Open-Handed Drumming

Spencer709

Junior Member
I am a right handed person but when I first picked up the sticks, hitting the hi-hats with my right hand in a cross-over fashion just wasn't compfortable. I've been now playing 7 months using the open handed style and keeping time with my left hand. Should I continue this way? It feels the most compfortable. And I feel if I try to play the conventional way, I'll have to learn ALL over again. Any open-handers in here? What are the advantages? disadvantages?
 
Hey, Spencer

Search this forum for threads about open-handed drumming. A few months ago, a bunch of us discussed this topic at length, covering everything from the origins of it to our opinions about the pros and cons of it. Best of luck!

Matt Ritter
Bass Drum Techniques For Today's Drummer
www.UnBuryingTheBeater.com
 
Hey there! :D

There's absolutly nothing wrong in playing open-handed. I myself tried to play open-handed a few months but then I quit. But just like you said, I never felt very confortable crossing my arms and just like yourself, Im a righty. So I' trying to play open handed again ;)

It feels a lot more confortable playing open-handed (in my case, right hand on ride and left hand on hats) It is taking some time to make my left as good as my right but believe me it's is way better than it used to be.

In my opinion I think there's only advantages to play open... there are no desadvantages (at least that's what I think)... for example:

->by not crossing your arms you don't have to "twist" your body to cross your arms when playing on the hats, which means you get a much better and more confortable posture

-> your creativity can grow dramatically by being able to play other parts of the drumset while maintaing some stuff your doing with you left side, for example: you can add toms while playing a basic rock beat with your left hand on the hats....

->When hitting some crashes during a song you don't have to "miss" the hi-hat notes like when you're using your right hand on the hats and then you have to reach for the same hand for a crash cymbal.

So to be hoinest with you.... I think you shouldn't play crossed since your confortable playing open.

I myself m trying to get confortable with playing open-handed. And I am getting cofortable everytime I practise and play that way ;)
 
If you feel comfortable (yes, that's the way it's spelled c-o-m-f-o-r-t-a-b-l-e) continue playing open-handed! Although I think that the old fashioned cross arm style is better for overall playing if you're a righty! That's just my philosophy, I've been always doing things with the idea ''symmetry is boring''
 
There's absolutly nothing wrong with playing crossed over, I'm still playing crossed but most of stuff I do is opened...

You have great player who still play crossed from jazz to death metal. For example, Virgil Donati, Jojo Mayer, Steve Smith, Derek Roddy, Dennis Chambers(plays sometimes opened... I guess...but I saw some stuff of him playing opened), Tony Royster Jr, Billy ward, I just naming a few...

I think in my opinion the key to whether to play open or crossed is feel... The same goes for thoise who play matched or traditional grip...

But I'm still trying to play as much open as I can...although there are some stuff that I'll cross over
 
There's certainly nothing wrong with playing open-handed...but it would not be a bad idea to learn cross-over, either. The more you are able to do comfortably on the drums, the better you will be, because you will be able to get out of any situation you get yourself into.
 
I am a right handed person but when I first picked up the sticks, hitting the hi-hats with my right hand in a cross-over fashion just wasn't compfortable. I've been now playing 7 months using the open handed style and keeping time with my left hand. Should I continue this way? It feels the most compfortable. And I feel if I try to play the conventional way, I'll have to learn ALL over again. Any open-handers in here? What are the advantages? disadvantages?

I assume you also have your ride on the left, close to the hats? If you do, then we are exactly the same. I have been playing open-handed for 23 years and I believe it is the most comfortable, ergonomic and sensible way to play. No one crosses their hands to eat, drive, type, open doors, use tools or play any other instruments. Even crossed players play open handed when they get a chance - notice how the ride cymbal is always to their right.

The disadvantages that I see are picking up after some fills. If I end the fill with the left hand, it is tricky to bring the right hand around to hit a crash.

The advantages are that your right hand is free to wander around the set while you left hand holds down patterns with ride, hats, snare, etc. If you're right-handed, as I am, it's good to have your dominant hand on the snare, as the snare is the heart of the drum set and the dominant hand more readily executes complex hand motions. Some people will say that leading with the non-dominant hand works the non-dominant hand harder and you may have trouble keeping up with driving rhythms, but I don't buy it. Indeed, working the weaker non-dominant side of the body seems like a good idea.

