Members Epiprone Posted June 15, 2005 Members Posted June 15, 2005 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.
Members nylon rock Posted June 15, 2005 Members Posted June 15, 2005 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!
Members zookie Posted June 15, 2005 Members Posted June 15, 2005 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.
Members Epiprone Posted June 15, 2005 Author Members Posted June 15, 2005 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.
Members zookie Posted June 16, 2005 Members Posted June 16, 2005 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?
Members Epiprone Posted June 17, 2005 Author Members Posted June 17, 2005 Here's one of the links (look at the 2nd paragraph under the title "The Pick"): http://www.nativeground.com/mandolesson1.asp Here's one with pics of picks (pun intended): http://www.celticmusic.com/dan/technique.html
Members Auggie Doggie Posted June 17, 2005 Members Posted June 17, 2005 http://www.daddydoodle.com/holdpick.html There are a couple pictures on that page that show roughly where the pick should be in relation to the thumb. As for the angle of the last third of the index finger, (and I had to twist my wrist in a bizarre way to even be able to see!) mine is at about a 35 degree angle to my thumb.
Members zookie Posted June 17, 2005 Members Posted June 17, 2005 Originally posted by Epiprone Here's one with pics of picks (pun intended):http://www.celticmusic.com/dan/technique.html Yes, that's what I was feebly trying to describe!
Members TheBlueGuy Posted June 20, 2005 Members Posted June 20, 2005 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: 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.
Members Epiprone Posted June 20, 2005 Author Members Posted June 20, 2005 TheBlueGuy, did you post the pics as GIFs (.gif) or JPEGs (.jpg)? Those filetypes usually show up.
Members TheBlueGuy Posted June 20, 2005 Members Posted June 20, 2005 Hi Epi. I posted jpgs. I checked out how everyone else was posting pics by doing replies on threads with pics in them, but still no show.
Members Auggie Doggie Posted June 20, 2005 Members Posted June 20, 2005 Originally posted by TheBlueGuy 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:http://worth1000.com/web/media/82668/Pick-Front.jpghttp://worth1000.com/web/media/82668/Pick-Back.jpgWhere are my pics? Why are there question marks?
Members TheBlueGuy Posted June 20, 2005 Members Posted June 20, 2005 I figured it out. I moved them from where they were previously hosted to photobucket. It seems everyone else was using it, so it had to work.
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