The Steel Guitar Forum

I know there are several posts on this. What am I doing right or wrong? These are National NP2's.

they look ok to me. i personally like the blade to stick out a little straighter rather than wrapping so close to the fingertip, but i think that varies from person to person.

I don't have my camera here, but one of the things Jeff Newman showed me was taking a pair of needle nose pliers and pull the "tongs" (the part that wraps around the finger) forward and flatten out the "tops". That pulls them forward and they grip better

A lot depends on your hand position and posture. I swivel my picks so the blade hits the string on its flat, not it's edge. They're straighter, but don't stick out very far from my fingertips.

Check out eBay seller “sauce4050.” Clem sells a DVD of a 1983 concert by Jeff Newman and Buddy Emmons. The accompanying photo is a slightly out of focus shot of the latter’s right hand. Don’t see how you could possibly go wrong in emulating his approach. By the way, the merchandise on this site is quite reasonably priced and is highly recommended.

That pic on eBay helps a lot. Thanks.

from the archives here

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Scott they look perfectly fine!! Just wear them the way they are most comfortable for you. Don't mess around with them too much once you get used to them or you will have to change youre hand position and picking technique. Dont get hung up on this there is no clear cut rules on how to wear them its a personal journey as is alot of other points in this insturment.

You'll notice a lot of these shots have the (National, JF style) fingerpicks wrapped so they go right around the top of the fingernail quick, where hangnails develop and any little finger injury can be quite painful.

A few years ago I discovered Bob Perry fingerpicks, Cobalt plated ( lasts a long time) over a basic National shape, but just slightly longer in the shaft area, so that the same placement of the blade out in front of the fingertip allows you to crimp the sides behind the cuticle area. Much more comfortable and stay on the finger better. More expensive, but definitely a better mousetrap for me.
http://elderly.com/accessories/cat_or_p ... verse_str=

I look at those contorted wrist positions and am glad I learned pick blocking, and settled on a more natural hand position. It's painful just looking at those pictures...for me...ymmv.

I will comment, however, there are certain rhythm figures where pick blocking doesn't seem to work as good as palm blocking would.

Scott,,,I think Jeff would have advocated placement of the band a little more toward the end of the finger. I had mine like yours MANY years ago and he yanked them off, squeezed them together and stuck them on to where the back of the band was at my cuticle. I couldn't keep them on that way so now they are just a tad past the cuticle.

Tom G!
I agree! And I couldn't play with the tips bent around the ends of my fingers that way. Seems very unnatural. Hands are all clawed up!

Did anyone notice that Scott asked this question a year and a half ago?

Lol...Richard how did that get pulled up? What would be interesting is to see what Scott is doing. When I play the banjo I curve the picks more. When I play the dobro or steel I wear them more straight. I guess years ago I got a couple of Newman books and went more like he showed. I will say that palm blocking is not an easy thing to pick up.
Scott IMHO there is no right or wrong way to have picks. Lot depends on the physical attributes of your hands and fingers.
Be nice to have some pros weigh in on this.

Mark van Allen,

Thanks for sharing. I'll be ordering soon.

I'm wearing them a little straighter. I'm also using Dunlop .018s, and a Blue Herco thumb pick.

Richard- I actually ran across this.topic doing a goovle image search on so.ething totally unrelated and had to get my two cents in . Yeah don't ask

Tom Gorr- I have to agree with you mostly. It is much more comfortable to pick the sgrings more squarely, but lets not forget that alot of your tone comes from how much "angle" you attack the strings at. Again personal preference.

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I will likely never use anything but Jeff Newman picks. I just love them.

These things are all incremental trial and error processes and personal preference, for sure. In this last year, the most important thing I did for my hand posture was go to long bladed propiks, I can raise my hand and pick like my piano teacher once taught me to key...not to say I don't get a bit lazy time to time.

Aren't the Newmann pics copies of the old Oahu picks? Or am I thinking of something else?

Really, I think it's good to bring posts like this back up. It can be very beneficial to new players.

Scott Duckworth wrote:I'm wearing them a little straighter. I'm also using Dunlop .018s, and a Blue Herco thumb pick

I'd imagine that's pretty light for most folks around here. Seems like steel pickers generally prefer heavier fingerpicks.

I want to ask some advice on finger position or injuries.

I found lately that when I play my right hand with fingers is bundled up and I have a problem stretching the fingers afterwards.
Is that correct for someone playing too much?

Another one connected to the first question is that I found that my first finger is slow to reach the strings when I play a chord. Middle finger reaches easily, with the result that the first finger note sounds softer than the other note.
Middle finger is slightly longer than the first.
No problem with my thumb.

I type a lot as part of my job, but my right hand does not play ball.

I never had this problem, only the last two weeks.
Is this age related?