Pick - Round or Pointy End?

[Denny Gies]

I get better tone and volume with the pointy end of the pick but, like others have said, try'em all and see what you like and what feels and sounds best to you.

[gtani7]

Both, sometimes... depends.. whatever

There's a few picks i've seen that come iwth 3 different points, this is the only one i can think off (the Tripp) https://gravitypicks.com/product/gold-series/

[pops1]

I love the description- "the pointy part, or pointy end".

[Sherry Cadenhead]

What does Sherryc choose?, I have used both at various times on various instruments.

what kind of music style do you play Most?

Mandroid, I've been using a rounded corner of my picks. I play mostly at a local jam session - my own pieces primarily from Mel Bay's Parking Lot Picker's Songbook. Other musicians play mostly classic country and gospel.

What prompted this thread was yesterday's mandolin lesson. My teacher was my son's violin teacher for about 10 years. She and I became good friends and when I told her I was considering mandolin lessons a couple of years ago, she said she could teach me. She's an excellent teacher, but her expertise is with violin and viola. At yesterday's lesson she picked up her pawn shop mandolin and I noticed she was using the pointy end of the pick. Being a violinist, she prefers to pick with her thumb, which is what she typically does. Anyway, I asked her about using the pointy end and she couldn't really say why she chose it. She liked the idea of asking you guys. I was hoping for a black and white response. Silly me.

More than you wanted to know . . . .

[Bill Clements]

Bill, there's nothing there when I tap your link. Can you please try posting it again?

Oops! Sorry. I just did a search on the Forum for you and tried to post a link to the many threads I found.
Try this.
I will add that I prefer a pick made by Blue Chip which is not found on their website. It’s a TD40 with a jazz tip (pointed) which Matthew Goins was kind enough to make for me. It’s stamped, “TDJ40” and has no bevel.

Before spending $35, try inexpensive versions of each, as picks are as personal as toothbrushes!
BC is great about accepting returns, as long as you don’t engrave your pick. Or you could sell it here with little difficulty.
Good luck!

[Sherry Cadenhead]

There's still nothing there. Would someone else please give it a try? Maybe it's just me.

[Louise NM]

If it's you, Sherry, it's me too: goes to a screen that says "Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms."

I must have 20 picks around, all different shapes, colors, thicknesses, materials. Extravagant person that I am, I'll bet I have the better part of ten bucks tied up in them. My favorite varies from one day to the next. I don't know if temperature, humidity, age of strings, etc., makes a difference, or if my playing just hasn't settled down yet. In general I'm preferring pointier to rounder shapes.

A couple of weeks ago I got together with another newbie to play and made the mistake of borrowing one of his Blue Chips for awhile. I'm not sure if I'm just drinking the Kool-Aid, but it was nice. Real nice. I'm fighting myself about ordering one, especially as, like you, I'm not totally decided about the shape I prefer.

[DavidKOS]

What prompted this thread was yesterday's mandolin lesson. My teacher was my son's violin teacher for about 10 years. She and I became good friends and when I told her I was considering mandolin lessons a couple of years ago, she said she could teach me. She's an excellent teacher, but her expertise is with violin and viola. At yesterday's lesson she picked up her pawn shop mandolin and I noticed she was using the pointy end of the pick. Being a violinist, she prefers to pick with her thumb, which is what she typically does. Anyway, I asked her about using the pointy end and she couldn't really say why she chose it. She liked the idea of asking you guys. I was hoping for a black and white response. Silly me.

For her, as a violinist and violist, she likely has classical training.

The classical mandolin method books ALL recommend pointed picks. Not a single book from the pre WWII era seems to advocate use of a modern Dawg-style round pick.

Typical illustrations in the method books of "proper" picks look like these:

[UsuallyPickin]

Interesting David ... thanks . I'm a pointy end picker myself. I read an article years ago that stated that Django Reinhardt used a trouser button as a pick. I went on the hunt , assisted by my friend the vintage clothing vendor, and she found me one that may be natural shell button. I tried using it on my D 28 and got nowhere fast. It was easy to hold being dished out with four holes in the center... but no it just didn't get it for me. I have since read that the Django used anything and everything for a pick. < sigh .... Sooo... large rounded triangle shaped picks for me .... BC TAD 60 and CT-55's and Wegan 120 and 140's are my go to these days. There's a point no matter which direction you turn it. R/

[Willie Poole]

R/ I know a well known mandolin picker that dropped his pick and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a quarter and started using that. it actually made his Loar sound better since the Loar had a Virzi in it...Lol...The music must go on...

Willie

[Sherry Cadenhead]

A quarter, huh? That would save a few bucks. Of course, it wouldn't work for the pointy end folks!

And, David, I agree with UsuallyPickin that's interesting stuff you posted. As to my teacher, yes, she is classically trained. She has a bachelor of music degree with a major in music education and a master of music degree in violin performance. She plays with the Dallas Opera and has a teaching studio.

[DavidKOS]

Interesting David ... thanks . I'm a pointy end picker myself. I read an article years ago that stated that Django Reinhardt used a trouser button as a pick. I went on the hunt , assisted by my friend the vintage clothing vendor, and she found me one that may be natural shell button. I tried using it on my D 28 and got nowhere fast. It was easy to hold being dished out with four holes in the center... but no it just didn't get it for me. I have since read that the Django used anything and everything for a pick. /

Yes, Django was not particularly fussy nor careful about his picks and strings it seems from stories including those told by his brother. The button story is very oft-told, but this belies the fact that Django did NOT regularly use one. He was also supposed to have taken a large comb and broke of part of it - which I assume was NOT button shaped!