Another approach to open playing is putting the ride on the right and the hats on the left. This promotes ambidexterity, which is another level of advacement. I haven't explored ambidexterity at all. Plus, I like having the hats close to the ride - it seem logical to me the same hand should play them both.
 
The disadvantages that I see are picking up after some fills. If I end the fill with the left hand, it is tricky to bring the right hand around to hit a crash..

That's why you try and mentally plan ahead as you're doing your fill so you can use the sticking that will allow you to end on a right if need be.
 
The disadvantages that I see are picking up after some fills. If I end the fill with the left hand, it is tricky to bring the right hand around to hit a crash.

I play open and enjoy it as I am a leftie playing a rightie set up and when I need to just end rolls on a double, usually not a problem However I can't see it as anything other than a disadvantage that my left hand has to line up with my right foot in lots of grooves. MAtching a hand and a foot of the same side is undoubtedly easier.

Or, Deathmetal conga does it realy get as easy with time?
 
Last edited:
I can't see it as anything other than a disadvantage that my left hand has to line up with my right foot in lots of grooves. MAtching a hand and a foot of the same side is undoubtedly easier.

Pedaling the hi-hat while riding with the opposite hand is easy enough once you get the hang of it, and the same thing works with the left hand and the right foot, too.
 
I play open and enjoy it as I am a leftie playing a rightie set up and when I need to just end rolls on a double, usually not a problem However I can't see it as anything other than a disadvantage that my left hand has to line up with my right foot in lots of grooves. MAtching a hand and a foot of the same side is undoubtedly easier.

Or, Deathmetal conga does it realy get as easy with time?

I have always struggled with it. As fourstrings says, thinking it through helps. But you are right, sometimes it is easier if your snare and bass are played on the side side of the body. Snare and bass patterns are usually interrelated and it seems to simplify things for me if the snare and bass are on the same side of the body.

I also like keeping things close together. Playing open makes it easier to have the snare, hats and ride near each other.
 
But you are right, sometimes it is easier if your snare and bass are played on the side side of the body. Snare and bass patterns are usually interrelated and it seems to simplify things for me if the snare and bass are on the same side of the body.

Do you mean hi hat and bass? Snare and bass are OK as they are both dealt with by my right side when playing open handed.

I notice this mnost when playing fast BD/HH accents (BD/HH open followed by SD/HH closed - 'It aint over till its over' type thing) -its much easier doing this crossed.
 
Yes I play my ride/hi-hat with my left hand; and snare with my right hand. Bass Drum with Right foot also.
 
For me the advantages are that I feel comfortable, I can come come up with unique patterns etc. Plus it looks cool I think.

Disadvantages for me are that I like spashes near my hats, as opposed to over my rack toms, and because I have my ride just next to my hats the placement options are limited. That and it is hard for me to play fast 16ths cleanly because my hihat stand is not close to my snare drum. I've tried putting my double pedal on the other side of my hihat pedal, but it puts the hihats in front of my 8" tom.
 
I've been playing for a year, crossed, and I just started playing open-handed. It's a little different, but my both my hands are pretty equal, so switching isn't a matter of getting over the weakness as it is getting used to it. I have my ride on the right, hats on the left, and switch between them. I like this better, because I think it centers the drumset around the snare more. If you're trying to get used to the change, I suggest that you focus more on hitting the snare and bass drum, and just let whichever hand's on the hats or ride just do it's own thing; if you think about it, it'll mess up. But that's just me.
 
I have a remote hi-hat and it is positioned behind my snare, slightly overlaping it, and the ride is above that.

So I play open handed using my right hand on the hats. Means that the three things i hit most often are there in front of me, easy to reach with either hand. freaks my teacher out, he is a bit of a stick in the mud, but he has admitted that it has lots of advantages, especially those sixteenth patterns between the hats and snare.
 
For a righty, playing open-handed is often a way to improve strength in the left hand.

I started out open handed for that very reason. It also felt more comfortable. Now that I am working with an instructor he has me playing crossed. I switch between the two. Don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand (no pun intended), I think it makes me more versatile. On the other, by not choosing a method and sticking to it, I may never become proficient at either.
 
Some time ago, I was reading an article on Tony Richards - Former WASP drummer, on the first two albums. He used to play, hi-hats on the right side, left hand on the centred snare, left foot on 1st bass drum, right foot on 2nd bass drum / hi-hats. He also highlighted that many drummers (7 out of 10) that have tried his kit, founded it very uncomfortable to play.

Interesting...
 
Last edited:
Back
Top