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Do You Place Pick Behind Thumb Knuckle?


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Posted

Hello Everyone!

 

I've been modifying my pick placement in order to isolate my movement to just the wrist.

 

I was wondering where behind the thumb you place your pick.

 

Is it behind the center of the thumb knuckle, or at the thumb's end?

 

Also, when you curl the index finger, is it curled to the point where the top third of the index finger is parallel to, or 45 degrees to, the thumb?

 

When you hold the pick this way, do you get interference from the pad at the base of the thumb when you want to sustain the struck string?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

:)

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Posted

I hold my pick very unusually.

 

Tip of the thumb, with the left of the thumb nail taking a beating on the strings. Literally wearing off the nail on a 45 deg. angle to the thumb when looked at holding it up in front of me.

 

Pick fits between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the index finger. Both are roughly forming a 90 degree angle with each other, but this can't tell you much since if you tilt things relative to your line of sight you can make just about any angle you want for discussion purposes.

 

But the really unusual thing about the way I hold the pick is that my thumb takes a beating these days on the top left of the thumb's knuckle. Is that not ridiculous!

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Posted
Originally posted by Epiprone



Is it behind the center of the thumb knuckle, or at the thumb's end?

I hold the center of the pick down with the center of my thumb pad.


Also, when you curl the index finger, is it curled to the point where the top third of the index finger is parallel to, or 45 degrees to, the thumb?

I suppose I'm close to 45 degrees; it's likely a couple of degrees off. I don't "pinch" the pick. I hold the pick down on my index finger with my thumb.


When you hold the pick this way, do you get interference from the pad at the base of the thumb when you want to sustain the struck string?


I keep the point of the pick peeking out between my thumb and index. I try to get as close to the string with my hand as I can. The way I strum is somewhat of an arc, beginning away from the stings, moving closer to the strings, and then away from the strings.


My thumb does come into contact with the strings from time to time, but it's never been an "interference". I use the pad of my hand to control the strings, depending on whether I want a clipped, a muted or a ringing sound.


 

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Posted

I visited a site on mandolin picking techniques the other day. I figure if anyone could pick fast and even for long sessions, a mandolin player would be the person.

 

They suggest holding the pick behind the thumb knuckle.

 

Maybe it just takes a while for getting use to it, because to me it feels really awkward.

 

Similar to nylonrock, I used to hold the pick between the pads of the index finger and thumb, but I think this might be counterproductive to isolating the wrist.

 

However, even in the position I'm now learning, my thumb and index finger still manage to "break away" from the side-to-side wrist motion, going in a vertical loop.

 

This is going to be harder than I thought.

:(

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Posted

 

Originally posted by Epiprone

I visited a site on mandolin picking techniques the other day.


They suggest holding the pick behind the thumb knuckle.


 

 

That does sound awkward. I hope you get other responses than mine; I wouldn't want you to think I'm any kind of authority on this.

 

That said, for more than a decade, I've attended informal music sessions with various mandolin and tenor banjo players. While I've never really taken a survey on how different people hold picks, I've never seen anyone hold the pick the way you describe.

 

Lots of American mando playing is inspired by Bill Monroe. He had a wild right-hand technique. Listen to, say "Kentucky Mandolin" and you'll hear a fairly simple left-hand action with an insane right-hand fast strumming. Maybe Bill held his pick that way?

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Posted

I used to hold the pick badly. In fact, for the first 6 years of playing the way I held the pick hurt my playing. Then I really looked into how other players held their pick and this is what I came up with:

 

Pick-Front.jpg

 

Pick-Back.jpg

 

The first finger is pretty much parallel to the side of the pick - but sometimes curved inwards a bit - and the thumb is straight across the top.

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