Fingerstyle thumb position problems

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by JimCA

Laurence Juber claims to play flesh-only. Must be thicker skinned than me -- I'd be bleeding.

Not saying I'm playing as well as he does, but I'm definitely only hitting the string with flesh on the thumb (moving straight from the large knuckle at the hand). If the corner of my nail catches the string, I cut it.

[JimCA]

Originally Posted by SunnyDee

Not saying I'm playing as well as he does, but I'm definitely only hitting the string with flesh on the thumb (moving straight from the large knuckle at the hand). If the corner of my nail catches the string, I cut it.

I play flesh-only too. I'm not even close to his speed or sound, but he has convinced me that the approach can be done well.

[srick]

Originally Posted by srick

Martie - I just saw something this week that might interest you. I was watching a video of the Reverend Gary Davis and noted that he put his thumb pick past the knuckle and closer to the hand. Try this and see what you think. I'm not sure at this point if I will convert to that style, but man, it sure makes the bass line pop.

I've been working with a thumb pick in this position for several days and notice a couple of good things:

- My bass is more regular and I insert fewer extra notes. This was a problem I had when the pick was above the knuckle (most folks pick placement). I suspect that my distal (furthest out) thumb flexed at a different rate than the main thumb and tend to double up on the note. IOW, I wasn't keeping the whole thumb stiff. My thumbpicking always seemed to lack consistency and a good rhythm. Let's hope that this is a watershed moment.

-There is better palm muting and I am getting a really good bass thump.

Hey, if this technique was good enough for "The Rev" . . .

[Martie]

Originally Posted by srick

I've been working with a thumb pick in this position for several days and notice a couple of good things:

- My bass is more regular and I insert fewer extra notes. This was a problem I had when the pick was above the knuckle (most folks pick placement). I suspect that my distal (furthest out) thumb flexed at a different rate than the main thumb and tend to double up on the note. IOW, I wasn't keeping the whole thumb stiff. My thumbpicking always seemed to lack consistency and a good rhythm. Let's hope that this is a watershed moment.

-There is better palm muting and I am getting a really good bass thump.

Hey, if this technique was good enough for "The Rev" . . .

I've just been trying this again too, and it is particularly good for palm muting. Also, the pick feels much more 'locked' in place. Am going to keep practicing with this. Cheers

[srick]

gary davis thumb 2.jpg
For anyone wondering: Here is a picture of the Rev.'s thumbpick (he has a really long thumb!). And I have seen pictures of it even lower on the thumb.

This has really improved my sound.