Just hold the pick FOR me!

[Timleo]

So I'm a little frustrated right now in regards to proper right hand technique. Specifically in regards to holding the pick. I've been holding it a certain way (I thought the correct way) since I started, and now I am getting conflicting information from my literature.

Hal Leonard Mandolin Method Book 1 : Tells me to grip the pick with my thumb and index finger with the point facing down. This resembles the closed fist technique that I am currently using. However, it also tells me to brace the mandolin with my pinky. I immediately stopped doing this when I went from guitar picking to mando, because I heard that it will impede on speed later. I thought I nipped the habit in the bud, but this book is telling me to do it.

Chris Thile's Homespun DvD: Tells me to hold the pick in the same sort of way, only he is holding it a bit more stretched out, index finger wise. Also, he says to rest your wrist on the bridge of the mando, which I have sort of done, but I am trying not to due to my newfound paranoia.

I KNOW there are many debates about all of this, but damn, I mean, these photos in this beginner book are showing the thumb of the left hand, like, reaching over the top of the fretboard. I thought my thumb was supposed to be relaxed behind the neck?

I trust all of you to help me with some general guidelines that I should have asked to begin with. I guess I never would have questioned myself if I hadn't noticed all of these beginning books and instructional dvd's contradicting each other.

[Jim Broyles]

It isn't life and death. The world will not end if you use unorthodox technique to play the mandolin. Keep holding the pick the way you feel comfortable, since it is an accepted technique. Use a strap so your fretting hand doesn't have to hold up the mandolin. Lay the mandolin's neck on the side of your index finger, just toward the fingertip from the big knuckle. Lay your thumb on the top of the neck and keep it kind of straight - don't curl it over the fretboard. Bend your fingers at both joints and curl them downward toward the strings so that the fingertip is fretting the string, but approaching from an angle - as if they would be pointing at your chest if not curled down to the strings. This is more or less the Mike Marshall mandolin holding technique in the D'Addario video on "Mandolin Tips." It's on YouTube and it has been linked here a dozen or more times. There should be a space between the back of the neck and the web of your thumb/index finger. For barre chords and certain fingerings you will have to move your thumb to behind the neck, but you should not curl it over and despite what you may read, you never need to fret the mandolin with your thumb. You will see that some folks will play the 2-0-0-2 D major with their thumb on the 2nd fret of the G string, but I do not recommend this. You can actually navigate faster if you use either 1 and 2 or 2 and 3 to finger this chord.

[Timleo]

Thanks Jim, definitely appreciate it. Most of what you said confirms what I've been doing so far, and I'll stick to it.

[MandoNicity]

What Jim said. ^^^ I think the key is to use whatever is comfortable for YOU, that produces a clear, clean note. Don't get boggled down in frustrating abstractions. Have fun! That's what it's all about!

JR

[Ivan Kelsall]

Re.the 2 ways of holding a pick,go with Chris Thile. His was the first tuition DVD that i bought - it was the only one available,so that narrowed it down a bit. I began holding the pick in the way that he described & it certainly worked for me,after a while, i admit. I had to learn to hang onto the darned thing for more than a few seconds to begin with,but i got there,
Ivan

[Bertram Henze]

How glad I am I never read a book about hand attitude - thank you!
My left hand attitude I got from 9 years of violin lessons and it works, just watch any classical violinist on YouTube and do what he does.
My right hand attitude has undergone several changes as I moved from mandolin to tenor banjo to OM, and still my pinky plants sometimes, sometimes not - I have come to the conclusion that it's best to think less and play more. That way, your hand itself learns how it should shape to get good sound without fatigue, depending on what you play, because it's not a one-attitude-fits-all thing.

[Rob Gerety]

I have come to the conclusion that it's best to think less and play more.

I'm with you there.

[Miked]

The Mike Marshall Fundamentals DVD has been a tremendous help with my R/L hand technique. I had to unlearn 3 years of bad habits, but things feel natural now.

[Gelsenbury]

Thumb on top of the neck or behind ... wrist over the bridge, little finger on the sound box, or free-floating ... I have read many different versions of each of these debates in perfectly authoritative sources. I don't think following either way will "break" your technique. What helps you to maximum steadiness, mobility and comfort will depend on the size of your hand and the precise characteristics of your mandolin. If I kept my wrist above the bridge on one of my mandolins, the pick would be nowhere near the "sweet spot" for good tone, so I move my wrist further towards the fretboard.

You will also find yourself adjusting as you play, sometimes in mid-tune. Where more pressure is required - for example, with certain chords - pushing the neck from behind with your thumb just works. There are also occasions where you have to twist the wrist of your fretting hand so that it becomes impossible to leave the thumb at the top of the neck. That's fine and shouldn't worry you.

[Coffeecup]

At a recent folk festival I had the chance to watch a good number of mandolin players performing in various bands. Many of them displayed the "bad" habits that we read about but they played superbly. Maybe they could play even better if they didn't post that pinky, or wrap their thumb round the neck. Who knows, but they all play far better than I'm ever likely to.
I guess if we are told that a certain action is a bad technique we should listen and find out the reason but not get too hung up on it.

[Coffeecup]

Strange little bug there - "various" is only typed once in my post but displays twice. I've noticed several posts with words repeated like that.