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Thread: Playing rhythm with a stiff pick?

  1. #1
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    Default Playing rhythm with a stiff pick?

    I like the sound of fairly stiff picks on my mandolin, but I haven't got the hang of strumming with them. I used to play more guitar, with flexible picks that would bend then release when strumming. What tips have you for strumming with a pick that doesn't bend? Thanks, Max

  2. #2
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Playing rhythm with a stiff pick?

    I use Dunlop 1.5 mm picks just about exclusively. Well, just the one, really. (I may be jinxing it, saying this, but it's been hanging in with me for years. Knock on wood!) That's for leads and rhythm, back and forth. I've not had any problem. Sometimes, if I want a slightly softer sound whilst strumming, I may hold the pick a bit loosely. Not so loosely to risk it flying, but just enough so that it is not transmitting the full force to the strings. This mimics the lighter touch a more flexible pick would impart. To my mind, anyway. Just be careful to avoid dramatically increasing pick clicking.
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  4. #3

    Default Re: Playing rhythm with a stiff pick?

    Do not dig in so deep.

    That applies to both guitar and mandolin. It took me a long time to figure out that most people, including myself, dig too deeply into the strings both when picking and strumming. If you HAVE to use a lighter pick to prevent it being torn out of your hand or worse yet if you break picks then you are digging in much too deep. You should just be brushing across the tops of the strings. One friend who is a talented flatpicker described it as dancing across the strings.

    Bryan Kimsey made a post one time on Flatpick-L where he said he aims for the top third of the string when picking or strumming. It may not be possible to literally execute that but it is a goal to reach for. Your pick should be only sticking a very small way out of your hand. Look at instructional videos to see how little they have sticking out. A reference point like gliding fingers on the finger rest or wrist touching strings behind the bridge can help. Done right it will apply more force and get more volume and clarity while digging in less while helping on speed and accuracy with less movement.

    It took me about five years to unlearn it after about 35 years of doing it wrong. I still have to go back and remind myself every so often.

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  6. #4
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    Default Re: Playing rhythm with a stiff pick?

    Keep a loose grip on the pick. It should be able to move against the string. A “death grip” will surely prevent fluid articulation in your rhythm.

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  8. #5
    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Playing rhythm with a stiff pick?

    Like you I started on guitar. Mine was acoustic and I loved the flapping, slapping sound of thin, nylon picks. 0.60m were my fave. As I started to play heavier music and moved to bass I quickly realized I needed more oomph! I moved up to using picks around 1.00m. It took time getting used to something different but the punchy tone I was after was worth the practice time. Now, I cant stand using those thin, lifeless picks.

    If the tone and volume you are after requires a heavier pick then build your way up and make an effort to learn and practice. And practice more.

    Happy picking!

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  10. #6
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    Default Re: Playing rhythm with a stiff pick?

    I started using a .73 mm Tortex, mostly the round shoulder, based on recommendations off Folk of the Wood before I discovered the Cafe and all the great advice here. That was about as thick as I’d go on guitar as well. I played those and Fender mediums for quite a while (on guitar prior to getting into mando) until I decided I wanted to do some flat picking. I bought some Fender Heavies mainly for guitar, then one day grabbed a H to play mando and realized I’d been working way too hard with the thin picks. That pick never made it back to the guitar case.

    Then I bought a mandolin from Ted Eschliman (of Jazzmando provenance) that came with a 1.5 mm Pro-Plec in the strings. It was unwieldy for me at first, but, wow, again, what a difference! Then Wegen, Bluechip, and others followed. For a long time I made sure I had a heavy pick for lead work/flat picking, and a thinner pick for strumming. Now, like Zach, I can’t stand the really thin picks. 1.4 mm is as thin as I get on mando, with 1.2 mm as my go to on guitar.

    Sorry, really long winded way to say, work at it, you’ll get it! Or, if you’re a player who just loves thinner picks and can get the tone and volume out of them, play them and don’t worry about it!

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    Default Re: Playing rhythm with a stiff pick?

    Loose grip loose wrist , If you don't drop the pick occasionally you are gripping it too tight. Grip your fingers together tightly and move your wrist back and forth then loosen your fingers and do the same thing....... feel the difference? R/
    I love hanging out with mandolin nerds . . . . . Thanks peeps ...

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  14. #8

    Default Re: Playing rhythm with a stiff pick?

    If you turn your wrist a bit clockwise (right handed players) you will rotate the pick just slightly on its axis, such that you are strumming with the flat side of the pick not quite parallel to the strings. This lets a very stiff, thick, pick glide across the strings better. This approach also has the advantage of needing no grip change so the transition between gentle strumming and normal single note playing is seamless and instantaneous. I probably haven't explained this very well......The total amount of rotation needed is really tiny--andactually as I sit here trying it, it is really as much thumb as wrist...

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