Flathand Pickin Habit

Glenn Austin · Post by **Glenn Austin** » 4 Jul 2002 12:22 pm

I just read about Bill Terry's flat handed picking problem, and I gotta say that I've got the same problem. After watching videos of Bruce Bouton and Tommy White, I noticed that they sort of curve their hand . I can't, for the life of me, get my hand into that position to play. Anybody got any tips for me, so I can break this rotten habit

Al Miller · Post by **Al Miller** » 4 Jul 2002 6:59 pm

glen!!
try holding a ping pong ball in your hand while you play . i did for about a yr when i was a kid (a bud charlton suggsestion) and it seemed to work for me.
just some advice if its worth anything to ya . try to break that habit its a bad one.

BOO

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 4 Jul 2002 7:44 pm

Well, if it's natural for you to flatten your hand, and it feels comfortable, and it doesn't affect your picking, then why change? If, on the other hand, you're hand is getting tired or cramped after a few hours' playing, then adopt the more natural method. Does your hand get tired after 4 or 5 hours of playing? Well, it shouldn't!

My own hand "shape" or curve is the same for playing as it is for writing. It's the normal "at rest" position that your hand assumes when you just lay your arm on a table while you are seated. Different people have different physiologies, though, and what's comfortable for me or you may not be comfortable for everyone.

Do what feels right and natural to you.

Jody Sanders · Post by **Jody Sanders** » 4 Jul 2002 8:23 pm

Donny is right. Bobby Garrett was a "flathander', and so is Doug Jernigan. If "flathand" feels good, do it. Best Regards, Jody.

Glenn Austin · Post by **Glenn Austin** » 5 Jul 2002 7:13 am

Thanks for the replies guys. I just find that when I have my hand curved, I need to tuck my ring and little finger under my hand. They then get in the way. Also the angle of attack for the picks hitting the strings is off. I get a sore hand much sooner than 4 hours playing the way I do now.. I've seen a few guys up here who play like they're holding a ball in their hand, and they get great tone. I just can't seem to get good tone with my hand like that. Looks like I'm going to have to relearn my right hand technique, not that I have any to begin with.

Thanks again.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 5 Jul 2002 8:16 am

Glenn,

Joe Wright has a good a tone as anybody and better tecnique than everybody. He plays with a flat hand. As far as I can tell the tone you get is from how your picks hit the string and not the shape of your hand. You want the flat round part of the fingerpick to sorta pull through the string rather than hit the edge. And pick hard enough to feel the string move behind the bar pretty much all the time. I play with a rounded hand for the most part myself but if something else is working for you why mess with it ?

Bob

c c johnson · Post by **c c johnson** » 5 Jul 2002 11:35 am

Reece Anderson is a flat hander.I remember when all of us used to call him "knuckles". Then we realized how good he was, so we now call him MR ANDERSON. CC

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 5 Jul 2002 2:59 pm

Hey Glenn....Nothing wrong with wanting to improve on your technique and tone. Jeff Newman's Right Hand Alpha video deals with the technique you asked about. I have edited my reply so that it deals more directly with your question and removed my personal opinion from your post.

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jerry Overstreet on 05 July 2002 at 04:48 PM.]</p></FONT>

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 5 Jul 2002 3:46 pm

Is flathander...pinky out or pinky in?
I played for several years with pinky curled. Forced myself to play pinky out and it improved my muting alot. The remaining fingers are curled. So am I a flathander?
Dennis

George Kimery · Post by **George Kimery** » 5 Jul 2002 3:50 pm

Glenn:

I played flathanded for many years and learned to change, so it can be done. I think you get better tone and more power in you fingers by playing slightly off the ends of the picks, a little on the sides. Also, one of the main reasons I wanted to switch was I was getting nowhere blocking because in flatpicking, the back of my hand was too high in the air. I look upon picking like snapping your fingers (thumb and middle finger). If you do this, and look at your hand position, most likely it will be in a natural position that is right for picking.I played some banjo before the steel and I think that along without any help in right hand technique, led me down the wrong path. It is true that in almost anything, some of the best do it wrong. However, often they do not teach their way with students, and even tell students that they learned wrong, but they don't have the time, desire, or need, to relearn. Some of these masters might have been even better if they had learned better right hand technique. I don't think anybody could copy Doug Jernigan anyway. I have watched him play and his hand looks like it's broken or something weird. There are always exceptions to the general rule, but they are far and in between. 99 % of the good pickers do not pick flathanded, so for the rest of us, I think we need all the help we can get, and proper right hand technique is a BIGGIE.

Pete Grant · Post by **Pete Grant** » 5 Jul 2002 9:16 pm

JD Maness plays "flathanded" too.

richard burton · Post by **richard burton** » 5 Jul 2002 10:25 pm

Glenn,
You say that your ring finger curls under and gets in the way? No it doesn't: use it for blocking.

Glenn Austin · Post by **Glenn Austin** » 5 Jul 2002 11:35 pm

Lots of great advice here. I'm after a more relaxed hand position because my hand starts hurting, after having it in the "fingernails on the blackboard" position all night. Even tonight I played from 8 till 1 and my hand is still aching. I played some banjo before picking up the steel, and I too am convinced that this led me down the wrong path. What I mean when I say flathander is that my knuckles are higher than the back of my hand when I'm playing, and my pinky is out Not the most comfortable position, but it seems to be the only way to pick cleanly. I've been playing for 5 years now, so I'm not in a position to say someone has bad technique. I wish it would work for me.

Pete Grant · Post by **Pete Grant** » 6 Jul 2002 4:24 pm

Change the angle of your picks.

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 7 Jul 2002 5:31 am

Pete brings up a method of curling the hand. I started playing with the factory bend(angle) of the picks and gradually bent them until they wrapped up the end of my fingers to approx 90 degrees. You're forced to roll your hand back and curl the fingers to get the proper attack on the strings. Bend them a little at a time to get comfortable with the new angles.
Dennis