How to teach lefty kid?

fu22ba55

Junior Member
First post on this forum for me. I'm a bass player who likes to get in over his head from time to time on the drums. (I have a mostly '76-ish Ludwig Kit)

I've just discovered that my kid is a southpaw, and I'm tempted to teach her the drums since she enjoys banging around on my kit from time to time.

Should I teach her open grip (open-handed) or should I switch the drums around for her?

(I think open grip is way cool, but I think it would be weird to use a non-dominant foot for the kick.)

Do you open-grip lefties all play kick with your right foot?

How should I teach my kid?

I like the idea of her being able to sit down behind any (rightie) kit and blaze away.

Thanks.
 
As a lefty who first set his kit up left handed only to switch to playing like a righty about a year later I would say to let her try both ways and decide for herself.
I hope that that wasn't to confusing.
She will know what feels comfortable for herself in a short while.
 
As a lefty who first set his kit up left handed only to switch to playing like a righty about a year later I would say to let her try both ways and decide for herself.

Thanks Bob.

Do you play 100% righty (cross your hands), or do you play open-handed on a righty kit?
 
I play mostly crossed but I do play simpler songs open. I also play with both traditional and matched grips. I only play traditional with my left hand.
I've been playing this way for decades.
I never felt comfortable playing as a lefty. I first learned that way because I was told that a lefty should play as a lefty.
It wasn't hard to switch.
Playing as a righty is great when sharing a kit at gigs with other bands.
Most kits are set up righty.
 
I learned how to play left hand Traditional grip on a snare drum in a drum corp.
I learned how to play right handed trad grip when I got my first kit.
I simply found that it was easier for me to play trad with my left hand.
It was also easier to ride and play the bass drum with my right hand and foot.
That's just Me!
Your daughter may see it differently.
 
Hey Bob,

I've taught a couple of lefty's over the years and I gave them the choice at the outset but most gravitated towards playing cross over on a lefty set up.

If you work through books like the New Breed by Gary Chester leading with both hands then it will give her the flexibility to play on her own set and tear it up on a regular kit if she ever sits down at one.

Go with what feels right to but give her the tools to be adaptable in the future.

All the best!
 
Yes thedrumninja, I expect that she will opt for setting up as a lefty.
Leading is also important. I have always had the ability to lead with either because I learned how to play set up both ways.
 
I made the decision to do other activities as a righty also.
I play golf as a righty
I shoot a handgun and a rifle as a righty.
These decisions were based on personal comfort as well as the easy availability of right handed clubs.
Standard issue military guns are simply designed for right handed use.
 
First post on this forum for me. I'm a bass player who likes to get in over his head from time to time on the drums. (I have a mostly '76-ish Ludwig Kit)

I've just discovered that my kid is a southpaw, and I'm tempted to teach her the drums since she enjoys banging around on my kit from time to time.

Should I teach her open grip (open-handed) or should I switch the drums around for her?

(I think open grip is way cool, but I think it would be weird to use a non-dominant foot for the kick.)

Do you open-grip lefties all play kick with your right foot?

How should I teach my kid?

I like the idea of her being able to sit down behind any (rightie) kit and blaze away.

Thanks.


have her experiment with both .. i'm left handed .. but right footed (if that makes any sense) hands and feet don't necessarily have to be the same with being dominant. and honestly .. after playing open handed on a righty kit for so long .. i can't understand why righties don't set their sets up lefty and play open handed .. it's just so much easier not having your arms crossed .. the snare hand is free to do ANYTHING instead of being locked in a little cage


*edit* the only downfall .. is that sweep fills become a bit akward
 
I would definitely go open handed on a right handed kit, her right foot will figure it out.

With a lefty kit you're stuck for life not being able to sit in anywhere and dealing with unhappy people as you take the time to completely re-set up a kit and the mics etc.

That's my thought on it!
 
i'm left handed .. but right footed (if that makes any sense)

That was my question... is it common for lefties to play open-handed, lead with their left hand, but play kick (lead) with their right foot?

i can't understand why righties don't set their sets up lefty and play open handed .. it's just so much easier not having your arms crossed

Open-handed makes sense to me. I would play that way (righty) but I could never play kick with my left foot, which means I'd need some kind of remote for the hi-hat.

I think your method (open-handed lefty, but kick with right foot), would be the "best of both worlds" since you could play open grip, but still sit down behind anyone's (righty) kit.

