Should Left Handed Drummers Play Open Handed?

How should left handed drummers play? There are a few options for lefties and I've taught them all to students.

But I always like to present the options and talk over the pros and cons, and then let them decide how they want to play.

There are examples of great drummers playing in all of the various options for left handed drummers so I don't believe there is a wrong or right way to play drums when you are left handed.

Open handed is one of the options and we check out some awesome players like Billy Cobham, Simon Phillips and Carter Beauford in this drum lesson.

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#lefthanddrummer #openhandeddrummer #lefthandeddrumming

[pearlmmx]

They always talk about the dominant hand but being a drummer you also need your feet. For example, I"m left handed but right footed. I started playing on a rigth handed drum (open handed) for several years but a drum teacher advised me to turn the drum left-handed to be able to do better drumfills (cuz we lefties always start fills with the left).
After several years of playing on a left-handed drum set, the left foot on the bass drum remained the weak link. That is why I have now placed a remote hi-hat right centered in front of me which I operate with my left foot. In this way my dominant foot on the right can operate the bass drum which feels much more natural.


The point is, too little account is taken into the dominant foot. And with today's possibilities (remote hi-hat / double bass drum pedal ...) I think a drum kit should always be placed taking into account both the dominant hand and the dominant foot. Unless putting the hi-hat right in front of you (like Danny Carey from Tool does in Pneuma) becomes the new evolution in drumming! To think about! Greetings Andy

[TwistedKitty]

I'm left handed taught to play right now just reversed my kit and play left made me more creative 😎

[Westside_]

I'm a left handed drummer and play open handed on the right handed kit. The only thing I usually need to move when I go play on a random kit is the ride cymbal which is usually on the right and I need to move to the left. That takes a couple of minutes so I always arrive a bit earlier to make my changes.

[jonathanbeaudoin]

i'm a left handed drummer that started playing as a right handed ...my brain just cannot process when i'm trying to do fast fills on a right kit, it dosen't feel right, so I started all over on playing on a full left handed kit, took some time to readapt but i went at a higher level of skills really fast since it's the way i am meant to play . to ease the assle of having to sett up evrything, I only use a floor tom and 1 tom on a stand, so it is like a modular kit, fast and easy to settup.

[burningempire]

Fight the power. Learn lefty, set up lefty, play lefty

[billbigler]

Very good lesson. I starting playing left handed in 1968 in high school because I am left handed and had sprained my right ankle badly playing baseball. In 1969 I shattered my left wrist playing flag football. Couldn't play for a long time. When I resumed playing I switched to right handed. Now I use I double pedal and play both ways. It is fun. One other reason though to play right handed is almost all drum rudiments and exercises are written for right hand lead playing. Don't have to write out left hand lead above the right hand notation. Cheers.

[krombopoulosmichael]

Thanks mate. Just started drumming and found out I am definitely open handed. Will be buying an e drum kit soon and this video definitely gave me confidence that I'm not a total wierdo. Cheers.

[shalaq]

I play left handed for 20 years with many experiments with open handed playing and right now I'm about to start experimenting with cable hihats. I set up my kit as right handed, use the slave pedal as my main pedal and put a cable hihat on my right foot. This way I can play open handed with my hands while not having to deal with coordination issues with my feet. And most gigs I have to carry my pedals snare and cymbals anyway, so why not carry your own hi-hat pedal as well?

[blado]

I am left handed and right footed, any suggestions for me.? Right now I play completely left handed as far as the kit set up but I'm very interested in the open hand idea giving that I already have a strong right foot. It took me some time to get my left foot to listen.

[DerekTJ]

I switched, as a right-hand player to open-handed and it was such a great way to become creative; being able to play the 2 and 4 with the right hand but also easily reach the floor-tom for off beats was a life changer

[lumberpilot]

I'm left-handed and have always played guitar right-handed with no problem so now if I learn drums, I'm thinking my right hand is used to doing the strumming (guitar) so that should correlate with the high hat as far as keeping a steady rhythm. I may be wrong.

Great lesson, wonderful example for my open handed playing Students, thanks for sharing !!

[kostischaveles]

Very nice thank you :). I play left guitars and basses. Recently decided to buy an electronic drum kit and will definitely test the open handed technique. If it doesn’t work I will reverse the kit anyway. Thanks ;)

[krokklife]

Great video. As a lefty, it has always been a pain not only in setups being shared, but also equipment. (Double bass pedals). Just started back in on the Skins and sticking with a right handed setup for now. Plan to play open handed but utilize the double bass pedal so I can sometimes still use my left foot for complicated bass patterns

[asselinpower]

I m left handed, when I started playing guitar years ago, I simply learned to play on a right handed guitar because my brother had one. It felt natural pretty quick.

I bought a drum kit for my daughter and plan on learning as well. Definitely going to learn right hand side from the beginning .

[youandwhosearmy]

Left-handed guitarist here, keen to get better on the drums too. As I am left-handed but right-footed, it's a no-brainer. OPEN HANDED all the way. Enjoyed your video very much, subscribed.

[matthewdickerson]

Awesome video. I'm a lefty, have always played guitar righty, and have only fiddled around on right handed drum kits. Now my 7 yr old son, who's also lefty, wants to learn the drums, and I'm researching how to have his kit set up. After your video I am so much more informed. I'll stick with open handed ( you had me at Cobham) and let him choose between right handed or open. Thank you

[johnvanboolen]

Hi, I'm left handed, right footed, learned to lead with the right hand, but always struggled, in the early days I would start a roll on the floor tom and come back left!!! even now on faster stuff I lead with left hand, but I'm going to the right, only ... I'm hitting anything (right of the small Tom) on the 'e' hope that makes sense. Thanks for a great vid jv

[jeffloucks]

Right hand dominant but have always played a completely reversed lefty setup.
Looking to get back at things and would like to explore more options.

[harryminn]

I play open handed and with a reverse traditional grip on a normal right handed drumkit. Am I wrong. ?