Picking Technique - Right Hand

[Tom F]

Novice question. I was comparing two CDs recently.

Butch Baldassari's -Old Towne
Mike Compton's -Climbing the Walls

I noticed that there is a huge difference between these two players, both with pick attack and phrasing. Butch is very clean and more single note oriented, Mike has more of a brush attack and phrases similar to Monroe (I would guess). It almost seems like Mike is dragging a little, just behind the beat, then catching up at the end.

Is these accurate observations?

And, how would you describe/compare the difference in right hand attacks and the techniques involved. Maybe even pick/string selection and set up gets involved?

Thanks.

Tom Friedrichs
Sheboygan Falls, WI
(Where it never seems to stop raining these days)

[Dfyngravity]

Ok lets see here right hand technique for the both of them. Well Butch does concentrate on a more clean single note technique. One reason being because of playing a lot of classical material. In classical as we all know the notes are crisp, clean and very persice. And Butch has carried that over into all the different types of music he plays. It is a very good technique to have. As for Mike, well he has spent some time studying Monroe's style of playing(*from what I hear). And we know that Monroe played at speeds around mach 1.....well not that fast, but pretty darn fast. And inorder to play as fast as he did you are always going to have to give up some clearity but not a lot. And as far as him playing behind the beat and then catching up I couldn't say if he did or didn't only because I have really studied Monroe a lot. But I know from other people and myself that when you are playing that fast it is easier for the rythm people and bass player to play faster than you can pick so you tend to stay a touch behind until the end. However, staying behind can give it a very cool effect, almost blussy, which Monroe was probably looking to do, so he probably did it for a reason.

[Tom F]

Thanks Dfyngravity.

The reason I posted is because I noticed a huge difference in techniques and wondered how each of them accomplished their style.

As far as Mike Compton purposely playing behind the beat, I think you are right on. I find myself waiting for him to "come back in" and it really demands your listening attention. You get the same felling listening to Clarence White, Tony Rice, and Charles Sawtell on guitar.

Thanks for the return post!

Tom Friedrichs
Sheboygan Falls, WI

[sandcastlefaith]

Another master of the style of Baldassari is Anthony Hannigan, the mandolin player from Hickory Project. In their song "Big Darby", which is on the mp3 part of the cafe page, his mandolin break is almost unfathomable. His speed is incredible, yet he doesn't sacrifice note clarity. If you are looking to obtain the Monroe/Compton sound, a master to look at is Ronnie McCoury, who has a teaching video out that you should look into if you want to learn that style.

[Spencer]

We were lucky to have a workshop by Anthony Hannigan at the Fredericia festival in Denmark a couple weeks ago. He gave a ton of good pointers, but in reference to right hand technique what I remember most is that he uses a quite small, triangular pick, with not much sticking out below his fingers. I tried using this placement, and it made a big difference in speed, and I was very pleased with the results at our next practice session. His hand movement is quite small which also helps. I don't think I have ever heard anybody play faster and cleaner at the same time. But listen to the Big Darby CD, he does a whole lot more than just play fast. He was showing us cross picking at the workshop, and to demonstrate that on the evening concert, he added a cross-picked break into Lonesome Fiddle Blues, which was played at a very brisk tempo. Simply incredible.

As a constrast, Mike Compton has written a lot about his technique on the COMANDO list, and as I recall, he uses a large triangular pick held very loosely, and when you watch him play, there is a lot of hand movement. There is probably a reference somewhere, where you can find his comments, maybe somebody can help with directions as to how to find this.

Spencer