3x Fingerpicking Mandolin

[ondrej]

My first post.
Three videos where I'm playing with fingers on the mandolin.

http://youtu.be/eDvKoDkCHmA

http://youtu.be/O92CUbwRA2k

http://youtu.be/xvQbf42I1rk

[vic-victor]

Why not use a pick? While it initially seems that one can achieve more with fingerpicking, it is an illusion. The topic of fingerpicking comes up now and them, mostly initiated by people in the beginning of their mandolin journey. Do not waste your time, go get yourself a pick and practice :))) Playing mandolin without a pick is like playing violin without a bow. Possible, but not worth it.

[Bill Snyder]

Why not use a pick? While it initially seems that one can achieve more with fingerpicking, it is an illusion. The topic of fingerpicking comes up now and them, mostly initiated by people in the beginning of their mandolin journey. Do not waste your time, go get yourself a pick and practice :))) Playing mandolin without a pick is like playing violin without a bow. Possible, but not worth it.

How presumptuous of you. It is HIS mandolin and HIS time. If he truly enjoys playing it this way why try to invoke your narrow view of how it should be played.
I enjoyed the sound he got and I think with a bit more practice using his fingerpicking style it will sound even better.

[vic-victor]

Well, true to a degree. But IMHO best to use the right tool for the job and get it right from the start. This is what I meant anyway... I've been through the fingerpicking stage myself many moons ago and it is something you simply grow out of.

[Bill Snyder]

The mandolin player on the right in the video below is playing with fingerpicks. Sounds pretty good to me and I would guess he has been playing for a while now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjM_IQF883k

[ondrej]

Why not use a pick?
I also use plectrum. But sometimes I miss the option on mandolin, playing the melody and the bass independently. That's why I recorded this video.

- - - Updated - - -


The mandolin player on the right in the video below is playing with fingerpicks. Sounds pretty good to me and I would guess he has been playing for a while now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjM_IQF883k

Inspiring. Thank you.

[vic-victor]

Fingerpicks are still picks. Playing with fingernails is a different story. Mark Knopfler comes to mind playing with his fingernails on his Strat, but playing mandolin with fingernails is not productive. With the right picking technique almost anything is possible with the plectrum and the results are much more impressive.

[Clinton Johnson]

Cool style of pickin there ondrej thanks for sharing bro

[ondrej]

With the right picking technique almost anything is possible with the plectrum

Yes, almost anything is possible. But sometimes it's easier to fingerpicking.


http://youtu.be/9zUgQz6rzw0

[JeffD]

In a workshop Frank Wakefield gave I learned a technique where you put a single finger pick on the ring finger and then use the plectrum conventionally, while adding the finger pick. I am thinking that is what the mandolin player on the right is doing, but it hard for me to tell.

It is a really cool technique, or was when watching Frank do it. I had (and still have) a lot of trouble getting it.

[ondrej]

Cool style of pickin there ondrej thanks for sharing bro

Thank you for the compliment.

[ondrej]

In a workshop Frank Wakefield gave I learned a technique where you put a single finger pick on the ring finger and then use the plectrum conventionally, while adding the finger pick. I am thinking that is what the mandolin player on the right is doing, but it hard for me to tell.

It is a really cool technique, or was when watching Frank do it. I had (and still have) a lot of trouble getting it.

Thank you for the name of Frank Wakefield. I did not know.

[Ausdoerrt]

Yeah, I'm kind of a mandolin noob, but it seems like it'd be hard to get any volume out of the mandolin picking with just fingers. Especially on an acoustic instrument. Finger-picks are probably in order.

[jaycat]

I thought Alice's Restaurant (above) sounded great. Who is that playing?

[foldedpath]

This guy makes it work:

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[catmandu2]

As is my usual recommendation for any/all interested in a fingerstyle approach on mandolin - you really owe it to yourself to check out charango, ronroco, and other mandolin-like instruments that are designed to be played thusly (and are more efficacious in this approach).



In a workshop Frank Wakefield gave I learned a technique where you put a single finger pick on the ring finger and then use the plectrum conventionally, while adding the finger pick. I am thinking that is what the mandolin player on the right is doing, but it hard for me to tell.

It is a really cool technique, or was when watching Frank do it. I had (and still have) a lot of trouble getting it.

As someone who took to playing with and maintaining fingernails (for guitar) as a youth, I'm more than a little biased: Nothing better than fingernails for playing fingerstyle - with the caveat that some FS approaches are suitable with heavier attack/picks (banjo, dobro, et al); nails provide the most control (expressiveness). Generally, fingerstyle approaches with stringed instruments enable greater opportunities in polyphony. And among these (I happen to agree with John McLaughlin) - flamenco technique is supreme. When it comes to mandolin - where a flatpick plectrum is a highly effective technique - there is efficacy in this approach described above: basically combining the efficacies of the flatpick with FS. I began playing this style (on guitar) when I was 16 years old - without the fingerpick - and studying Jimmy Page.

Nails are a burden, but one I've willingly endured for decades for their efficacy. They impede most everything else in life - but for me, worth it.


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