Steve smith and deen castronovo have used the open hand technique for the journey song dont stop believin. In a recent article, i made the comment that there is really no such thing as a onehanded roll. Hi reddit, i recently bought my first acoustic drum kit, having some trouble with the set up. The first step in mastering the traditional grip is learning to bounce the drumstick off the drum head or practice pad. Ted reeds bongo and conga drum technique cover all the basic of hand drumming. Open handed playing was first conceived as idea with jim chapins book advanced techniques for the modern drummer, and gary chesters book the. Heelup in heeldown technique, the entire bottom portion of the foot remains on the pedalboard as the lower leg and ankle push. If you are interested in learning how to play the hand drums you may want to check out this manual.
A number of drummers experiment and are comfortable with open handed drumming but do not always play in that configuration, such as dennis chambers, sean reinert, thomas lang and marco minnemann. Im right handed but i play open handed because of the book a new breed by gary chester. Stick technique is your ultimate book on drum technique. As open handed playing becomes more popular, so it stands that educational material to accompany the technique is being published by some of the worlds best drummers and educators. If you follow him closely, you find that he will make the most efficient moves behind the drums. Firstly, i would say my basic snare hand technique is a matched grip following the g. Now i have been trying to swap hands to left open handed and i have realized an obvious lapse in stick control and technique, are their any exercises that i can carry out that. I never did get to study with morello, but i did study with dave divis, one of his drum students. The worldrenowned german drummer, claus hessler, is an open handed player who i am fortunate enough to have had shared some of his experience with me. The openhanded method also allows the right hand unrestricted power on the snare drum. But 1 aspect you missed on which i feel is needed is emphasizing the need to practice with the off hand left, or right if you are left handed starting the roll it sounds obvious but it really opens up doors on the types of blast and skank beats you can do to high tempos. Lenny white, as a left handed drummer, also used to play open handed with traditional grip, playing in a right handed kit. A method book for the development of complete independence on the drum set. The three most common techniques are the two finger, index finger, and open hand.
Use this forum to exchange ideas and information with your fellow drummers. Open handed players will often mount their ride cymbal on the left side above the hi hat and play the ride cymbal with the left hand as well. How to use openhanded playing on the drums wonderhowto. With no arm above it, the snare drum arm can rise as high as the drummer wishes and hit the drum as hard as is desired. The most important drum technique in the world drum lesson duration. When it came to the drum set, i learned how to play right handed on a right handed setup. Part 1 of 10 how to learn basic drum techniques for beginners. Masters of drumming sharing life times of work on the technical difficulties. If you are looking to keep track of your basic drumming techniques in between drum lessons and tutoring, we have a treat for you. Hudson music produces the finest instructional howto videos and lesson books for drums, bass and guitar. This is the top beginner reading book, and it includes a variety of patterns and exercises that can be adapted to the drum set in many ways. Discovering rhythms inside the paradiddle besides being one of the most popular rudiments, the single paradiddle is a good example to illustrate the overlap between linear and rudimental drumming, and its great for working on an open handed approach right hand on the snare and left hand on the hihat, or vice versa if youre left handed. Repeat the procedure, placing the other stick into your left hand. Sep 23, 2015 in this online drum lesson, im going to explain joe morellos arm accent technique.
An easy way to find your grip is to stand up with your hands at your side. Open, closed, open technique consists of beginning the rudiment very slow and controlled, speeding up evenly until at the maximum speed for the drummer, then slowing back down after maintaining that speed. The flat part of your thumb should make contact with the stick and your remaining fingers then wrap around naturally. The worldrenowned german drummer, claus hessler, is an openhanded player who i am fortunate enough to have had shared some of his experience with me. While this book was written to promote independence in jazz drumming, its useful for anyone, including rock musicians even john bonham loved it. While youre stuck at home, make the most of your time by learning a new language, skill, or even train for a remotework job with our new premium online. Playing drums openhanded is usually dismissed by the majority of drummers. In this advanced drumming video series, learn tips and techniques to improve your drum playing ability tenfold. Youd be amazed what playing a song like billy jean open handed over and over for an hour straight could do to your pocket and your left hand. Meaning, the actual grip on the respective hi hat hand was far from optimal open handed. I think this is a must for everyone who wants to improve their technique. It covers a different kind of independent playing than john rileys bop books. He published his first book with dom famularo in 2008, open handed playing vol.
