The pinky...

[ironlionzion]

I have been reading alot on technique over the past few days i hear people mention that "no" pinky technique (usually after or before the mention not haveing your picking hand on the bridge) .....does these refer to not using your pinky on your fretting hand. i have been using my pinky ever since i could and at one time thought this was an accomplishment....please help clear things up for me thank you all
~Steve

[b.pat]

Steve,
What you are probably refering to is "Posting" which is resting one or more finger of your picking hand on the sound board. Some folks do this as a guide or referece point. Most people think this is best avoided.
Pat

[evanreilly]

Pinkie on right hand: avoid 'Posting' if possible.
Pinkie on left hand: Monroe called the pinkie the 'shortstop' because it would run out there and grap those notes. Something to be said for that view.

[mando bandage]

Take a crack at the Aonzo scales (here or on Mandozine?) and practice those up the neck and back. They will get your pinky into the act in a hurry. With a little work, you will get comfortable covering frets 1-7 in first position with all four fingers without really having to move your hand. Then, when you move up the neck where the frets are narrower, it gets easier to cover the spread.

Tim O'Brien's arpeggios (also on Mandozine?) will also make your pinky indispensable.

I know some respected professionals don't use the pinky much, but I don't quite understand how. They must move the fret hand more, and it would seem that economy of movement would facilitate speed and clarity.

R

[Pete Martin]

The left hand pinkie - Use it

The right hand pinkie - don't use it. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Blueglass]

Here is my question. Does not posting apply also to mandolins that have a pickguard? I mean I can understand and even hear the reason not to post on the soundboard. But if there isn't a soundboard to post on becasue it is covered up does it matter?
I try not to post my pinky with my right hand. I must admit that sometimes I get excited and do it.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[newblue]

Sam Bush "posts" his pinky on the soundboard. He can also play the other way, but thats what he is comfortable with. I'm not saying its right, it just is. But you can take all my mandolin skill and put it in an ants ear and it'd rattle around like a BB in a basketball.

[TommyK]

Here is my question. #Does not posting apply also to mandolins that have a pickguard? #I mean I can understand and even hear the reason not to post on the soundboard. #But if there isn't a soundboard to post on becasue it is covered up does it matter?
I try not to post my pinky with my right hand. #I must admit that sometimes I get excited and do it.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif
What you are calling the 'Pick guard', may more correctly be called a Finger Rest. #Pick guards are flat pieces of plastic / tortouse / celluloid.... applied to the top of FLAT TOP instruments to keep you from wearing a hole in the board like "Trigger". # Finger Rests are suspended above the sound board. #Arch top guitars and mandos, dollas, etc... have Finger Rests to keep your posting finger off'n the sound board. #Posting on the soundboard, reduces resonance.

Use your Finger Rest as the name implies.

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif

[Nolan]

I've tried posting my pinky on the top of the mandolin and can't play worth a hoot like that, I always end up resting my palm behind the bridge. I know both are technically bad techniques but the "posting the pinky" technique I think gets you better tone because you are not damping the tone by resting on or behind the bridge. The best technique (which I have been trying like heck to use) is the closed fist and free floating hand above the strings. This way gives you more volume with less effort and tremolo playing is a lot easier to smoothly transition into and out of. If you are just starting, force yourself to use a closed fist on your picking hand and don't rest anything above your forearm on the mandolin. You will be able to play faster and cleaner as a result.

The pinky on your fretting hand should be used, it just doesn't like to cooperate like the other three fingers do!

And then there's Adam Steffey who posts a pinky and doesn't use his pinky (or at least not much) on his fretting hand and he has about the best tone of anyone out there today so what do I know?!?!

[Martin Jonas]

If you are just starting, force yourself to use a closed fist on your picking hand and don't rest anything above your forearm on the mandolin. #You will be able to play faster and cleaner as a result.
I'll second that. As has been said in this thread, there are plenty of great players who anchor the picking hand in various fashions, and as it works for them, why not. However, I would suggest to those just starting out not to develop that habit to start with; chances are that you'll not miss it later. In fact, I wouldn't know how I could possibly get any control if I were to anchor either my pinky or my wrist. One advantage of playing "freehand" that hasn't been mentioned yet is that it allows you much greater flexibility in terms of picking position along the length of the string, and therefore tone control.

A separate issue is whether to play closed hand or open hand. Some classical methods propose leaving the bottom three fingers open and/or lightly brushing the pinky along the top when picking (NB: quite different from posting). I loosely curl all fingers, parallel to the index finger, and never touch the soundboard, but that's to a great extent personal preference (as indeed is all of this).

Martin

[Jack Roberts]

Sam Bush "posts" his pinky on the soundboard. He can also play the other way, but thats what he is comfortable with. I'm not saying its right, it just is. But you can take all my mandolin skill and put it in an ants ear and it'd rattle around like a BB in a basketball.
I noticed that about Sam Bush myself. On his DVD, however, he said he got into the habit of posting his pinky when he slammed his fingers in a car door, and he was playing hurt, and that he never did it before then. It didn't sound like he felt posting the pinky made him a better player.
I started posting, but I broke the pick guard off my mandolin, and I don't anymore. Either way, I still am a lousy player...

I use my pinky alot. It tends to slip sometimes though. It's just the nature of the hand.