floating right hand

[margora]

I am in the process of changing my right hand technique (or "re-building" as Tiger Woods might say). The objective
is to have a "floating" right hand. Many mandolinists seem to brace the right hand in some manner, for example, by planting the pinky on the soundboard, or lightly brushing the soundboard with one or more right hand fingers while plucking. But it is my impression that the best German players do not do this; their right hands literally float above the strings. This gives one total freedom in terms of where to pluck and also facilitates string crossings. The downside is that it is difficult, but I am making some progress!
Comments, anyone -- do you brace or not?

[angrymandolinist]

I tend to rest my wrist just behind the bridge- probably considered a bad habit.

[Jim Garber]

I just checked to see what it is I do. Now, on my bowlbacks it almost seems easier to get that comfortable angle of the wrist. Most of my flatter instruments have floating pickguards/scratchplates so my finger tend to brush lightly on those.

I need some sort of anchor for my right arm so I know where to pick without looking. My forearm either on the armrest (in the case of my Pandini bowlback or on the edge of the lower bass bout for the flat instruments. With my forearm positoned, my wrist joint is directly above the bridge.

Carlo Aonzo advocates a relaxed but closed right hand. Mine is more open and at times not closed at all. I suppose if I concentrated on keeping the hand closed with the fingers curled in, they would not brush the scratchplate.

Jim

[billkilpatrick]

i play oud style and my right hand looks something like this (photos shamelessly ripped off from http://www.oudcafe.com/right_hand_basics.htm):

[billkilpatrick]

close-up:

[Martin Jonas]

I play with a relaxed closed hand, fingers curled in, finger nails facing the soundboard. No part of my right hand or wrist touches the mandolin; the middle of my lower arm rests on the edge of the bowl. Looking at the clasical Italian methods and pictures of the virtuosi, most of them seem to advocate a relaxed open hand, with the pads rather than the finger nails facing the sound board. Playing that way, I think some light brushing of finger tips on the soundboard is inevitable.

Although I didn't adopt my technique with the aim of being flexible on picking position, it is a pleasant side effect -- I find it very easy to shift towards the middle of the fretboard for a more mellow tone or towards the bridge for a more metallic one.

Martin

[Jim Garber]

Although I didn't adopt my technique with the aim of being flexible on picking position, it is a pleasant side effect -- I find it very easy to shift towards the middle of the fretboard for a more mellow tone or towards the bridge for a more metallic one.
In Gertrud Tröester's method book, Technique on Eight Strings, she uses the terms for various tone color:

nat. = naturale = play over the soundhole
met. = metallico = play next to the bridge
s.t. = sul tasto = play over the finger-board
Jim

[David Westwick]

Do you have any hints on making the transition from a supported right hand to a floating right hand (especially with respect to tremolo and/or rapid course changes/cross picking)?

I have recently acquired a copy of a K-5 mandocello that has no pickguard. That left me with the options of finding a luthier that I trust to build/install a pickguard (ideally somewhere in southern Alberta), or of changing to a floating right hand. So far, I am trying the latter, with mixed results. I find that with the large body, my right arm rests on the edge of the soundboard pretty near the elbow. The long pivot between the fixed point of support and the tip of the pick makes accuracy a tricky proposition, especially starting/stopping tremolo. Any suggestions?

[billkilpatrick]

the advise given me from a posting on one of the oud sites was to keep the up-down motion of the pick to an absolute minimum. regardless of what type of pick is used or how it's held, most of the problems i encountered with accuracy stemmed from making too broad a sweep with the tip of the pick.

that and lots of practice.

i have what i think is a large body on my mandolin (crafter m70) so i anchor my arm to the rim as you do. i don't know if a "floating hand" should become an entire arm at some stage but even if it's considered correct - with me, it ain't going to happen. i'm comfortable with the posture i have.

- bill