Open-Handed Players: When did you start?



Hi guys,I have been playing open for years,how did I start I am naturally left handed and right footed. So when I began I really wasnt aware of crossing. I sought out the best and naturally discovered Billy.and,Simon....So it all looked normal,aged 17.

But over the years I became very frustrated with not being able go right with ease. It,s as clauss Hessler states, drums are an ambidextrous instrument.

I saw Billy and Simon here in Perth,West Australia,and it was apparent from the start this was the key. So too you guys who are CROSS DOMINANT you have to bring your right hand up to your left,and vice versa. There are advantages to playing open.At my age now I am totally blown away/and surprised that it is being viewed as the "new" way too go.
Billy started doing it in 1954.......Get clauss Hesslers book its surprised me too.

Clauss Hessler is a wonderful drummer and I really like his book. It will definitely keep you busy and help you find ways to get creative with open-handed playing. I have corresponded with him quite a bit during my 4 month "open-handed journey" and will say that he is very generous with his time and is extremely supportive of aspiring drummers like myself.

I am now playing with a band and attempting to play open-handed 90+% of the time. It has been and continues to be a major challenge - but that's what I'm here for. It has consequently been one of the most gratifying experiences in my somewhat "checkered" career as a musician.
 
The story goes something like this;

My friend taught me Drums and the first ever lesson I sat down and just started playing open, he asked me if I wanted him to swap the kit around (as I'm a naturally left-handed person anyway) and I just told him not to bother and I'd play it as it was. Because the whole Foot to Hand co-ordination would of been new to me anyway it didn't really come into my mind that I was using my right Foot on the Bass and left Foot on the Hats, either way I would of had to learn from scratch with neither side being advantageous over the other. As for the Toms I didn't really care where they were placed, I had to learn how to play a Beat first! who needs Toms at this stage right?

For the first two Years or so of my playing I never used a Ride Cymbal, didn't even know what one was!, so when I got introduced to it I thought the natural thing to do would be to place it on my left where my leading Hand was.

This how I'm setting up these Days:

4123954144_3f35d7f66b_o.jpg


And that's is all there is to it, a combination of sheer oblviousness and making do.

Hope you're all well,

Kev

I could sit behind your set and play without any problem.

I started playing in 1983 and my first teacher played open, left hand hats and ride, and insisted I do the same. I have never played crossed and I have always had my ride cymbal to the left - sometimes even to the left of the hats. I am naturally right-handed and I like having my dominant hand on the snare; it is the heart of the drum set and deserves the extra dexterity of my right hand. There are huge advantages to having your snare, hats and ride all close together.

No one eats, drives, types, uses tools or plays any other instrument with their arms crossed, simply because it is more convenient and natural to keep the arms uncrossed. Notice how crossed players always put their ride cymbal on the right; they don't like crossing their arms either!

I invite each of you to join the open-handed players group below.
 
nice post deathmetalconga, i agree. i also like using my dominant hand on the snare. i also like having hi hats/rides on the left and right, it just makes it more interesting!
 
nice post deathmetalconga, i agree. i also like using my dominant hand on the snare. i also like having hi hats/rides on the left and right, it just makes it more interesting!

Yes, there are big advantages to having your dominant hand on snare. But I have noticed an urge every now and then to play ride with my right hand. All kinds of new patterns come out.

I think it is important to not confuse open playing with ambidextrous playing (people often do that, but so far not on this thread). I am just as set in my assigned hand roles as any other player; I just happen to like playing open.

I like the approach of Pass.of.E.r.a. If someone is comfortable playing crossed, it is a huge undertaking to reassign hand roles. Pass.of.E.r.a.'s approach is simply to move the set around to accommodate open playing and that's a better way to do it, I think.
 
I guess I fit into the ambidextrous group since I lead with left and right depending on what and where I'm playing on the set. I am now wondering why it is "important" not to confuse these two?
 
oh yes sorry. i was taking it more from ambidextrous too.. although i do play open handed aswell for some songs. i guess i just like to play in different ways. my drums are still set up in the 'right hand' positions though. i need to get a floor tom for my left..
 
