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  • Picking hand placement

    Posted by SciencePete on April 2, 2022 at 11:55 am

    I normally rest at least my pinky and sometimes ring finger on the soundboard when I am picking and sometimes when strumming. Will I be better off to learn to play with my fingers on my picking hand curved in and not touching the soundboard? This will take more time, but I’m willing to do it if it will help down the road, especially with one of my goals which is to learn flat picking. Thanks!

    SciencePete replied 2 years, 9 months ago 7 Members · 11 Replies
  • 11 Replies
  • Guitargeezer-Jack

    Member
    April 2, 2022 at 2:19 pm

    @SciencePete – while I am a fairly novice picker myself I would suspect to anchor or not anchor is a matter of personal preference. Personally, I like to know where my thumb is related to the bass E string.

    Have you watched Tony’s “Fingerpicking Jumpstart” skill course yet? That helped to guide me on the basics.

    Hopefully someone more experienced will provide you with a definitive answer.

    I find fingerpicking more to my liking than strumming. Enjoy it!

    • N-lightMike

      Member
      April 3, 2022 at 11:06 am

      Hey Jack;

      Using the fingers, or the thumb, in relation to the strings, is a really good way to go about it in my opinion.

      MG 😀

  • N-lightMike

    Member
    April 3, 2022 at 11:05 am

    Hello @SciencePete , pretty much everything with the guitar is personal preference. But there are still things that are more common and things that are more effective. Many good players rest their pinky and/or the ring. However, most players use the forearm where it comes in contact with the guitar as their reference point. Some also use the heel of their hand. Classical players use the strings themselves where their fingers rest on the strings they are assigned to. We do need some kind of “anchor”, but we don’t need the pinky.

    I am trying to break myself of the pinky because I was too unconcerned but now find myself putting too much pressure on it. I think the difference is that I can play finger style for so much longer now. I can play without my pinky, but it frequently goes back without my thinking about it. Consequently, I’d suggest, from my personal experience, to try not to use it. That way, even if you do end up using it as it just feels natural, at least it will be light.

    I have noticed guitar players whose pinky touches the guitar off and on, almost like it has a life of it’s own. If the pinky doesn’t stay there, then the pressure won’t build up.

    I hope this helps.

    MG 😀

  • jumpinjeff

    Member
    April 3, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    @SciencePete Good question: to pink anchor or to not pinky anchor. When I first started I had a hard time hitting the same string twice in a row with my flatpick so anchoring with my pinky gave me a little more steadyness and confidence to find what I was having a hard time locating. Over time my anchor got in the way and did not allow me the tone palate I wanted to explore so I abandoned it. I don’t anchor with my fingers anymore but as @MikeGaurnier pointed out there are other ways to anchor. I will use my hand on the bridge and my forearm on the lower bout depending on what I am doing. There are occasions that I try to touch the guitar body as little as possible and that is fun too. The only thing touching is the pick on the strings and the body on my knee. Great sound! I can’t go as fast but when trying to get the ringing resonance no need to go so fast. Go with what works until it doesn’t work and then do something else.

  • SciencePete

    Member
    April 3, 2022 at 8:37 pm

    Great input! Thanks, everyone. I think I will try to avoid constant pinky contact, but occasionally it might be what I need. I took a look at the flat picking course, and Tony addresses this question in one of the early lessons. Like many if you, he said it can be a personal preference. However, if it gets in the way of what I want to accomplish, I may need to change up what I’m doing. Again, thanks for the quick feedback!

  • David_Leo

    Member
    April 4, 2022 at 2:10 am

    I never really had lessons early on, but earned to finger pick without pinky contact. However, I was surprised when I recently decided to ick up the banjo that the instructor was quite insistent on anchoring with either the pinky or the ring or both. At this point I really struggle to maintain contact with either.

  • Cadgirl

    Member
    April 5, 2022 at 5:22 am

    @SciencePete , I anchor my pinky on the thinnest string. I don’t know if that is a bad habit or not. Because sometimes I have to un anchor it to play that string. I usually do ok with it, but for a moment my picking fingers all freak out. Your idea of anchoring to the sound boards makes more sense. Good Luck.

  • GuitarGeni

    Member
    April 5, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    I think it depends on what you’re playing. If you’re fingerpicking, it is recommended that you have an anchor of some sort, whether that’s your pinky, wrist or something else. If you’re strumming, you definitely don’t want an anchor. If you’re flat picking, you probably want an anchor sometimes, but not always. Hybrid picking is a whole other animal and I’m not really sure if, where or when you anchor. If you’re playing slide you might need the pinky to mute strings. So, you see, there are a lot of variables and no hard and fast rules.

  • SciencePete

    Member
    April 13, 2022 at 8:32 pm

    Thanks, again, everyone. It’s been a couple of weeks now, and I think I’ll be using the pinky to anchor to the sound board much but not all of the time. I just finished the 5-day routine challenge, and I found myself varying my approach depending what I was learning. I expect that will be the case going forward.

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