downstrokes with fingers - upstrokes with thumb

[mc1]

using downstrokes with one's fingers, and/or using upstrokes with one's thumb.

how common is this?

[williejohnson]

I would say that down strokes with the fingers is pretty common but up strokes with the thumb...not so much.

[stanron]

When I pick my fingers pick up and my thumb picks down. No offense meant, but are you Australian?

[HHP]

It would work best for a BIG monkey with 4 opposable thumbs.

[mr. beaumont]

Are you talking about strumming with your hand?

Otherwise, for fingerpicking, that sounds a bit backwards...

[71jasper]

Do you mean strumming this way? Sure. I don't often strum, but when I do, this is how I do it. Stay thirsty, my friends.

[mc1]

not too common, i guess. lots in flamenco playing, but i'm thinking more individual notes and fingerstyle.

martin taylor clip of upstrokes with the thumb. jump to 5:18 if you want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tYjIfesgY4

and this fellow agustin amigo from this recent thread has a bit of a downstroke/strum/pick/percussive technique he uses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4c_i8kicAo
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=235072

[frankhond]

When frailing you pick down with fingers. Thumb does a special move that's neither up or down. Look up Steve baughman on YouTube, I think his new channel is called thepowerofclaw or some such.

[ac]

It's the only way I strum. Simple, use only nails.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by mc1

not too common, i guess. lots in flamenco playing, but i'm thinking more individual notes and fingerstyle.

martin taylor clip of upstrokes with the thumb. jump to 5:18 if you want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tYjIfesgY4

That's a quite rare (and advanced) technique. (The thumb picking both up and down.)

Originally Posted by mc1

and this fellow augustin amigo from this recent thread has a bit of a downstroke/strum/pick/percussive technique he uses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4c_i8kicAo

I haven't watched all of that, but all the thumbstrokes seem to be downstrokes. (Of course, the audio is badly out of sync with the video, so hard to be certain - but it certainly looks like all downstrokes, and there's nothing that would require thumb upstrokes.)

For basic strumming without a pick (very simple style), it would be pretty normal to strum down with fingers (together) and up with the thumb - backs of the nails in each case if long enough - or alternatively just with the thumb, in both directions. This is quite a lazy technique, though, certainly nothing as fancy as the videos posted, nor as fancy as flamenco technique, which uses thumb and fingers in both directions.

[Doug Young]

Upstrokes with your thumb are uncommon, but done. Tony McManus uses it all the time. Tommy Emmanuel uses his thumbpick like a flatpick, and picks upstrokes.

Downstrokes with the fingers is common for strumming, and as someone noted, clawhammer style uses exclusively downstrokes, as in Steve Baughman's video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Me42csgzU

Gyan Riley has an interesting classical technique that he calls iPicking, that is basically alternate picking with his index finger. It lets him play pretty fast!

http://www.acguitar.com/video/playvi...y_Bonus2_AG193

[mc1]

Originally Posted by JonPR

I haven't watched all of that, but all the thumbstrokes seem to be downstrokes. (Of course, the audio is badly out of sync with the video, so hard to be certain - but it certainly looks like all downstrokes, and there's nothing that would require thumb upstrokes.)
....

the agustin example was for the fingers. what he does is primarily a percussive hit, but it crosses the line into picking at times. at least that's how it seems to me.

after watching the clawhammer technique mentioned below, it's rather like that.

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Upstrokes with your thumb are uncommon, but done. Tony McManus uses it all the time. Tommy Emmanuel uses his thumbpick like a flatpick, and picks upstrokes.

Downstrokes with the fingers is common for strumming, and as someone noted, clawhammer style uses exclusively downstrokes, as in Steve Baughman's video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Me42csgzU

Gyan Riley has an interesting classical technique that he calls iPicking, that is basically alternate picking with his index finger. It lets him play pretty fast!

http://www.acguitar.com/video/playvi...y_Bonus2_AG193

thanks for the iPicking example; that was pretty cool. if it was the m finger, would it be mPicking? just kidding.

i hadn't seen that clawhammer technique. i have heard of clawhammer banjo, but i didn't realize it was downstroked. that was very interesting. steve baughman was entertaining as well. seems like he grabs the chord with an upstroke after the bass note (the and of 2), but i could be mistaken. i'll need to watch those again.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by mc1

using downstrokes with one's fingers, and/or using upstrokes with one's thumb.

how common is this?

Hi mc...
Not sure how common or uncommon it is.

Being a finger style player, and one who prefers to work without picks, I stroke downward with the backs of the nails 2-3 and upward with the lower edge of the thumbnail. Been doing this for about 47 years and all my students learn it fairly easily and quickly.

I developed this type of strumming to go well with finger style playing, and it is very robust sounding, and can be punchy - but it's not that much louder than my finger styling (much to the frustration of some sound techs).

This 3:33 video shows the 3 styles I use.

Three strums without picks - CLiCK


Hope this helps...

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by mc1

i hadn't seen that clawhammer technique. i have heard of clawhammer banjo, but i didn't realize it was downstroked. that was very interesting. steve baughman was entertaining as well. seems like he grabs the chord with an upstroke after the bass note (the and of 2), but i could be mistaken. i'll need to watch those again.

Steve's basic pattern (just banjo-style clawhammer applied to guitar) is 1-2 and, 1-2 and, where 1 and 2 are down with the fingers, then thumb on the bass on the and of 2, never any upstroke's with the fingers. He does at times deviate when the music requires it in his real pieces, but I think he's pretty consistent about "down only" in his teaching materials like this. Of course, once he starts adding in slapping and tapping and harmonics, it gets increasingly mind-boggling.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by frankhond

When frailing you pick down with fingers. Thumb does a special move that's neither up or down. Look up Steve baughman on YouTube, I think his new channel is called thepowerofclaw or some such.

call you elaborate of the thumb move that's neither up nor down? i can imagine something akin to slapping the bass, which would be hitting the string with the side of the thumb.

i find steve very intense in this clip, which is neither here nor there in regards to clawhammer. i have an old homespun dvd with steve playing that's quite a different style, if i recall correctly.

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Steve's basic pattern (just banjo-style clawhammer applied to guitar) is 1-2 and, 1-2 and, where 1 and 2 are down with the fingers, then thumb on the bass on the and of 2, never any upstroke's with the fingers. He does at times deviate when the music requires it in his real pieces, but I think he's pretty consistent about "down only" in his teaching materials like this. Of course, once he starts adding in slapping and tapping and harmonics, it gets increasingly mind-boggling.

i got to watch this again a couple of times, and see how it's all down strokes. maybe strokes is too strong, as it's more like one big movement. that's really quite cool. from the other videos listed, clawhammer guitar looks like it has a bit of a following.