I played open-handed from the beginning, since I taught myself. I had no idea why anyone would cross their hands to play, and it wasn't until years later when I went to a teacher to learn jazz that I realized how much in the minority I was, LOL. He was pulling his hair out trying to teach me, since he was a traditional cross-hand player. The upside is, I learned to be somewhat ambidextrous, since I learned to play jazz with the ride on my right, instead of the left, as I normally do for rock.
 
I guess I fit into the ambidextrous group since I lead with left and right depending on what and where I'm playing on the set. I am now wondering why it is "important" not to confuse these two?

Ambidexterity means training each hand to do what the other does - either hand can play ride, either can play snare, either can lead, equally well (or that is the goal at least).

Playing open means you don't cross your hands to play hats. I have always played open, but I am just as rigid in my assigned hand roles as the traditional crossed player. My left hand always plays hats and ride and very little snare and my right hand always plays snare and virtually no hats or ride. I have little interest in ambidexterity.

I think some of the confusion between ambidexterity and open playing is because most ambidextrous players play open, but playing open doesn't necessarily mean you are ambidextrous.
 
That's where I'm having problems - little flourishes on the hats and ghost notes on the snare. What pretty much comes natural playing cross handed requires some practice to play open handed. And more practice to get it really right.

It keeps getting better though and has really opened up the ability to do more things like play some percussion parts while playing the normal parts with the weaker hand.

I agree with this comment. I only sporadically play open-handed, and while I can function like this, everything is just a little bit harder. I find that it's similar to learning traditional grip at first if you started matched-- you can usually execute patterns but not with the same precision.

Playing open-handed is a great way to help develop everything in your left hand, and this month's DRUM! magazine has a quick section on playing funk open-handed. It can really help out with your feel and it's a good thing to work on.
 
I have been playing for about 16 years now. I started in elementary school, and my teacher was left handed so he played open handed...so I copied him thinking this was the correct way to play. Then eventually in middle school I started taking private lessons, and for those I played cross handed. So I guess you could say I play a little of both, but when I am playing at home, I prefer open handed...it just feels better to me. I have alot more control on the snare drum with ghost notes and such with my right hand. But then again, if I switch up to cross handed in the middle of playing, I can do lots of things on the hihat. It is definetely beneficial to know how to play both ways comfortably. I wish my left hand could do what my right hand can : (
 
Clauss Hessler is a wonderful drummer and I really like his book. It will definitely keep you busy and help you find ways to get creative with open-handed playing. I have corresponded with him quite a bit during my 4 month "open-handed journey" and will say that he is very generous with his time and is extremely supportive of aspiring drummers like myself.

I am now playing with a band and attempting to play open-handed 90+% of the time. It has been and continues to be a major challenge - but that's what I'm here for. It has consequently been one of the most gratifying experiences in my somewhat "checkered" career as a musician.

I agree the hessler book is a revelation to me as a cross dominant drummer,I found myself wondering what it would contain. I found the beggining grooves were things I had been doing for years,but as I go deeper,I find I am being taught a methodology,and most importantly someone is finally speaking my language.
 
I truly wish I could play open-handed more easily, because I'd love to be able to move around the kit with less strain on anything.

But what I've found is that my right hand and left hand have kind of switched roles relative to those who have posted before me. My left hand has more control and finesse than my right hand, and I suppose muscle memory has caused it to get into a groove that holds it to the "snare hand" title. When I play open-handed, not only do I have trouble carrying the eighth notes with my left hand on the hats, the volume also fluctuates.

My right hand is designated as the hi-hat hand, the one with the cymbal dynamics and the driving power. It has less finesse on the snare for some reason, but it does fine on cymbals.

I wonder if anyone else has had this problem/experience.
 
I truly wish I could play open-handed more easily, because I'd love to be able to move around the kit with less strain on anything.

But what I've found is that my right hand and left hand have kind of switched roles relative to those who have posted before me. My left hand has more control and finesse than my right hand, and I suppose muscle memory has caused it to get into a groove that holds it to the "snare hand" title. When I play open-handed, not only do I have trouble carrying the eighth notes with my left hand on the hats, the volume also fluctuates.

