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Thread: Proper pick grip

  1. #51

    Default Re: Proper pick grip

    "The right hand should be free with no part of the hand or wrist touching the mandolin"
    I appreciate the sentiment, but I've tried playing that way and I have zero pick and hand control.

    If Marshall, Bush and Statman can play with a rested right hand (and man, can they play!), I reckon I'm in good company.

    Will

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  3. #52
    Struggle Monkey B381's Avatar
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    Default Re: Proper pick grip

    So, I started out like many people and thought I wanted to play guitar. Then I discovered mandolin and haven't looked back. Now, I'm still in the beginning stages, but realize I hold my pick like a guitar style after reading this whole thread. So, following the wisdom of holding it in a better way....I now have dogs howling and sound like my 4 year old trying to play...this is going to take a minute to get back to where I was in sound but it sure is louder.

  4. #53
    Registered User DavidKOS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Proper pick grip

    Quote Originally Posted by WillHelton View Post
    I appreciate the sentiment, but I've tried playing that way and I have zero pick and hand control.

    If Marshall, Bush and Statman can play with a rested right hand (and man, can they play!), I reckon I'm in good company.

    Will
    There is a difference between "rested" (which I do sometimes myself, depending on the actual instrument) and "planted".

    I think the comment really should be "the right hand should not be firmly planted but able to move freely".

  5. #54

    Default Re: Proper pick grip

    Well, folks, here we are again. I've been trying to refine my right-hand technique and am still pretty much where we all last found me: struggling to play faster than about 190bpm without having my right hand bob in and out like a trailer hitch.

    If we look at Thile playing here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gFGPicoOIY

    He has a certain amount of bobbing in and out, but this completely disappears when he seamlessly ramps up the tempo. Try as I might, I just can't seem to get this to happen for me. The best I think I've done is to find that:

    1. I still feel like when I pick up and start playing each day there is a 'judder' in my pick strokes. As if I'm just not really relaxed and attacking the strings at the correct angle somehow

    2. My upstrokes may not be as controlled and fluid as my downstrokes, so perhaps this is the source of (most of) the problem

    I have to reiterate that I don't have this problem when playing guitar, but I play with a gypsy jazz (jazz manouche) right hand and attack, much like Angelo Debarre:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Hj7WvKFUg

    That is, my right hand is bent at the wrist and the tips of my non-pick fingers lightly brush the top of the guitar as a guide.

    It really is just super frustrating that I can't seem to crack this. I've been playing guitar and bass (electric and double bass) since I was a kid (I'm in my 50s now) and so I have no problem with theory, chords, scales, soloing concepts and approaches, etc. I just can't get my wretched right hand to do what I need it to do. <Groan>

    If there is anyone here who thinks they might have the answer, I'd love to hear from you. I really, really want to get this sorted.

    Thanks,

    Will

  6. #55
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Proper pick grip

    I still struggle with it too. I’m trying to solve the issue a bit indirectly, as force of will hasn’t seemed to work. Can’t relax faster:-). But I work on tremolo and that seems to be the gateway to better pick mechanics and speed. At least that's my current working hypothesis:-)

    And I recall my classical guitar teacher, 40+ years ago, ‘you want to play like artist but you are beginner’. I’m no where near the hours Thile has put in to play that smoothly with his right hand. Not many people have. Not getting frustrated with that is a big step, for me anyway.
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  8. #56

    Default Re: Proper pick grip

    [QUOTE=WillHelton;1721328]Well, folks, here we are again. I've been trying to refine my right-hand technique and am still pretty much where we all last found me: struggling to play faster than about 190bpm without having my right hand bob in and out like a trailer hitch.

    If you're really able to play up to 190 bpm before you start having problems, I'd say that's not much of a problem. Could it be we're counting beats differently? As a reference, here are Sierra Hull and Adam Steffey playing at 120 bpm:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9BFap-L-Bk

  9. #57

    Default Re: Proper pick grip

    @hucklebilly

    Yeah, we must be counting those differently. :D

    I'm counting 4 beats to the bar, not 2 (so literally 1-2-3-4) and have that playing back as such from my metronome.

    I sometimes just run the metronome at half time (that is, beats 2 and 4 only) to give things a bit more room to swing, but that's once I've warmed up and am trying to get a smoother sound. For just straightforward clean picking, I use the 4 beats to a bar.

  10. #58

    Default Re: Proper pick grip

    @Bill McCall

    Yeah, I do that, too, but some days it's just like my hand is no longer under control of my brain. Today is a good example. Nothing I play sounds good and my hand flies off in all sorts of annoying directions.

    I'll just keep plugging ahead. It's gotta break my way at some point, right? ;D

  11. #59

    Default Re: Proper pick grip

    Folks,

    I've had a mit of a eureka moment and have provided an update here:

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...75#post1721975

    Feedback from any and all would be most welcome.

    Thanks and have a good weekend,

    Will

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