Let's talk bar handling

[Bill McCloskey]

This is for you 2 3/4' bullet nosed bar players out there.

How do you hold your index finger on the bar. Coming from a dobro background, I usually keep my index finger flat on top of the bar, but going through the Jerry Byrd book, he has an arched index finger, creating a pivot point for slants. It takes a little getting used to.

So how do you hold your index finger?

And while we are at it, how about a poll on what bar you do use (for lap steel players only...we know what you dobro guys use).

[Jerome Hawkes]

I hold it exactly as JB says, but the tip of my finger is slightly off center. I got to see Paul Franklin play up close..as in right over his shoulder... Last year and he has the "classic" JB bar hold (high knuckle bend) and uses what appears to me as substantial pressure on the bar.

[Mike Neer]

I do not hold my index finger straight on top of the bar.

[Ron Whitfield]

I hold it exactly as JB says, but the tip of my finger is slightly off center.

ditto, but I keep adjusting it back to center (just to keep the old man happy) on a 3" bar.

[G Strout]

I guess I do it all wrong... but it works for me!!

[Jeff Au Hoy]

I hold the bar like Mike does!

[David Matzenik]

Yeah, I hold it more or less like Mike too. I've got a feeling its about different hand and finger shapes, but using the tip of your finger to create a pivot seems shaky to me. When I go into a reverse slant the bar pivots under the flat of the finger just ahead of the first knuckle. Much more grip and balance than the tip of the finger.

[Jeff Au Hoy]

I use the Jim Dunlop 3/4" bar. I think it's the "#918" ?

[Ron Whitfield]

Doing it just as JB did/instructs should pose no stability problems, in fact it helps keep the hand looser (once you get it) and fully allows bar manipulations which can be restricted with other positions, plus makes the vibrato free and easy.

[Mike Neer]

Doing it just as JB did/instructs should pose no stability problems, in fact it helps keep the hand looser (once you get it) and fully allows bar manipulations which can be restricted with other positions, plus makes the vibrato free and easy.

JB's method does not work for me at all. I tried several times through the years but I don't like it. I'm content at this point with holding it the way I do.

[Tom Gray]

Years ago Leonard T. Zinn demonstrated to me his bar grip with a restaurant butterknife. He said the index finger should act only as a guide. The grip is between your thumb and the bigger joint of your middle finger. If you lift your hand the front of the bar should fall and point down. This grip works for me.

[David Matzenik]

Doing it just as JB did/instructs should pose no stability problems, in fact it helps keep the hand looser (once you get it) and fully allows bar manipulations which can be restricted with other positions, plus makes the vibrato free and easy.

For one thing, JB had much meatier fingers than I have. Also, my fingers lie almost straight when relaxed. I have to put tension in my hand to arch the finger. I'm curious though. How exactly does arching the finger help with vibrato?

[Dave Mayes]

I follow the J.B. "arched index" game plan.

I use a Dunlop 918 like Jeff, as well as the classic Dunlop 919. Sometimes the 918 feels a little too long and sometimes the 919 feels a little too short.