My right hand is designated as the hi-hat hand, the one with the cymbal dynamics and the driving power. It has less finesse on the snare for some reason, but it does fine on cymbals.

I wonder if anyone else has had this problem/experience.

To a degree though you're starting over, if you go back to the day you very 1st sat behind a kit you're right hand on the snare would have been pretty useless and you certainly didn't start playing ghost notes it was probably all you could do just to hit the snare somewhere close to being in time and I'll bet you're beat on the HH was all over the place as well with varying volume. Everthing you can do with the left hand on snare and right on high hat now now you've learnt over the time you've been playing, now you need to learn to be able to so it the other way round.
I only started playing open handed a few weeks ago and my right on the snare is absolutely awful, suprisingly worse than my left on the High hat but it's that that'll drive me to keep doing it (work on your weak points) and already I've seen a huge impovement especially in the left hand over those few weeks. I'm also finding I'm starting some fills with my left hand which I've never really done before.
Think I'll keep going with it (not a gigs or when it's important) for another 6 months and see how I feel about it then but even in a short period of time I feel it's benefitted my playing.
 
I truly wish I could play open-handed more easily, because I'd love to be able to move around the kit with less strain on anything.

But what I've found is that my right hand and left hand have kind of switched roles relative to those who have posted before me. My left hand has more control and finesse than my right hand, and I suppose muscle memory has caused it to get into a groove that holds it to the "snare hand" title. When I play open-handed, not only do I have trouble carrying the eighth notes with my left hand on the hats, the volume also fluctuates.

My right hand is designated as the hi-hat hand, the one with the cymbal dynamics and the driving power. It has less finesse on the snare for some reason, but it does fine on cymbals.

I wonder if anyone else has had this problem/experience.

My feeling is that if you are set in your ways and comfortable with playing crossed, then why change? There is a huge amount of re-learning that has to take place and the effort could be spent on developing new skills, not re-learning old ones.

If what you're really after is ambidexterity - the ability to play things equally well on either hand - then you should go through the trouble to learn open playing. Keep in mind, though, that ambidexterity will be the primary result of your efforts. Playing open will be almost an afterthought.

Unless you want to learn ambidexterity or you need to change your playing to avoid injury, I think you should stick with what you have learned and are comfortable with, whether it's crossed or open.
 
I am naturally right-handed and I like having my dominant hand on the snare; it is the heart of the drum set and deserves the extra dexterity of my right hand.

Hmm that's really interesting, see I'm a naturally left-handed person and even though I've played open from the very beginning my right hand is still my most dominant. I have the same mindset as you, I'd rather my snare hand have more dexterity than my "leading" hand because like you said it's the heart of the drumset, unless the music called for it I don't see how having the same level of dexterity in the left hand is as important because the left hand is providing a steady pulse, be it on the ride or hats and doesn't call for the finesse of the snare hand.

That last statement as it may be though, I have started learning Jazz so naturally my left hand is now developing the same dexterity that my right has. From this I'm seeing all kinds of results; especially when executing rudiments on the snare and in fills, my left hand is much more controlled dynamically and I seem to be able create much more interesting hybrids and combinations of rudiments and be able to start say a paraddidle leading of the right and change into another rudiment for example a sextuplet paradiddle-diddle during a left hand stroke...the fith sixteenth note in pattern for instance.

In short you could say I've gone through a very wierd and maybe backwards way of learning to play drums. I've done the hard part first; which is training my 'weaker' hand to be as good as my leading hand and then kept going to the point that my dominant hand has swtiched, I see bringing the left side up to scratch as being a much easier prospect now seen as I've always lead my grooves with that way.

This is a seriously interesting thread!

Hope everyone is keeping well,

Kev
 
Truthfully, I went the other way. I started out playing crossed like almost everyone else. Then, I played open for almost 5 years. I developed the ability to play pretty much everything that way. I went through all of New Breed 4 times!

Last year, I went into the studio and ran through several songs, with both r and l hand lead. Bottom line, the right hand lead (crossed) takes had a better feel and grooved more. This was after 5 YEARS of open handed playing.

I'm talking subtle differences but still noticeable ones to my ears.

