Hey cafe,
I've just gotten my first mandolin last week. I am super excited and want to play it all the time. Come February, I plan to take lessons to insure that I develop proper technique and fundamentals in my playing, but in the meantime I am on my own with the resources I can find here. I would really like to spend the coming 2-3 weeks playing correctly so that I don't start off my mandolin journey with a step in the wrong direction. That said, I am really struggling to know what exactly correct right hand pick movement is, and if I am doing it.
I know the right hand movement is often discussed, I've search a lot on here. Part of the reason I am asking is because I see conflicting information from reputable sources.
I would say the most common advice I've encountered in posts/videos is that the picking motion uses the wrist like casting a fishing rod does, which is to say the hand pivots at the wrist joint to create the up and down motion of the pick, but the wrist does not rotate much.
However, after inquiring about Seattle-area lessons I was pointed consistently to Peter Martin, whose introductory videos say that the picking motion is made by the wrist turning as if opening a doorknob (which is exactly what many of those who hold the above opening say not to do). Peter seems very highly recommended and I am actually hoping to take lessons with him, so I am unsure how to handle the discrepancy between the viewpoints.
Finally, August Watters made the following interesting post in a different thread on this topic.
(paraphrasing: it's a combination of 1 and 2, but never 3.)
So... help me cafe? I really want to build strong and correct habits. But whenever I pick up the mandolin I am second guessing if I'm picking correctly.
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