newbie question - finger placement

[Paul Edwards]

So since I've started playing I've kinda been gently resting a part of my palm on the bridge (kinda feels like a bad habit)... I've seen a lot of well established musicians using their ring or pinky finger for what I assume is the same purpose.. hand placement/raise the hand off the mandolin.. so I guess my question is, are they doing that for the same purpose and what are your suggestions for a learning newbie? Thanks guys!

[Pete Summers]

There's a million different opinions on this. On carved top mandolins, I have to rest the heel of my hand on the strings, just behind the bridge. On flat tops, I just drag my pinkie on the top of instrument or pick guard. I'm making no recommendations, though.

[Adam Sweet]

I teach my students to rest the heel of the right hand gently on the strings right behind the bridge, not on the bridge for picking melodies, and off the strings for chopping/rhythm.

[Beanzy]

I've been trying to avoid resting the heel of the hand anywhere, but seem to gravitate towards the pad just behind the bridge. However I'll persist with trying to stay away from resting the right hand as I've noticed a couple of problems occurring when I let it drift back to resting, or more accurately, lightly touching the strings. As I impede the strings if I move forward of the bridge I need to lift off and not touch the strings anyway if I want to pick near or over the fingerboard. I've found this keeps my hand away from the sweet spot on my mandolin, if I begin touching the strings behind the bridge, as I tend to pick in one place to avoid going forward of the bridge, so don't vary the tone much & miss out on a load of volume for fortissimo playing.

I've also found I develop a weird twist to my down-stroke if I play notes which are not on adjacent strings with the pad resting. I think this is because I get reluctant to shift the pad across the strings if it's touching so my hand twists rather than following through on the stroke.
I'm getting much better at keeping the hand completely 'floating' which definitely does away with those couple of issues. Early days yet, but I think now is the time to get rid of any quirks which may impact technique as I go forward.

[Justus True Waldron]

I may be wrong, and I certainly don't claim to be an expert in this technique stuff, but I don't think that planting behind the bridge is necessarily bad form. In fact, I think a lot of good players do it from time to time. Of course, it should never be a hard plant, but more of a reference point to position you over the strings. But I know a lot of other people accomplish the same thing by placing their pinky on the top/pickguard. I've also heard other people say they just play free floating, and I think at the end of the day it's whatever works for you. I can actually manage to play without planting anywhere at all if I want, but when I start to do alternate/cross picking/whatever you want to call it (I taught myself chris thile's song for a young queen, for example) suddenly that reference point becomes essential for me. I also like that hand position because if I want I can move it up slightly to get an altered tone/palm muting. It's all up to what you're going after though. If you have laser eyes and a robot wrist you probably can learn to do complicated picking without any planting whatsoever...

[Paul Edwards]

good stuff... thanks guys!

[PT9Baja]

I am a newbie too and I have had this subject on my mind. It boiled out to me that having a repeating physical reference/ contact point on the mandolin ,that lets mandolin play without interference , lets the hand know where its at so it get back to where it wants to be. A good thing. That point can vary person to person or by what your playing. There is a range that works. As newbs we have to be open minded to lean and try new things as we discover them. Putting in the time practiceing ,while keeping within working tecnique range is what will count. There is so much good info on this site ,I will keep readin it all and boilin it down.

[Denny Gies]

I rest the heel of my right hand on the strings/bridge. It works for me but at a Mike Compton workshop he was adamant that your picking hand should not rest on anything connected to the top of the mandolin. It works pretty well for him but my hand flops all over the place when I try to emulate Mike. For me it's a matter of personal choice, style and technique. The important thing is to have fun.