Picking Cleanly

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 12 Aug 2014 3:36 pm

It is good that the OP is hearing the problems and trying to remedy them.

The goal should be just getting comfortable with the feel and the sound so you have less to think about and you can really lock into a groove. I wish more players would focus on finding the groove than worry about being right in their technique. Gotta keep the feeling in the music.

The rest comes together in time because you will learn that your ideas will grow and you will need good chops to pull them off.

BTW, I would take Doug up on his offer. He has very good technique and will give you a chance to see how easy it can be.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 12 Aug 2014 3:36 pm

It is good that the OP is hearing the problems and trying to remedy them.

The goal should be just getting comfortable with the feel and the sound so you have less to think about and you can really lock into a groove. I wish more players would focus on finding the groove than worry about being right in their technique. Gotta keep the feeling in the music.

The rest comes together in time because you will learn that your ideas will grow and you will need good chops to pull them off.

BTW, I would take Doug up on his offer. He has very good technique and will give you a chance to see how easy it can be.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 12 Aug 2014 3:37 pm

It is good that the OP is hearing the problems and trying to remedy them.

The goal should be just getting comfortable with the feel and the sound so you have less to think about and you can really lock into a groove. I wish more players would focus on finding the groove than worry about being right in their technique. Gotta keep the feeling in the music.

The rest comes together in time because you will learn that your ideas will grow and you will need good chops to pull them off.

BTW, I would take Doug up on his offer. He has very good technique and will give you a chance to see how easy it can be.

Jean-Sebastien Gauthier · Post by **Jean-Sebastien Gauthier** » 12 Aug 2014 3:56 pm

Doug Beaumier wrote:Jeff Newman had a line of fingerpicks, JF fingerpicks, with the blades pre-bent to the proper angle, according to him.

Thats what I use and they have the best tone for me.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 13 Aug 2014 4:27 am

Deirdre, since your signature says "Jerry Byrd Fan" ...

Here are a few comments he made about picking "hard" vs "gently" ... In a letter he sent me when I first moved to the Shenandoah Valley ... And started meeting locals who only wanted Dobro ...

He wrote:

Don't get welded into bluegrass, it will ruin your light touch ...

There is a reason the old Hawaiian players called picks "Ticklers" ...

Just use enough force to get the strings moving ...

Patrick Harison · Post by **Patrick Harison** » 13 Aug 2014 11:31 pm

I'm glad that Jerry Byrd is with me in the light touch camp. It is definitely one heck of a head trip switching between dobro and electric steel too... I hope I don't ruin my touch after a summer of bluegrass festival gigs!

Jerome Hawkes · Post by **Jerome Hawkes** » 14 Aug 2014 7:41 am

i can hear the impact too. those players grew up playing acoustic and it surely carried over to their electric playing. interesting JB said that - on his early recordings (that everyone seems to think is his best tone) you can hear him play with absolute authority - he is hardly tickling the strings (unless that is how he wanted to phrase it). IMO, hitting the string with authority is the way to eliminate a lot of noise problems and the tone is much stronger. i'm not implying dobro level attack, but not tickling the strings. let the right hand drive the string some.
Buddy Emmons looks like he is ripping the strings off the steel when he picks.

JB was a master of the volume pedal so its hard to determine whether it was a strong RH or VP control. you have to drive the string pretty solid to use the VP to its fullest or you run out of headroom - thats one reason i think JB hit the string a little harder than it may appear.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 14 Aug 2014 7:52 am

you can hear him play with absolute authority - he is hardly tickling the strings

That's what I was thinking too. In that live TV video from 1961 he looks like he's picking pretty aggressively. Maybe he meant to pick lightly on lap steel as compared to how you would pick on acoustic steel...?

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 14 Aug 2014 8:40 am

Maybe he meant to pick lightly on lap steel as compared to how you would pick on acoustic steel...?

That was what the letter was discussing ...

As far as the term "Ticklers" & "Tickling the Strings" ... A very common term I've heard thrown around at HSGA conventions by the real ol' timers ...

