Lesson 2 is about holding the stick (the grip) and playing the drum (the stroke). You’ll learn a little about the different grip positions (German, American and French), the difference between the matched grip and the traditional grip, the fulcrum and how to play a ‘single stroke roll’, allowing for stick rebound. No revelations here, just information to get you started. (Hint: don’t just take my word for it, check out some of the videos on YouTube on these subjects by other drummers! Hint: Jojo Mayer)
A few other things I forgot to mention:
1. When you’re playing a drum, it’s really important to keep your wrists loose.
2. Keep your back straight!
3. Don’t move your arm (at least, at this stage). keep the motion of playing a stoke in the hands and wrists.
4. Just to be crystal clear, I play using the matched grip in the German position; it’s also the grip that I teach.
5: When you play the single stroke roll, use a metronome set to 50bpm (beats per minute) and count 1+2+3+4+ where each number falls on a click.