Possibly a bad habit....???

[Duane Graves]

Over the few years I have been playing the mandolin I have developed what possibly might be a sloppy habit of resting the heal of my picking hand on the bridge of the mandolin. I have tried planting my pinky and I could get used to that I think but it would take extensive practice after this length of time and all reports condemn planting anyway. I mean I get the job done but I find there are drawbacks with resting my hand on the bridge the biggest of which is that I seem to be picking back close to the bridge itself (notes get sharper there and are harder to play) instead of up at the sweet-spot. Then when I catch myself doing this and advance the pick to the sweet-spot I do so often at the expence of muting the strings being plucked somewhat. Should I try to correct this or is it common with most of us but with a better apporach? If there is a better way I'd be interested in knowing it along with the how to do it part, of course.....cheers --dgg

[Brent Hutto]

You can "float" your hand but it certainly has its downsides w.r.t power and accuracy. You can "post" one or more fingers which can constrain the freedom of your picking hand or create tension. You can rest the edge of your hand or wrist behind the bridge on the after-length of the strings but then it's really hard to get up to the higher sweet spot near the end of the fretboard.

Or you can do it the way you do it and I do it. As long as just one tiny part of you hand touches the bass end of the bridge it does not interfere and when you want to move up to pick higher you can either "float" a little or you can accept some damping of the G strings. So this method too is not without its drawbacks.

Pick yer poison. I started out trying to "float" as a do on guitar but when I started taking mandolin lessons my teacher suggested trying it for a while with contact at the corner of the bridge. It instantly improved my pick motion so I've stuck with it thus far.

[foldedpath]

My hand is large enough that I can pick on the sweet spot just under the end of the fingerboard, while still lightly resting my hand on the bridge as a reference point.

That contact with the bridge does turn into a bad habit though, if I get lazy and allow my hand to put too much downward pressure on the bridge... i.e. "resting" it there, instead of using it as just a light reference point. When I have too much hand pressure on the bridge, it kills the tone. My mandolin has its strongest voice when my hand is completely off the instrument, which is probably true of any decent mandolin. I do float my hand and keep it loose for tremolo, but for playing melody I like to have at least a little bit of a reference point. So I just practice to keep that touch as light as I can, without killing the tone.

Here's a good Mike Marshall video on the subject, where he says: "The fleshy part of the palm touches the bridge, ever so slightly."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmagoBQunZI

One other bad habit I'm definitely guilty of, is slouching back in my comfy chair like he recommends NOT doing, at the start of that video. That's a hard habit to break.
;)

[Alex Orr]

My mandolin teacher also advocates a LIGHT brushing of the back of the bridge or the strings behind the bridge. Not only does it serve as a means to better identify where you're picking at, but he says it can help to minimize unnecessary movement in the right hand that often comes with completely floating. He strongly reprimands pinky planting, which he says cuts down on range of movement, contributes to slightly deadening the sound coming from the mandolin's top, and can possibly put harmful stress on the hand. Luckily I've never been a pinky planter or felt comfortable with a completely floating right hand.

[Pete Counter]

both Sam Bush AND Bill Monroe have said they do it!....or did it!

[Brent Hutto]

My own theory is, if I noticed that an entire song or several minute's practice goes by and my hand has never left contact with the bridge for at least a moment...I'm probably not resting it lightly enough. My idea of the proper technique is one that keeps the bridge in frequent, lightly-touching contact with some part of my hand but never continuous and never any discernible pressure.

[JeffD]

Light brushing, that is what I have heard Mike Marshall advocate in that often posted video.

I do that, and sometimes I brush by last two fingers of my right hand on the pick guard, and sometimes, oh heavens say it isn't so, I'll even do a little planting. I adjust depending on the needs of the tune and the circumstances of playing it.

I think more important is the issue of where the tesnsion or stress is in your picking hand. The more flexible and relaxed the better, and I have at times taken a stress inventory, where I mentally ask every muscle in my hand and arm if it is tense or not.

I have seen some very stressed and tense picking styles trying to deliberately avoid other habits, which on the scale of things I do't think are as important.

of course YMMV.

[journeybear]

I do this all the time and don't see it a a bad habit. In fact, I like how this focuses my motion. Since doing this keeps my hand steady, I can maintain a steady strike with the pick, especially helpful for tremolo. This is not to say there are plenty of times I move my hand a lot more, particularly for playing rhythm, which is almost always done with an arm motion. But for leads, when my desire for control, accuracy, and consistency is paramount, I rest my hand on the bridge. Ever so slightly. ;)

Just to be clear - I rest my hand not on the bridge so much as just behind it, where I don't risk deadening the strings.

[Dobe]

I'm totally pickguard (finger-rest) dependant. No worries though !

[mandroid]

In spite of my bad habits I try to keep making music.

[Nick Triesch]

Just do whatever feels right to you. I have seen great players do all the bad "habits" and play like the wind. Nick

[mandolirius]

Just do whatever feels right to you. I have seen great players do all the bad "habits" and play like the wind. Nick

That is just a bad piece of advice.

There are always exceptions to any rule but just because one person can make an unorthodox technique work for them does not mean others can. Doing "whatever felt right to me" led to twenty-plus years of playing with a three-finger grip. I could play "like the wind" and had fantastic pick control. I also developed some severe nerve problems due to the high amount of tension required to produce tone and volume with that grip.