Finger Speed, Strength and Technique.

Ouronomos

Junior Member
Right, so my wrist technique is good. I use no arm movement except when doing fills, but now the next phase. 16ths on the ride cymbal and blasting (one footed at least for now). Explanations and videos for Flying Fingers (French Grip) are hard to find. If anyone can help me on this topic with explanations, videos, tips, excersizes etc. I would deeply appreiciate it. Also, what position should my wrist be when I do it and how high/low should my snare drum, hi-hat and ride cymbal be and in what position (horizontal, diagonal, a hybrid of the two)? Thanks.
 
Hi, welcome to the forum. Getting a straight answer on technique here....there is no single straight answer, because there are many different ways to do it. It's not something that translates well via the written word. You will get plenty of "get yourself a good teacher". It's a very polarizing question here, because there are many very different ways to work a drumstick. I think the subject is fascinating myself. There are so many different views on the matter it's like religion. As a result, I don't think it gets it's due time here. Pity, it's at the very heart of playing the drumset.

Since I spend a lot of my time working on my technique, I don't mind putting it out there, damn the torpedos. I use a thumb and index fulcrum, and open and close my hand to make a stroke, keeping all fingers on the stick especially the pinky. If you do a one handed clap, that's the motion I use, except there's a stick in there, and I'm pinching it between my thumb and index finger. Also, the butt of the stick doesn't go past my wrist. That's it. That's one way to do it out of many. The players who look and sound the best IMO are the ones who suspend the stick in their fingers as opposed to holding it like a hammer. Remember, that's just one opinion out of a hundred. You have to research the various techniques and try them and determine for yourself what works for you.

As far as your ride, hi hat and snare heights, that depends on your body type, like clothing. You have to figure out what is most comfortable/efficient for you personally, there's no rules.
As far as where should your wrist be.... that depends on which grip you use and other factors. These questions need to be addressed with you at the drumset and someone else evaluating you. A video of you playing may yield some helpful suggestions.
 
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Like larryace said, many of those things are dependent on you and your body so we can't accurately tell you where things should be. All I can say, which is somewhat nonspecific but holds merit for it's ability to be applicable to all aspects of drumming, is to pay attention to how things feel.

I can feel the difference when things are right and when things fall off the rails, in terms of the sticks on the head/cymbal, sticks to hands, fingers to wrists, wrists to arms, arms to shoulders. Just pay attention to how everything feels in both situations and you will quickly be able to recognize and correct whatever isn't going how you want it to.
 
Thanks for the reply! I am +/- 5 and a half feet long. Currently my throne is setup so my knees are horizontal with the ground when my feet are on the pedals. I usually have the edge of my throne half a 5A drumstick away from the rim of my snare. As for the my snare drum, it's angled horizantally and about knee hight when I sit down. I've noticed a lot of drummers tend to angle their wrists down (the palm of your hand facing your body) when applying the flying fingers to a French Grip. Any comments on this?
 
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I've never studied finger technique, and play with a tight grip. I don't choke the stick, and there's still enough slack to let me take advantage of natural rebound, but I've never studied finger technique at all.

If you develope your wrists enough, finger technique becomes obscelete. I can just as much speed using wrists as most drummers can with fingers because I've always emphysized on building wrist speed and condition.
 
If you develope your wrists enough, finger technique becomes obscelete.

could not disagree more

two completely different uses......and its not only for speed

there is a whole gear you are choosing to ignore and I'm sure your playing suffers.

if you are saying you play strictly from the wrist and using natural rebound without implementing fingers into those strokes ....I would suggest seeing an instructor

I promise you will be pleased with the results of learning some hybrid strokes
 
could not disagree more

two completely different uses......and its not only for speed

there is a whole gear you are choosing to ignore and I'm sure your playing suffers.

if you are saying you play strictly from the wrist and using natural rebound without implementing fingers into those strokes ....I would suggest seeing an instructor

I promise you will be pleased with the results of learning some hybrid strokes

Totally agree. Not only that, just playing from your wrists seems like the road to injury.

For popular example, look at Jojo Mayer. He uses fingers, wrist, forearm, elbow, upper arm and shoulder as different levels of articulation...it's a lot to control in your mind but practice will make anything possible.
 
+1 on the JoJo Mayer reference. Check out his DVD "Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer". If you are hesitant to plunk down the cash for it you can catch bits and pieces of it on YouTube. Good stuff.
 
My wrist speed and control is excellent, just trying to get more tools in my belt. :p Will have to check JoJo out some time. I always knew of him, just never bothered. Thanks!
 
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