How hard do you pick?

[Jonmiller]

Do you have a heavy hand? When playing with others, unmiked, I always pick so hard.

[man dough nollij]

Pick Hard, Hard.
Down lifes rocky road
Pick bold, hard.
That's my creed my code.

I've been sworned and slandered and ridiculed too.
Had to struggle every day my whole life through.
Seen my share of the worst that this world can give.
But I still got a dream and a burnin' rage to live.

Pick hard, hard
When they say "Your all done."
Pick bold, hard
Though they say "Your not the one."

Even if you've been told time and time again
That your always gonna lose and your never gonna win.
Gotta keep that vision in your minds eyes
When your standing on top of a mountain high.

You know when I was a boy
Folks used to say to me
"slow down Dewey, don't pick so hard"
And I used to tell them
"lifes a race and I'm in it to win it,
And I'll pick as damn hard as I please."

How do I pick boys?
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrdd!

When I meet my maker on my dyin' day
Gonna look him in the eyes and by god I'll say
"I gave my word and my word was good,
I took it in the face and I picked as hard as I could."

Pick hard, hard.
Pick hard, hard.
Pick hard, hard.
Pick Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrddd!

[Peter LaMorte]

Well, there you go, end of story.................................

[Austin Koerner]

Pick Hard, Hard.
Down lifes rocky road
Pick bold, hard.
That's my creed my code.

I've been sworned and slandered and ridiculed too.
Had to struggle every day my whole life through.
Seen my share of the worst that this world can give.
But I still got a dream and a burnin' rage to live.

Pick hard, hard
When they say "Your all done."
Pick bold, hard
Though they say "Your not the one."

Even if you've been told time and time again
That your always gonna lose and your never gonna win.
Gotta keep that vision in your minds eyes
When your standing on top of a mountain high.

You know when I was a boy
Folks used to say to me
"slow down Dewey, don't pick so hard"
And I used to tell them
"lifes a race and I'm in it to win it,
And I'll pick as damn hard as I please."

How do I pick boys?
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrdd!

When I meet my maker on my dyin' day
Gonna look him in the eyes and by god I'll say
"I gave my word and my word was good,
I took it in the face and I picked as hard as I could."

Pick hard, hard.
Pick hard, hard.
Pick hard, hard.
Pick Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrddd!

Hahahaha! Good one.

[Mike Snyder]

Too hard. A result of many, many years playing inferior instruments and trying to be heard over Martins and Mastertones. It's probably the worst of many bad habits acquired through the years. The best remedy I've found so far is crooked fiddle tunes that require a lighter touch to get through them cleanly. It is still fun, though, to hit a few downstrokes of intro to let all the jammers know who has the next break. They hear it now.

[Bernie Daniel]

As my playing became better (if indeed it really did -- or has) my picking has evolved to harder and harder strokes -- I think just because I can. :))

[Omer]

A quiet mandolin, loss of hearing, inexperience, play for contra dances(fast and loud,) equals hard picking. Result: People shake their heads as I flail away playing more air mando than real mando. Funny, the harder I play the quieter my playing is. But I keep learning new tunes.:)

[fredfrank]

I like to dig as much tone out of my mandolins as possible. Besides, this shortens the break-in period.

[Stephen Lind]

from a whisper
to a scream

[Tim2723]

I pick only as hard as I need to. Mandolins have dynamic range, and I try to use it. I also like to use the amp that goes to 11.

[Jonmiller]

I love the song! Is it recorded somewhere?
Thanks for you guys knowing what I mean, I pick so hard that it plays bad not loud, it helps when I raise the action but then it slows me down. Perhaps because I just went to a heavy pick where for years I used lighter.

[Eddie Sheehy]

I like it when you play loud Jon, it covers up my mistakes. I've never noticed you picking especially hard, the notes just seem to flow effortlessly. You're probably trying unconsciously to hear yourself above the fiddles/dulcimer/guitars/bodhrans/banjos. BTW, what type of pick do you use?

[CES]

The harder I pick, the more trouble I have keeping my A strings in tune...:))

When I play with others I make a conscious effort not to wail on it, but always end up playing harder/louder to be heard...at home on the couch trying not to get run out of the house by the wife/kids/dogs, I pick pretty quietly...on nights after a jam session my wife usually remarks as to the volume difference when practicing, and so soon it's back to the quiet stuff, or the unplugged Mandobird...when picking the banjo I almost always have to rein it in...they're just loud...:mandosmiley:

Jon, if you're good (and it sounds like you are), not too many people will mind if you get after it a bit!! (I'm not, hence the tendency to try to play quietly)...

[Bertram Henze]

Maximum, pedal to the metal, whatever it takes to be heard with an OM - the monthly noisy ITM session is what I am trying to rise up to (the one where the tenor banjo player says he can't hear himself).

Lately, thanks to an elevated bridge, Clayton Ultems, pick powder and a well-trained grip, I have achieved being heard, which is ok for a start.
I hope to rock the floor with my G and shatter glasses with my E in years to come. :)

Bertram

[Chuck Naill]

One of the most important things I look for when I am trying out an instrument is how well does it project so that I do not need to play/pick hard. Like someone else noted, you do not need to play/pick hard with a mic, but if you are having to be heard, that is annoying to me.

I also trying to blend what I am doing with the other musicians. If I am causing them to need to pick hard to be heard, the music suffers.

chuck;)

[Jim]

Playing electric helps lighten my touch a little.

[mandozilla]

For me, I tend to play harder in jam situations. The harder I play, the stiffer
and the more tensed up I get. The more tensed up I get the c**pp**r I play and the tone suffers as well. :crying:

In settings where I can hear what I'm doing, there's a certian amount of maximum force I need to apply to get really good tone out of my mando and it's not heavy...Of course that varies from one picker'/mando combination to another. ;)

Anyway, it amazes me sometimes how much volume my mando puts out with a lighter touch and I strive to use that lighter touch for optimum volume and tone. :grin:

Oh, and for me, a lighter touch also seems to improve my speed and accuracy...but in jam situations dang it all... ;)

:mandosmiley:

[Plectrosaurus]

Ditto on the jam/playing hard deal. I enjoy playing fiddle tunes solo in order to hear what I am doing so I can improve on playing 'clean'. Jams are great fun but I try not to worry about everyone hearing me. It is a great time to try something new, instead of on stage.

[mandozilla]

At jams, I'd be happy if I could just hear myself...:))

Say Plectosaurus, welcome to the Cafe! :grin:

:mandosmiley:

[JeffD]

Depends on what the tune needs at the time. I love to wail on those high lonesome double stops, and then quiet down on the melody.

[Dave Schimming]

I love it when finishing a mando break at a jam and then someone on the other side of the circle tells you to take a break - meaning you weren't heard the first time around. Difficult to balance playing cleanly and hard (loud) in a jam situation.