Now, I ask you open handed (left hand lead on left side hi hat) players. Why are you playing open handed? I often hear that it "opens up the hands so that I can play stuff on the toms while I play the hi hat too" Nice argument but I have never heard anything from an open handed player (Simon and Carter included) that couldn't be played by a "conventional" player.

"Crossing your hands is unnatural" is another argument. Who says? The fact is that when the hands are crossed and you have everything nice and tucked in you can groove and sizzle and pop like nobody's business. Ask Steve Gadd or Bernard Purdie. Tommy Igoe has been working with me on this for a few months and the results have been startling.

"You can get a higher backbeat with hands uncrossed" Properly developed snare technique will allow you to play loud from a low height (like Bruce Lee's one inch punch).

If you want to play open handed great but don't forget for a second that that is a secondary concern. Your first and only duty is to serve the music. You have only a finite number of hours of practice time in this life. You should spend the most effort on those things which will allow you to serve the music, not necessarily your ideas about drumming ergonomics.
 
Truthfully, I went the other way. I started out playing crossed like almost everyone else. Then, I played open for almost 5 years. I developed the ability to play pretty much everything that way. I went through all of New Breed 4 times!

Last year, I went into the studio and ran through several songs, with both r and l hand lead. Bottom line, the right hand lead (crossed) takes had a better feel and grooved more. This was after 5 YEARS of open handed playing.

I'm talking subtle differences but still noticeable ones to my ears.

Now, I ask you open handed (left hand lead on left side hi hat) players. Why are you playing open handed? I often hear that it "opens up the hands so that I can play stuff on the toms while I play the hi hat too" Nice argument but I have never heard anything from an open handed player (Simon and Carter included) that couldn't be played by a "conventional" player.

"Crossing your hands is unnatural" is another argument. Who says? The fact is that when the hands are crossed and you have everything nice and tucked in you can groove and sizzle and pop like nobody's business. Ask Steve Gadd or Bernard Purdie. Tommy Igoe has been working with me on this for a few months and the results have been startling.

"You can get a higher backbeat with hands uncrossed" Properly developed snare technique will allow you to play loud from a low height (like Bruce Lee's one inch punch).

If you want to play open handed great but don't forget for a second that that is a secondary concern. Your first and only duty is to serve the music. You have only a finite number of hours of practice time in this life. You should spend the most effort on those things which will allow you to serve the music, not necessarily your ideas about drumming ergonomics.

Same here exactly. I can play most of my bands show even on a lefty kit because I spent many hours working on open handed playing and left hand lead. It's nice to have that amount of coordination, but in reality: Playing crossed feels better, sounds more tight and gives me a better feeling of being locked into the groove.

I had this argument on this board already, so I'll stay out of the way this time, but if anyone here cares for the viewpoint of a guy who can actually play both ways, here it is: I believe it's absolutely overrated.

I still teach most of my students both ways though, because of the obvious benefits in coordination and left hand strength.
 
Same here exactly. I can play most of my bands show even on a lefty kit because I spent many hours working on open handed playing and left hand lead. It's nice to have that amount of coordination, but in reality: Playing crossed feels better, sounds more tight and gives me a better feeling of being locked into the groove.

I had this argument on this board already, so I'll stay out of the way this time, but if anyone here cares for the viewpoint of a guy who can actually play both ways, here it is: I believe it's absolutely overrated.

I still teach most of my students both ways though, because of the obvious benefits in coordination and left hand strength.

When we play improvised stuff or just grooving with the band it's a whole body experience. Everything affects everything. It's not only the emotions in your mind that affect how you feel when playing. It's a completely different feeling when playing open handed when playing cross handed. It's really hard to describe for me. I'll just say it's a really different experience and you get very different ideas. Remeber that different parts of your brain control the different muscles so of course you will see difference in musical ideas.

For this reason alone I have been thinking about switching to traditional grip. Not because it's a superior technique-wise. It isn't. But because I'm starting to think that there might be more interesting musical ideas to be had. I don't know why, propably because of the "different parts of the brain are involved"-thing. But it doesn't matter why it happens, because it happens. =P
 
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