissuade many from mastering it) is that the new motion is more difficult to play at faster speeds and the engagement of the pinky as the grip point means that the lower fingers can’t be used to increase speed. But, just like the left hand can be trained to play fast, so can the right hand with this new grip.

Develop Proper Technique

There are two elements to get right in order to successfully develop good technique on the authentic right-hand grip:

1. Finger Grip
2. Forearm Strike

Below are exercises and tips to develop both.

Finger Grip

The proper grip will feel unnatural at first and will take some training to really master.

Again, it’s the pinky squeezing the stick, while the thumb and pointer finger remain loose.

Exercise 1: Develop Finger Strength

Find yourself a stress ball, or something similar.

Hold the ball loosely in the hand. Then squeeze the pinky while keeping the other fingers relaxed.

Suggestions:

• Squeeze 10x, then rest. Repeat until fatigued.
• Squeeze and hold for 5 seconds, then rest. Repeat until fatigued.

Try to do this frequently (2-4x) throughout the day. I found it easy to do while driving to and from work, while watching TV, etc.

Forearm Strike

For this technique, you won’t use the wrist to strike the drum. Instead, this grip focuses on a forearm twist, similar to the left hand.

Use the following exercises to develop good forearm flexibility.

Exercise 2: Develop the Twisting Motion

Grab your drumsticks by the heads, so you’re basically holding a long staff in the center.

Keep your wrist neutral and flat.

Now slowly twist from the forearm so the “baton” moves from a horizontal to a vertical position, and then back.

This is the striking motion you’ll use with this grip.

Continue twisting slowly until you feel comfortable and don’t bend at the wrist while you move. Gradually twist faster, again focusing on keeping the wrist neutral and relaxed.

Exercise 3: Practice the Striking Motion with the Pinky Grip

Pick up a drumstick. Focus on the grip first: squeeze from the pinky and keep the front fingers relaxed.

Next, keep the wrist neutral and relaxed. Using the forearm, strike the drum.

Play 8 Full Strokes on one hand. Rest. Then repeat.

A full stroke is a 90 degree twist down and then back up.

Tip:

Keep a looser hold all the way through. This allows the stick to rebound somewhat naturally.

Then, on the way up, give a gentle squeeze at the top to control the momentum.

Play 8 strokes on the right hand. Unlike above, play a Down Stroke then an Up Stroke. Play 4 pairs of these.

A down stroke is a 90 degree twist down. The stick ends hoover just over the drumhead.

An up stroke begins just over the drum head. Strikes the head and then is a 90 degree twist up.

Tip:

For a downstroke, give a gentle squeeze at the bottom to deaden the momentum. This allows the stick to halt just above the head.

For an upstroke, start with a tighter squeeze and maintain a gentle squeeze throughout the movement.

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Final Thoughts

I highly encourage any drummer interested in 18^th or 19^th century drumming and/or a truly authentic traditional grip to work on their right-hand grip.

It does take some work to retrain yourself. I spent a summer playing every day working on this. At first, I could only maintain the grip at slow tempos with stuff I really knew. After a while, it was only faster rhythms that were difficult and I’d switch between the modern and authentic grip, sometimes in the middle of tunes. By the end of the summer, I was playing Double Drags, Three Camps, etc. with no difficulties.

Want to know more about this grip? Have questions? Contact me or comment below.

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Want more practice guides?

• The Double Stroke Roll Practice Guide
• The Double Drag Practice Guide
• The Ra Simple / 4-Stroke Roll / Swiss Ruff Practice Guide
• The Three Camps Practice Guide