I've seen three open-handed drummers play (two live, and one on TV), and they were all just MONSTERS... able to attack the kit in a whole different way.
 
Playing open does make the most sense.
I play mostly crossed because in 1970 thats what everyone did.
I only began to play open about 4 years ago.
I never made a full transition from crossed to open.

Again, She will decide if she is exposed to both concepts.
 
From my experience you should teach her on a lefty kit. If she decides to switch, she decides to switch. I could give you the name of five famous drummers, all of whom are lefty and all of whom play in different arrangements, and all of whom would have varying comfort with those arrangements. It's something we've talked about a lot here. It makes sense to make her early days of drumming as easy and comfortable as possible. It's not only a left hand thing. It's a left foot thing.
 
It's not only a left hand thing. It's a left foot thing.
I agree Ken, Now that I think back on it. The foot was a big part of my decision to switch. My right foot was simply better suited to play more complicated things.
The hands were also included in my choice to be a lefty who plays righty.
The foot did also play a roll.
 
And as you know, Bob, we've discussed this a lot over the years. It's something that I've talked a lot about with lefty drummers. There are aspects of coordination - right foot or left foot with the appropriate hand, the issue of right hand or left hand leading when moving down the kit, the issue of weaker hand strength, as well as the comfort of working/leading from your dominant hand in grooves. Now ten drummers are going to have fifteen ideas about how this should be done . . . the kid will figure it out for herself as you did, and as a lefty, she will have to gain some comfort on a righty kit one way or the other. But for me the bottom line is the concern of what is comfortable for her now.
 
It is also more natural for me to lead with my right hand.
I do fluently lead with my left, That's probably a learned thing.
I would go with the, "set up as a lefty" thing to start her off.
It will probably be more natural for her to lead with the left.
 
start teaching him things with both sticking's until he is showing a dominance then just teach him the same way as anyone else but have him reverse it. i play a full lefty kit and am also left handed (obviously) . and as a left handed person i can say that its just second nature to reverse things to the left side, not just drumming but everything.
 
I'm a lefty and I started out open handed on a righty kit. Only because the owner wouldn't let me reverse the kit. After a while it just felt natural to play like that. In recent years I've taught myself to play cross handed on a right kit. My brother in law is also a lefty and has his kit set up to play cross handed as a lefty, and believe it or not, I just can't get comfortable behind his kit. Weird huh? I say let people get comfortable behind the kit and let them decide how to play. It worked for me. :)
 
Hi, Great to hear of your daughter's interest in music!

Teach her open-handed with the righty set up! She needs to do what is comfortable for her and should be allowed to express that but she also needs your direction. There many basic skills that we learn as children that seem awkward and difficult at first but we follow direction and master them on some level. How old is your daughter? Does she truly have a dominant foot yet? Most young kids can make the switch seamlessly if you don't make a big deal out of it. What happens when the teenager "wants" to operate the clutch with the right (dominant) foot? Give her choices perhaps but start with direction, then be flexible as she develops her own sense of what works best for her.

Look at all of the lefties that were attracted to the open-handed approach, didn't want the hassle of switching the kit around, and had conventional teachers and the media telling them, no, you must cross your sticks and lead with your right hand (and telling them Cobham was a freak of nature and not to be emulated???)

Righty kit, open-handed left AND right leads... She'll thank you for it later on (and maybe even switch to some other configuration we haven't thought of yet........ or pick up guitar)
 
I for one disagree with most of the advice here. Why should she have to overcome what sounds like a lefty handicap? Or essentially have to play a kit set up for SOMEONE ELSE.

I'm lefty, and I've struggled to play and gig on righty kits often. Having to deal with the quick switch overs, the partial switches to a lefty set up etc...

Moving the snare, hats and floor tom over = 5 minutes.. mics another 7, done in 12 flat.. all that stuff.

The result is I'm flexible, i can almost play anything, a lefty kit a righty kit, closed, openhanded, mix it all up. Life has forced me not be be fussy. But if I had my druthers, I'd like it set up MY WAY as 'Frank' would say. Yes, dominant right foot on the BD, stronger hand opening out to the kit, the weaker one on the weak side of the kit. Thats when it all comes together.

Should be no different for a lefty.

The rest is a breeze, you can face her and teach her. It will be a mirror image. And before I forget, L is R and R is L and your'e on!

...
 
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