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Thread: Pick click

  1. #1
    Orrig Onion HonketyHank's Avatar
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    Default Pick click

    I really would like to learn how to play, with decent volume, with the pick up over the fretboard without pick click. There are some nice tonalilites to be found up there, like over the 19th fret and maybe even way up over the 12th fret. A floridectomy is not radical enough. I would need at least a southgeorgectomy.

    I can play up there well enough to think it is possible, but at relatively low volume. One thing that seems to help is a pickguard (aka finger rest), to help guage exactly how deep the pick is going. Pinkie just brushing the pickguard, not planting. But as much as I practice this in an effort to get it down without having to be consious of it, I despair about lack of volume.

    Are there tricks or techniques or tips that might help? One thing I have been considering is raising the action to obtain more clearance between the strings and the fretboard. Another is maybe go to heavy guage strings (I currently use D'Addario EJ74 (mediums)). I seem to be gravitating to a very fore-armsy picking motion in order to minimize the digging move that seems to be behind the loudest of my pick clicks.

    Any sense to any of this? Any suggestions?
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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Pick click

    I can live with a click here or there. If I had a full fretted florida I would wear my pick out probably.

    Do you rotate/doorknob twist your wrist or mostly up/down? I hit the fretboard somewhat less than I did after going to more up/down motion.

  3. #3
    Unfamous String Buster Beanzy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick click

    You might want to try some very slow observations of what you think you are doing to identify what isn’t going where you want.
    Video can be good for this as you can play without changing posture but zoom quite close. Different angles will reveal different aspects of your hand movement. You can go quite slow on many of the phones nowadays. Just shine some good light on it so the camera has enough light to give a crisp picture.

    One method you might want to try, to discipline the direction and consistency of travel of your hand, is to use a tiny ammount of pick for specific practice periods. You’re trying to avoid dipping between the courses, while catching both strings evenly with enough plectrum to shift them properly. If for part of your practice each day you only have the bare minimum of pick exposed beyond your fingers, then you will rap your knuckles if you drift off the level plane. Eventually you will develop a feel for what is a new natural movement and that should begin to keep you on the straight & narrow,once you use a bit more pick.
    Eoin



    "Forget that anyone is listening to you and always listen to yourself" - Fryderyk Chopin

  4. #4
    Orrig Onion HonketyHank's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick click

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Wilson View Post
    ...Do you rotate/doorknob twist your wrist or mostly up/down? I hit the fretboard somewhat less than I did after going to more up/down motion.
    Mark, I have been trying over the last few months to develop a picking stroke that sharply reduces the deep, diggy, wristy, plucking stroke and relies more on forearm motion from the elbow. This really shallows out my picking stroke and does reduce my pick click, but a) I have to think about it, so it is hard to maintain, and b) for some reason I still have a lot of pick click even with that stroke when I am playing on the E string.


    Quote Originally Posted by Beanzy View Post
    You might want to try some very slow observations of what you think you are doing to identify what isn’t going where you want.
    Video can be good for this as you can play without changing posture but zoom quite close. Different angles will reveal different aspects of your hand movement. You can go quite slow on many of the phones nowadays. Just shine some good light on it so the camera has enough light to give a crisp picture.

    One method you might want to try, to discipline the direction and consistency of travel of your hand, is to use a tiny ammount of pick for specific practice periods. You’re trying to avoid dipping between the courses, while catching both strings evenly with enough plectrum to shift them properly. If for part of your practice each day you only have the bare minimum of pick exposed beyond your fingers, then you will rap your knuckles if you drift off the level plane. Eventually you will develop a feel for what is a new natural movement and that should begin to keep you on the straight & narrow,once you use a bit more pick.
    Good idea about studying my pick stroke with video. Will see what that yields. Re using less pick, I think you are saying to grip down on the pick so that only a tiny amount protrudes. I have done that and it seems effective, but it hasn't "stuck". Maybe I just need to keep at it and apply more focus while practicing it.

    PS: I just raised the action on one of the mandolins on the wall here in my cave. Seemed to help some. But now I have to re-intonate. It's not terrible, so it'll wait until tomorrow.

    Thanks for the ideas.
    New to mando? Click this link -->Newbies to join us at the Newbies Social Group.

    Just send an email to rob.meldrum@gmail.com with "mandolin setup" in the subject line and he will email you a copy of his ebook for free (free to all mandolincafe members).

    My website and blog: honketyhank.com

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Pick click

    Hank you are probably "reaching" for the E string so your stroke is slightly curved rather than straight on, concentrate on straight up and down on the E string.

  6. #6
    Registered User Louise NM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick click

    Playing over the fingerboard, noted as sul tasto, generally gives a softer, more diffuse sound. The volume you are looking for may be tough to get.

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  8. #7
    Registered User zedmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick click

    I find I get more click from the pick if I use a light or medium pick--and less with a heavy pick...
    Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?

  9. #8
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick click

    I've used the Dunlop Primetone picks since the came out. First a 1.3mm thick one,then a 1.5mm thick one,i then decided to try a 2mm thick one,that was when i got some pick click for the very first time. For some reason,the pick 'slaps' the strings,something that i don't hear with any other thickness of pick.

    If a pick is too thin,or made from a very flexible material,the pick will bend to an extent when it hits the strings & then flick back hitting the strings & making a 'clicking' noise.
    I have a freebie pick that's so thin (0.4mm), that if i use it,i get a 'double note',one when i pick the strings & one when the pick flicks back against the strings,
    Ivan
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  10. #9

    Default Re: Pick click

    One trick that I sometimes use is to use the "shoulder" of the pick instead of the point. By slightly rotating the pick position, you can use the shoulder, which won't dig in as far as the point. It also insures that you get a darker tone with more fundamental, which is probably why you pick up there anyway.

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