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Thread: 'free form' or hitting the strings

  1. #1
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    I am wondering about where your pick is after striking a note

    do you -let's say stike an 'A' on the G sting and then have your pick touch/rest on the D string for a split second?

    or do you stop your pick in mid air and then just move onto the next note?


    thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

    zoe

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    jbmando RIP HK Jim Broyles's Avatar
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    It all depends on where I'm going next and how fast I have to get there. I honestly don't think about where my pick ends up after I pick a note, except that I want to make sure to follow through. If I make a conscious effort to stop the pick in mid air, it has a detrimental effect of tone and continuity of the pattern. I think that it will tend to sound staccato if you deliberately stop the pick abruptly after picking a note.
    "I thought I knew a lot about music. Then you start digging and the deeper you go, the more there is."~John Mellencamp

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    String Plucker Soupy1957's Avatar
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    I suppose it would be worth it, to have the kind of discipline that keeps your fingers from picking strings that don't blend.

    I've seen (or heard) a few chord-choppers who take short-cut chords (due to the speed of the song I suppose) which only highlight a few of the strings, and then let their pick travel to strings that don't blend.

    It's a hard thing to keep control of, but "accuracy" is what I'm shooting for FIRST, and then "speed."
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    jbmando RIP HK Jim Broyles's Avatar
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    Well, Bill didn't stop himself from picking strings that didn't blend, but I think we're talking about single note picking, not chopping or strumming, here. I don't think you have to be that disciplined to keep from hitting extraneous strings when you are picking single note leads or melodies.
    "I thought I knew a lot about music. Then you start digging and the deeper you go, the more there is."~John Mellencamp

    "Theory only seems like rocket science when you don't know it. Once you understand it, it's more like plumbing!"~John McGann

    "IT'S T-R-E-M-O-L-O, dangit!!"~Me

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    Pick a downstroke on the D string and let your pick travel into the air after the attack. This is a 'free stroke'.

    Now, pick a downstroke and let it come to rest on the next higher (A) string. This is a 'rest stroke'.

    Compare the tone, and realize that when you play rest strokes, you get much more tone and volume, because the whole instrument is 'doing it's thing'- the string vibrates more strongly when you play 'toward the top' rather than away from the top. The bridge then vibrates better, making the top vibrate better, making the sound waves bounce around inside the box better and shoot out of the F holes better. More resonance, more juice, more joy

    Just be sure you are not using a thin or medium pick, or the string will be playing the pick more than the pick playing the string.

    It's hard to do rest strokes on fast 8th note passages, but you'll notice if you take a similar "stealth picking" approach and keep that pick low toward the top (as opposed to shooting up in the air) your tone, speed and accuracy will all improve

    The farther you let the pick travel after the attack, the farther you have to come back. We need to be as efficient as possible, so minimize travel.

    Keep your left hand fingers down, too. Technique Tips Page.

    Coming soon: Sound Fundamentals DVD which illustrates many of the above concepts.



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    Registered User luckylarue's Avatar
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    For me, it depends on what tune I'm playing and the "color" I'm going for, whether I pick that next open string. With a lot of old fiddle tunes, I like to pick, as Butch Baldassari would say, "any note that gets in the way". So, if I'm playing something in D, I'll hit that open D and/or open A string along w/ the melody line to add a little meat to the phrasing. Same w/ the key of A - I'll pick the open A and/or open E string in unison w/ whatever I'm playing. More interesting than just single-note stuff, imo.

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    thank you everyone for your replies-

    and a big
    thank you jmcgannfor helping me with the terminology- that is exactly what i meant free vs rest stroke, while my hand doesn't travel too far- i end up over controlling my wrist, instead of relaxing and simply playing a rest stroke... i really have to intentionally play a rest stroke and in the pursuit of tone, i carry on!

    thanks again
    zoe

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    Chief Moderator/Shepherd Ted Eschliman's Avatar
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    More thoughts.
    Ted Eschliman

    Author, Getting Into Jazz Mandolin

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    Registered User MandoSquirrel's Avatar
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    A big deal, I think, is picking Across the strings, rather than down toward the top. If people would learn to do this, they wouldn't "need" to butcher their fretboard extensions to play the (one of many, if they'd trouble to vary their picking zones to find out) "sweet spot". Why butcher your instrument, rather than learn how to work With it?
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  10. #10
    String Plucker Soupy1957's Avatar
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    Ah, but "butchering" your instrument is also known as "Distressing" it....and there ARE folks out there who LIKE "Distress." (lol)
    -Soupy1957
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    Quote Originally Posted by
    A big deal, I think, is picking Across the strings, rather than down toward the top. If people would learn to do this, they wouldn't "need" to butcher their fretboard extensions to play the (one of many, if they'd trouble to vary their picking zones to find out) "sweet spot". Why butcher your instrument, rather than learn how to work With it?
    With apologies to those with vintage instruments and fingerboard extensions (and I DO NOT advocate any butchering of vintage axes!)- those extensions are pretty much useless (unless you like playing the 27th fret a lot). I like to play up high, but on mando, beyond the 19th fret or so is just silly. The scooped fingerboard on my Zeidler allows me to dig in a draw the tone out in the 'warm' zone without worrying about that unsightly pick click (as seen on TV!)
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  12. #12
    Registered User Steve Davis's Avatar
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    Do you use rest strokes on the upstroke as well as the down stroke?
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    Quote Originally Posted by
    Do you use rest strokes on the upstroke as well as the down stroke?
    I don't...
    John McGann, Associate Professor, Berklee College of Music
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