Today's Gypsy jazz players use a wide variety of pick types. Some do use round button-ish ones - but others use ones with a pointier tip.

A quarter, huh? That would save a few bucks. Of course, it wouldn't work for the pointy end folks!

And, David, I agree with UsuallyPickin that's interesting stuff you posted. As to my teacher, yes, she is classically trained. She has a bachelor of music degree with a major in music education and a master of music degree in violin performance. She plays with the Dallas Opera and has a teaching studio.

As for the quarter, well, I'm not sure about the serrated edge.

I thought your teacher might be classically trained! My one complaint with many symphony violinists that I've met who double mandolin is that they often do not have great pick technique, having spent most of their time learning to use a bow. Some have had great picking chops, but that is the only issue I have with learning mandolin from violinists.

Other than that, they know the music and the fingerboard and many cool fingering tricks...and hundreds of years of tradition and pedagogy behind it.

[Sherry Cadenhead]

I thought your teacher might be classically trained! My one complaint with many symphony violinists that I've met who double mandolin is that they often do not have great pick technique, having spent most of their time learning to use a bow. Some have had great picking chops, but that is the only issue I have with learning mandolin from violinists.

Other than that, they know the music and the fingerboard and many cool fingering tricks...and hundreds of years of tradition and pedagogy behind it.

This starts a whole nother thread! I believe I mentioned my teacher is a good friend and I knew she was an excellent teacher. I have no aptitude for learning to play this wonderful instrument (or any other, I'm sure!), but she and I are both determined and I have developed some degree of skill due to her efforts. I'm at the point, though, I want to learn much more than she can teach me. She's been invaluable in helping me interpret and apply some materials I've accessed through MC posts, as well as Brad Laird's Mandolin Master Class, which I'm just starting to study. So, we're still progressing for now.

More than you wanted to know. I have a habit of that.

[pops1]

More than you wanted to know. I have a habit of that.

On the contrary the more you share the more accurate the answers can be.

[DavidKOS]

More than you wanted to know. I have a habit of that.

Welcome to my world!

[Bill Clements]

Not sure why my links didn’t work, as they initially worked for me after posting. Simply do an advanced search on the topic of “pointy and round picks” and you’ll find several threads on the subject. My apologies.
David, you are a wealth of information and a friend to lovers of bowlback mandolins.

[JeffD]

Something worth reading:

http://jazzmando.com/tips/archives/000718.shtml

[Louise NM]

David, I'm fascinated by the illustrations you have posted on how to hold a pick. Most non-classical sources show the hand in more of a fist, more like your second example. At the risk of hijacking Sherry's thread a bit, could you speak to this?

[DavidKOS]

David, I'm fascinated by the illustrations you have posted on how to hold a pick. Most non-classical sources show the hand in more of a fist, more like your second example. At the risk of hijacking Sherry's thread a bit, could you speak to this?

Some methods show the more fist-like approach, but many older books show a more relaxed variant that allows a bit of motion from the fingers to add to the wrist and arm movements used in picking and particularly tremolo.

Also these books were written for mandolin style from the circa 1900 period - Bluegrass had not been invented yet!

I pulled two images, from the Munier and the Bickford books respectively:




For myself, the louder and harder I have to play will make my picking hand get a bit more closed fisted, like when I play at an acoustic jam session with a lot of instruments.

I have no hard data on this, but I assume that as people began using the longer scale length mandolins with higher tension strings and needed volume to compete with, say, a banjo, the picks got heavier (rounder?) and the hand became more closed.

I'd love to hear other people's ideas about this.

[T.D.Nydn]

needed volume to compete with, say, a banjo, the picks got heavier (rounder?) and the hand became more closed."...David,,volume is not mutually exclusive to thick and round picks,,as I get exceptional volume with a pointed .88

[pops1]

Even playing loud I don't close my hand and can get plenty of volume. If I need more volume I will go from the rounded to the pointed pick, but never a fist. I feel the attack is as important as anything. I watch and listen to other players in a jam and they seem to be holding the pick the same, both playing hard, but one is noticeably louder than another. Same for most instruments, attack.

[Bob Schmidt]

As you can see, there are many different opinions. My suggestion is to get a bunch of different thickness and shape picks and try them. I have a pile of them that I go through every couple of months, and each will give a different quality to the sound, and the play ability of the instrument. I keep coming back to a blue chip CT55 which seems to work best for my instrument and playing ability, but it does not work well for my bouzouki. For that I am currently using a .80 Clayton triangle pick with a pointed end, but am still looking for a better sound there. So most of all enjoy the quest and the music; it is a life long adventure.

[Bertram Henze]

I don't get it - which is the round end?

[DavidKOS]

needed volume to compete with, say, a banjo, the picks got heavier (rounder?) and the hand became more closed."...David,,volume is not mutually exclusive to thick and round picks,,as I get exceptional volume with a pointed .88

I get a quite loud sound with a .72mm Spike pick.



My comment was more of a question as to when/why the pick choice on mandolin seemed to change to a very thick pick that is not shaped like the old ones in the traditional method books.

[T.D.Nydn]

I got to try that spike pick,,I see I can get it in a .80...I might give that a go...