I've been messaging people lately since I've been trying to get someone to teach me how to spin. I have the pistol grip right i just don't know how to do the freestyle stuff people do on youtube. Can anyone help me? Maybe a video or explanation? We need it for visuals that sellout here in my town where drumlines aren't that established yet.

I can only do flashes like those shown by tennessee state, up twirls, number ones stunts etc. HELP!

you can try a spray
do a crash with your right hand going up ward towards 12 o'clock and the left to 6. then rotate both hands clockwise (from the performers view) so that the right hand is at 6 and the left hand is at 12. than go back counter clockwise to the original 12 and 6 then back to set. just dived your count structure by fours. if you wanna do a 12 count spray for example
-crash on 1
-by the and count you should be at 12 and 6
-by count three you should have rotated to the point where the right hand is at 3 and the left is at 9
-by count 6 you should have right at 6 and left at 12
-by count 9 you should go back to 3 and 9
-by count 11 you should be at the original 12 and 6
- by count 12 you should be back to set
-make sure at all times the insides of your cymbals are facing flat to the stands untill you get back to set

trust me its easier than it sounds

try the typical vanguard visual:
this is good if you are moving left or right as opposed to front to back in the drill. it is one fluid motion i'll just break down what each hand does
To The Left:
-take your right hand and place it as if you are shading the right side of your face
-your arm should be at a 45 degree angle and the cymbal should look as if it comes straight from your arm
-the inside of your cymbal should be facing your face
-the left hand is pointed straight out to the left, coming straight from your shoulder
-the inside of the cymbal should be facing the ground
-you should be "pointing" at the direction that you're moving

To the Right:
-same thing but backwards
-right hand points to the right
-left hand shades face

i dont know what this one is called cuz my friend made it up during th indoor season:
-do a crash with both hands moving downward
-the left hand just falls to your side
-the right hand sort of does the second half of the spray that i told you about before
-it should move up in an arc
-at the top of the arc swing you arm back to your side in a diagonal top left to bottom right (for peformer) motion
-it should look as if youre ripping of a mask of sorts (at least thats how we describe it)


hope these help sorry i cant include a video of sorts

oh. ok. i'll try it though i don't get it very well yet. this is how they start freestyling?

still the pistol grip right? and just to make sure i have my terms right, four fingers through the strap then between the middle and the index?

thanks!

its not realy freestyle presay but just some sweet visuals to take up the space where you dont play

and pistol-grip?
im not too sure what it is youre describing
our cymbals hold them like most lines do with your hand looped through so the loop is kinda around the heel of your palm and the strap is between your thumb and first finger (like in the webbing of your hand)

Let me help bridge the culture divide a little bit...

2cymbal is asking about cymbal visuals common to show-style bands, similar to what you'd see from the drum lines at a number of historically black colleges. For a style reference, think of the movie Drumline or search for cymbal freestyle on YouTube.

A7xDrummer27 is giving an answer that's based on the style of drum & bugle corps. For an example, check out Santa Clara Vanguard's cymbal line on YouTube or the SCV PASIC videos on Vic Firth's web site. It's a VERY different style than what 2cymbal is looking for.

In this case, two different styles lead to two different types of grips. The usual corps-style grip (the "Garfield grip" and similar variants) are what A7xDrummer27 is describing. These grips allow for maximum playing control, which enables a cymbal line to play very intricate musical parts. But corps-style grips can be limiting when it comes to the visual style of a show band. For that reason, show-style groups typically use a variant of the pistol grip.

Back to the original question... Sorry, but when it comes to cymbal technique or visuals, especially show-style, I've gotta defer to someone who knows it better than I do.

thank you for that clarification.

yes please! i would really appreciate the help!

ok! imma try it, I do switch grips often.

yeah, like what skydog said, you're referring to the garfield grip.

thank you!

thanks skydog im not too familiar with showstyle so that confused me

Something that was part of my "how did they..." thoughts for a long time is that some of the show style teams have a different strap than the single leather loop that a lot of us are used to.

I can't say for sure, but it looks like the strap is either wrapped differently around the hand or there are extra pieces- it appears to have a strap around the thumb as well as the whole hand.

There has to be a show style guy lurking around here that knows what I mean.

Traditionally show style bands use bandanas as their straps.