Bluegrass right hand technique

[onkeltuka]

I've gone through my guitar history on some earlier thread, but just to recap: I used to play electric guitar in my teens for maybe 10 years, then didn't touch a guitar in 15 years and now I bought an acoustic some months ago.

I've now gotten very interested in learning bluegrass, and I've started playing with a local bg workshop group. I've just quickly learned that pretty much everything I've learned about right hand technique is not applicable/right when it comes to bluegrass guitar. I play with way too much "side-to-side" wrist movement, not enough "from the shoulder", etc. It feels pretty overwhelming how basic these things are, and how ingrained the "wrong" way of doing them is in my brain. I feel like I would need to learn to walk again, if you know what I mean. Also been thinking that it could even be easier to learn a whole new instrument the right way than try to reprogram a 41-year old brain...

So any tips, links to videos more than welcome. I have not been able to locate any detailed lessons or the like about right hand technique.

[HHP]

My advice would be to not take these as "chiseled in stone". There are lots of ways to get the same result. You do need to get a lot of power in your right hand for the usual bluegrass instrument line-up. Main element of that is to grip the pick so that your wrist is straight. You can get some power from forearm and shoulder but your wrist is where you get touch and precision. You also want to use a pick with little or no flex but still configured to provide the needed volume. An instrument with good headroom doesn't hurt either.

[dhodgeh]

From the publisher of Flatpick Guitar Magazine:

The Guitar Players Guide to Speed, Accuracy and Tone

D

[Bikewer]

The standard bluegrass rhythm stroke is the “Boom-chicka-boom” ...
That’s bass note (“boom”) downstroke (“chick”) upstroke (“a”) bass note...

The bass notes should alternate.

Some prefer “boom-chick” only for straight rhythm when someone else is soloing.

I worked up to “Boom-chick-a chick-a boom... Throwing in another little upstroke-downstroke bit.
You can add interest with bass runs, little single-note runs and licks to connect chords.

You should (eventually) be able to play melodic lines with the “boom” strokes as in “Wildwood flower” and similar standards, while keeping up the rhythm chords.

Also, I’ve always thought you should be able to freely throw in measure-long single-note runs and then shift seamlessly back to the rhythm figure.

As to playing single-note lines and fiddle tunes and such, I’ve always found that I get the best speed by playing “from the elbow” rather than “from the wrist” as is often recommended by electric players.
Doc Watson spoke of “Digging in with the elbow” when playing fast single-note lines.

[onkeltuka]

Originally Posted by dhodgeh

From the publisher of Flatpick Guitar Magazine:

The Guitar Players Guide to Speed, Accuracy and Tone

D

I bought the electronic version of this yesterday, and it seems like exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

[jawjatek]

Alternate picking, with the downstroke on the beat, is what I try to do, as far as playing single note melodies and lines in bluegrass and fiddle tunes cleanly.

I also suggest using your pinky to anchor on the pickguard, and not resting your hand on the bridge and pivoting at the wrist. You want to float your hand as much as possible and use the arm and the wrist, like "shaking water off your hand" as Norman Blake once said.

Third, keep the pick angle close to perpendicular so the notes ring out evenly.

Best wishes for good picking! I'm learning, too!

[HHP]

Originally Posted by jawjatek

Third, keep the pick angle close to perpendicular so the notes ring out evenly.

Disagree on this point. Pick should be held to strike the strings at about a 45 degree angle. Tone, volume, and speed will suffer with the flat of the pick striking the strings versus the edge of the pick.

[stanron]

There are two axes (plural of axis) about which the pick can turn in relation to the string. One axis, around a horizontal pivot, describes the pick's angle to the sound board. In this way the pick should be vertical to the soundboard so that it's attack on the string is the same in both directions. The other axis, around a vertical pivot, is to do with whether the surface of the pick is parallel to the string or angled. Holding the pick at an angle to the string around this axis means that the pick's attack is angled to the string, but is the same in both directions. The precise angle will be a matter of preference. For me 45 degrees sounds a bit extreme.

Perhaps I should add that in this post 'horizontal' and 'vertical' are in relation to the guitar top, not the floor .

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by stanron

There are two axes (plural of axis) about which the pick can turn in relation to the string. One axis, around a horizontal pivot, describes the pick's angle to the sound board. In this way the pick should be vertical to the soundboard so that it's attack on the string is the same in both directions. The other axis, around a vertical pivot, is to do with whether the surface of the pick is parallel to the string or angled. Holding the pick at an angle to the string around this axis means that the pick's attack is angled to the string, but is the same in both directions. The precise angle will be a matter of preference. For me 45 degrees sounds a bit extreme.

Perhaps I should add that in this post 'horizontal' and 'vertical' are in relation to the guitar top, not the floor .

This is one of the best explanations of holding a pick I've read. In the horizontal plane, I 've always tended to hold the pick with the back end angled towards the lower bout. In the vertical plane plane during a downstroke, I've tended to contact the string with the point of contact of the pick slightly higher than the portion of the pick being held between my thumb and index finger in a downstroke. It's like my hand is leading the pick through the string(s). I've read that the disadvantage to this is that if I follow with an upstroke, I have to do more adjustment with my wrist to have the same effect during the upstroke.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by onkeltuka

I bought the electronic version of this yesterday, and it seems like exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

You might also enjoy Flatpicking Essentials Volume 1, great for developing basic flatpick strum and picking technique. It's also available from Flatpick.com.