Here's Rudi ...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HqG5yYKnlKM

Scott Thomas · Post by **Scott Thomas** » 14 Aug 2014 9:16 am

I remember reading something Lorene Ruymar wrote. She had taken up playing acoustic guitar lap style for purposes of a course she was developing. Jerry said something like..."oh no, you are going to lose your touch!"

I think it has more to do with the added nuance and subtlety afforded by the amplifier and pickup and the effect it has on your picking approach. You can hear this sometimes on the old recordings when the players were adapting from acoustic to electric. There is a slight learning curve as can be heard in the first electric recordings of Sol Hoopii. I hear it in Mike Hanapi (Kalama's Quartette) as well. That attack that had worked before needed to be modified to accommodate the new electric instruments.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 14 Aug 2014 1:09 pm

That attack that had worked before needed to be modified to accommodate the new electric instruments.

True. Roy Smeck is one player who's transition from acoustic to electric was not very successful IMO. His wild and crazy vaudeville style of playing worked well on acoustic, but it sounded kind of goofy and over accentuated on electric IMO.

Paul Honeycutt · Post by **Paul Honeycutt** » 14 Aug 2014 4:03 pm

I come from a Dobro background so hitting the strings hard was something I was used to. But I'm finding in my lap steel playing, I don't need to hit them so hard. But I do have a range from soft to hard that I use depending on the music.

I was practicing today by playing along with the radio and playing with and without an amplifier. Playing acoustic helps me hear what it sounds like before it hits the amp. Any sustain or volume has to come from my technique. I'm not using a volume pedal much right now.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 15 Aug 2014 5:05 am

Dave "The Hula Monster" Giegerich was the only guy I knew personally who could go from playing Bluegrass style dobro ... And could reach over and grab his electric steel ... And without missing a note ... Play sweet Hawaiian style ...

He was truly a "Monster" ... I sure miss him

His first appearance at an HSGA convention left long standing members with their "jaws dropping" ... When he started his set on 8 string dobro and ripped up "Take me out to the Ball game" in full blown Bluegrass style ... Then grabbed his Sierra and played the sweetest Bali Hai you ever heard ...

Whether it was a digging in on his dobro ... Or using a delicate touch on a ballad ... His command of either style/instrument was mind boggling ...

Playing with a gentle / light touch isn't the same as playing "timidly" ... Dave was a master

Deirdre Higgins · Post by **Deirdre Higgins** » 15 Aug 2014 4:19 pm

Thanks Guys for all the helpful comments.
I am thinking just as a good speaker uses inflection as he speaks to keep ones attention and not sound boring; so playing steel should be, some note may be picked harder while others softly so as not to sound monotone and add interest. Like Jerry Byrd says "play from the heart". He also says " It's what you do between the notes"

These are some of my observations I may be wrong.

Jean-Sebastien Gauthier · Post by **Jean-Sebastien Gauthier** » 24 Aug 2014 6:05 pm

I think that Kayton Robert have a Jerry Byrds like technique and you can watch this video and see how light is attack is and how fat it sound is!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfkSI5bpbzY

Will Jaffe · Post by **Will Jaffe** » 25 Aug 2014 9:47 am

Great advice from everyone.

I find my intention, what I intend to express comes first mentally, then the physical part happens. So ...

if I want to make every note say something, if I want to pick clean, my intention must be so. I must first hear in my head my desired end result. Makes a huge difference in my playing. If I'm empty headed, so sounds my music. If my head is filled with a clear, clean melody, so it comes out.

Difficult, but very effective is to practice mentally.

John D. Carter · Post by **John D. Carter** » 25 Aug 2014 11:58 am

When I first started playing I had the same problem and I started with thicker gauge National picks. If you change to a lighter gauge Propik you will definitely notice a difference. I promise.

Edward Meisse · Post by **Edward Meisse** » 27 Aug 2014 11:31 am

I like Jeff's picks.

Ulrich Sinn · Post by **Ulrich Sinn** » 27 Aug 2014 5:38 pm

via Howard Roberts:

A most common mistake ls to blame the left hand when the right hand is at fault, or vice versa. Watch out for this.