As a beginning drummer, this is a good book to add to your library. Alfreds drum method, books 1 and 2, are the ideal teaching tools to help prepare beginning players for all styles of snare drum and percussion performance. Open handed drumming the short list of open handed drummers. In heelup technique, your heel rises slightly off the pedalboard, while the ball of the foot remains. Open handed drummers of reddit, why do you play open. Beginnings and development edit open handed playing was first conceived as idea with jim chapins book advanced techniques for the modern drummer, and gary chester s book the new breed which emphasize coordinated independence, leading with both hands and legs. So any book that you use for right hand lead or cross sticking can be used for developing left hand lead. Growing up in the preyoutube era, one could only guess as to who played open handed, unless you saw them play live. In open handed playing noncrossedover, the wrists arms operate within a full range of motion. One of the biggest advantages to playing open handed is that you no longer have to deal with the obstructed movement of crossing your hands to play the hihat and snare. Stick control for the snare drummer by george lawrence stone alfred this book was at the very top of the popularity list. Basic snare drum technique by thom hannum there are a number of effective methods for learning basic snare drum technique. When jim chapins book advanced techniques for the modern drummer was first published in 1948, he encouraged drummers to play with their hands uncrossed. How to improve left hand discipline when drumming right.
Alfred drum method book 1 with dvd musicians friend. Because if you dont have a dominant hand it makes no sense to drum in an uncomfortable way instead of the way that makes the most ergonomic sense. So be open to suggestions and seek a teacher to help guide you through the fundamentals. Which as any left handed person knows involves a lot of wonky ambidextrousness. How abot free hand technique, open handed playing and poly rhythmic. It proved to be benficial when compared to learning on a left handed setup because it worked my weak side kind of an odd usage of the word in this case, and i gained comfort on the typical drum setup used at venues who use house sets. This avoids the crossing over of the right arm above the left. I think part of the theory for oh people is that you can just park your left hand.
Studies on rhythms, odd time, reading, double bass drum, rudiments. Open handed drummers of reddit, why do you play open handed. For those of you that arent familiar with this technique, in summary, it involves not crossing the hands when playing the hihat or ridecymbal and snare drum simultaneously as opposed to the more traditional way of playing drums which features crossed hands as the basic playing position. This is the classic, universally excepted technique booksimple and extremely effective. Open handed drumming, playing with a left hand lead, playing uncrossed, or simply open. Mar 17, 2016 the twomeasure phrases in this exercise one measure crossedover, one measure open handed should entice you to make both techniques a permanent fixture in your practice routine. The pushpull technique uses your thumb and fingers to push the stick forward and backward, letting you play notes quickly with one hand. Open handed drumming is not a new phenomenon at all. Open handed drumming drum lesson with chris langan. For those of you that arent familiar with this technique, in summary, it involves not crossing the. This book is often considered the most important source for developing independence, as it provides page after page of unique rhythms that can be applied to any limb on the drum set, and performed either swung or straight. The moeller method, moeller technique or whipping technique is a percussive stroke method that combines a variety of techniques with the goal of improving hand speed, power, and control while offering the flexibility to add accented notes at will it is named for drummer sanford a. The hand feet book is a workbook for developing the drummers ability to integreat hands and feet, in the context of the sixteenth notes, for creative fills and drum solos. Jul 17, 2012 all i know is that it took a long time for me to find a few professional open handed drummers.
I play open handed and am trying to figure out where to put my ride. By using linear and rudimental approaches, this book will even help a drummer who has always played with crossed hands. Adventist youth honors answer bookrecreationdrumming. For more rhythmic drum exercises, i recommend purchasing ted reeds book progressive steps to syncopation for the modern drummer. Much to my surprise, i received a couple of letters demanding a retraction. Whatever you decide to call it, open handed drumming is a way of setting up and playing your drum set so that one hand doesnt cross over the other while playing the timekeeping cymbals like the hihats, or ride. Huge improvements to ones playing can come from open handed practice. The first wave of highprofile open handed drummers came about in the mid 60s, and it has continued through today. Once you work through this one, youll be able to open up any other book, read it, and borrow as many ideas as you can. Everything you need to know about open handed drumming. Basic drumming techniques and beginner drum lessons are explained in this free beginners drum tutorial video series from our expert drummer, covering drum sticks, drum beats and fills. A step beyond gives you a groundbreaking stepbystep approach to incorporating this cuttingedge style into your playing.
The one handed roll also known as freehand technique is a great technique for playing a very fast single stroke roll with only one hand. Jun 15, 2015 drumming open handed simply means that the drummer plays the hihat with the left hand while the right hand plays the snare drum. His second book contemporary drumset techniques is now also considered a valuable addition to any drum library and is one of the most complete sources of linear techniques available. Do you guys, who play open handed, have it on the right or the left side of your hihat, and is it placed fairly high or just a few inches above the hihat. Dom famularo demonstrates the open handed playing technique. General discussion forum for all drum related topics. Based on concepts developed by teaching great jim chapin and fusion legend billy cobham, open handed playing not only outlines all the. So with that, im going to give you my list of worthy drummers who impress their fans by playing open handed.
