Today i was practicing my 2008 show excerpt for my high school drumline and i have the music down but i have a fealing my technique is wack. i know that my taps need to be lower and my accents higher but more specifics are appreciated.


here is the video link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwN-7-UMdwc

limeaway your really good and i like the DAMN! at the end of shake hands
snare 4 life your pretty good but your technique is pretty wack.

will you PLZ tell me how to fix my technique then?

i just posted a fixed video with some better lighting and hopefully better technique. if my technique is still not good please help because i am trying to move up to second snare and it is my technique that is holding me back.

here is the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAus1_FPgkI

You've some ashtray hand going on with your traditional grip. Also called "catching water." In other words, your palm is facing up towards the sky, and if it was raining the water would stay in your hand. You need to turn your hand so that when the stick is in contact with the playing surface, your palm is like this | not like this _ . There's considerable discussion with pictures on the ultimate trad grip thread. Also, your left hand is very high, you should drop it down so the stick is making less of an angle with the head/pad. Finally, maybe it's just how I learned/teach, but you've got very little angle on your right hand and a lot on your left, horizontally speaking. So if I'm looking down at your sticks from in front of you, your sticks look like an L instead of a V, if that makes any sense. There's a possibility that you were taught to play that way. I teach that the sticks make a roughly 90 degree angle, maybe a little less, with each hand being 45 degrees from center.

Everything that was said in the post above, and...

...you are playing behind your fulcrum on the left hand, which is probably the biggest contributor to the poor technique.

Once you turn your palm in instead of up (which will actually allow you rotate instead of lifting your left hand and also allow the contact of your finger and thumb to remain), choke up a little less than an inch with your left hand and angle the right down more; you'll notice a difference in sound quality, more control, a faster feel and more than anything a more consistent hand-to-hand sound quality.

*It is my preference to teach this way, as some will argue otherwise, but I believe that the fulcrum is in the same place on the stick for both the left and right hand.

One last thing- your left hand should be wrapped around the sticks when you bring them in- the way you have it now, they'll fall out of your hand if the wind blows too hard.

that makes a lot of sense. thanks and i will work on that and post a revised video in a few hours to a day or two to make sure im doing ok. Thanks a bunch!! =]

here is the final video and i hopefully fixed things. coments are needed as i am trying to secire my spot on my high school line. THX =]

here is the video link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCxryUoVGjg

only thing wrong I saw was you hitting the stick while playing, fix that and you're good. I do it too xD

yea, that was just a simple mistake that i normaly dont do but i happen to do it on camera. lol

still, any technique comments or any others are greatly appreciated

THX =]