Common with all techniques is the usage of the wrist in rotating (a motion like turning a door knob) as the fundamental motion of the stick. With the underhand grip, there are several different techniques employed which involve slight variations in finger positioning and usage.

Many drummers use traditional grip on drums that are perfectly horizontal, especially in marching percussion. Although tilting is not required, it helps align the shoulders and spine and is more ergonomic. Even when the drum is on a stand, many drummers will tilt their drum when using traditional grip.

Because of that drum position, using an overhand grip on the high (left) side of the drum would force the elbow into a very awkward position while an underhand grip is much more comfortable. This allowed the drummer to play the drum and march without banging his knees or thighs into the drum. This grip is called traditional because it descends from military marching drummers who carried a snare drum on a sling hung from the neck or one shoulder, with the drum riding closer to one hip than the other and tilted slightly for easier reach. Traditional grip is more popular in jazz drumming than in other drum kit styles due to the early jazz drummers evolving their style from marching and military styles and instrumentation, although it is also used by several rock drummers.

Traditional grip is almost exclusively used to play the snare drum, especially the marching snare drum, and often the drum kit. Commonly, the right hand uses an overhand grip and the left hand uses an underhand grip. Unlike matched grip, each hand holds the stick differently. Traditional grip (also known as orthodox grip or conventional grip, fundamental grip and, to a lesser extent, the jazz grip) is a technique used to hold drum sticks while playing percussion instruments. Elvin Jones playing drum kit using traditional grip, 1976

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