Open handed drumming drum lesson with chris langan behind the beat with chris langan. So, i have several big problems with open handed technique. The thing about open handed playing is that it is just left hand lead. For decades it has been used by drummers and percussionists of all genres to develop the hands as well as hand foot coordination. Based on concepts developed by teaching great jim chapin and fusion legend billy cobham, openhanded playing not only outlines all the benefits of avoiding the crossing of hands when playing the drumset, but provides an incredibly detailed, complete and approachable method for learning this technique. The preliminaries, basic notation, basic rhythms, brazilian hand drum techniques, middle eastern rhythms and the dumbek, frame drum percussion, west african rhythms the djembe, and latin rhythms. Moeller, as described in his book the art of snare drumming, also called the moeller book. I open this book whenever i get tired of practicing rudiments on my practice pad. When i practice with the kick drum pad ill generally play as if i were at a left handed kit, and then switch a learn it right handed. Dec 18, 2015 as open handed playing becomes more popular, so it stands that educational material to accompany the technique is being published by some of the worlds best drummers and educators. Openhanded drumming forces you to explore your kit with a fresh mindset, therefore you need to come up with different solutions for the ideas you want to convey. Stephane chamberland, another worldclass drummer, coauthored another book with dom. Lateral coordination easy, crosslateral coordination hard your body likes to play your right side together your right hand and right foot and the language of drumming is built around the coordination of the leadingride hand and the bass drum. Book 1 contains 80 pages of sequential instruction covering rudimental studies, roll studies, contest solos, and bass drum and cymbal technique.
One drum teacher in particular even offered to give me a demonstration of this mysterious technique. There was a thread in an other drum forum, were i stated it could simply be awkward to play open handed since your thumb was in your way, all the time. My left hand is dominant, but i weirdly i think my right foot is dominant. When jim chapins book advanced techniques for the modern drummer was first published in 1948, he encouraged drummers to play with their. By using linear and rudimental approaches, this book will even help a. With the exception of the open hand ga, all are subject to a wide array of modulations. For more indepth technique exercises, i recommend learning the rudiments and picking up a copy of the book stick control. Jun 29, 2016 with traditional grip, the fulcrum is the spot between your index finger and thumb. Claus hessler is an active clinician in europe, asia, and the united states. A method book for the development of complete independence on the drum set dahlgren, marvin, fine, elliot on.
Good technique is probably the most important things a drummer can have. In this free drum lesson, jared falk teaches you how to play the one handed roll and a couple of exercises that you can use to practice this technique. This drum technique will enable you to play with more speed and power than if you use just your wrists and fingers. Who knows, openhanded drumming might assist you in finding your sound and become a main aspect of your musical identity. It really does help you move around the drum kit, plus it makes practicing a lot more fun. He studied the moeller method with jim chapin starting in 1990 and also developed an open handed playing technique. This method also provides an incredibly creative and funky set of new tools to build the drumming vocabulary. Interview and lesson with master of faster, ramon montagner, the brazilian drummer who has taken one handed technique to the next level. There are thousands of drumming techniques, and each technique branches of into half a dozen more. Nov 18, 2015 for more rhythmic drum exercises, i recommend purchasing ted reeds book progressive steps to syncopation for the modern drummer.
This technique allows for the beater to bounce easily off the head, producing a more resonant bass drum tone. Ethnic percussion method books ethnic percussion steve. Open, closed, open is a technique of playing snare drum rudiments, especially used during auditions. Our expert will demonstrate single and double stroke techniques, how to play quads, how to do flams and paradiddles, how to play eighth note triplets, crossovers, how to increase your speed between drums, how to play odd time signaturesand more important drum tips. Beauford is one of the best when it comes to utilizing the open drumming technique. Learn exactly what to play, practice, and listen to from one of the most indemand drummers in the world. Ed sophs book presents both a good discussion of technique and a method of coordination of hands and feet that will. Besides being one of the most popular rudiments, the single paradiddle is a good example to illustrate the overlap between linear and rudimental drumming, and its great for working on an openhanded approach right hand on the snare and left hand on the hihat, or vice versa if youre lefthanded. Openhanded drumming refers to a method of playing a drum kit. Proponents of the openhanded style claim that the uncrossing of the arms frees up the right hand to play anywhere on the kit that is desired. This text is filled with hundreds of hip and interesting exercises that are easily incorporated into contemporary music. A followup to the popular first volume, open handed playing, vol.
Drum set method books drum set steve weiss music page 3. I am right cross handed drummer, this will give you an idea of the drum layout hihat on the left. I use a combination of hand techniques which i find appropriate for doing different things on my drum set. Based on concepts developed by teaching great jim chapin and fusion legend billy cobham, open handed playing not only outlines all the benefits of avoiding the crossing of hands when playing the drumset, but provides an incredibly detailed, complete, and approachable method for learning this technique. After hearing what claus hessler had to say on the topic, well. The instrument and the technique actually developed in tandem.
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