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I take back part of I wrote, I just checked and reaching lower notes with pinkie anchored may work if holding the pick with the "reverse" grip as Benson does (which I can't do with ease) but I find it's almost impossible with a conventional grip.
Originally Posted by Shadow of the Sun
Last edited by m_d; 05-01-2015 at 05:01 PM.
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05-01-2015 04:59 PM
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Hey, guys,
I'm doing another month with JC Stylles, starting today (3 May 2015).
The major focus is on anchoring with a minor focus on arm placement.
I took six pics with my webcam last night to show where I am now. (I will post them in three sets of two.)
Number 1: the Shape, where I anchor, and how the arm lies atop the guitar.
Number 2: Pinky curl
Attachment 19913Attachment 19914Last edited by MarkRhodes; 05-03-2015 at 10:28 AM.
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Number 3: The long view
Number 4: still shot of me playing
Attachment 19915Attachment 19916
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Number 5: The Shape, from behind
Number 6: the point of the pick
Attachment 19917Attachment 19918
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Thanks for those pics, Mark.
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the point about certain forms of 'anchoring' is that they allow for so much movement relative to the strings that they shouldn't really be called cases of anchoring at all.
i often have this sort of experience
say i'm playing a repeated scale-type figure ascending and descending on the top three strings
i can start to lose clarity of articulation - the notes aren't all getting clearly sounded - and it may get worse and worse the longer i push it.
then if i really let the bones in my little finger take over the job of anchoring - they're locked and i give over the weight of my hand to these locked bones (as you do all the time with perfectly relaxed but locked legs when you're standing up!) - then i will be able to lighten my grip on the pick and suddenly the articulation will improve dramatically and i will be able to speed up the ascending/descending figure whilst keeping very good or perfect articulation.
holding the pick by the top right hand corner in the benson fashion there is absolutely no problem reaching all the strings without re-positioning the pinky anchor.Last edited by Groyniad; 05-04-2015 at 07:19 AM.
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mark - this technique works really effectively when you are holding on to nothing but the very top right hand corner of the pick - at least with the thumb - the index can wrap round it a bit but you only need to press the very top right hand corner of the pick into your index with the thumb - this is clear from benson vids and other luminaries - but its also been stressed by Philco - and my experience bears it out very forcefully indeed. you can get incredible delicacy with the pick because of the way you use bring it to the strings.
i'll do a video v. soon
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Well, no, If you lock your legs (the bones in them) while standing, you will soon fall. Ask any soldier and he (or she) will tell you this. It's why having to stand in place for a long time is a form of punishment. It's hard on the body. It is easier on the body to walk than it is to stand in place. Standing---the use of bones while standing---is not a good analogy for the use of the bones in the hand while picking. Originally Posted by Groyniad
That said, I don't grip the pick hard and I do apply pressure with the upper right tip of the thumb.
All that I have said about moving the anchor is that it seems that George Benson does this in the "Benson Picking Study" video. He moves his hand quite a bit. (Most often to adjust a tone or volume knob, something he does frequently.)
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i'm sorry if the analogy was not useful for you - the point is that you can lock up your legs and arms and do so all the time and there need be nothing rigid or tight about it
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I will not disagree with this but say only that the point eludes me altogether. The only time I've heard "locked" used in connection with this technique was to do with the thumb. I've never found that to be a problem. Originally Posted by Groyniad
I have no objection to anything you are doing. You are happy where you are and I am happy for you. I just don't understand the emphasis on locking bones. But hey, there are many things I don't understand. Again, I'm not arguing about your grip. Or your anchor. I have no objection to either.
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05-04-2015, 05:05 PM #1311destinytot Guest
Two nights ago.
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Another week, another pic. Working on The Shape, particularly keeping the index straight. (Mine has a tendency to curve back---a mirror image of the thumb, it seems.)
More work to do but at this point, I am better about anchoring, about the curl of the pinky and the finger next to it, about the second finger NOT curling in, and, I think, about using more of the tip (and less of the pad) of the thumb against the pick.
More to do, but there are real gains (for me; ymmv) here.
Attachment 20083
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In discussing this (and other current pics) with JC, he let me know that I needed to allow more of the pick to show and allow for more flex in my playing / sound. I had known about having the "healthy third" of the pick tip protruding, but as is so often the case with this many-faceted technique, focus on one thing and prompt neglect of another.
Little by little, I'm getting there.
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Wasn't this thread 50 pages yesterday?
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I don't know. Could have been. Several things can shorten a thread. Originally Posted by Shadow of the Sun
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Benson burning with the Jack McDuff's Quartet in 64.
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Nice. Thanks. I love groove stuff like that. Originally Posted by nunocpinto
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Here's a pic showing the wear on the pick I've been using since I started implementing the technique. How does yours look like ?
Last edited by Nabil B; 05-15-2015 at 07:03 AM.
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the chicken cluck on the benson take is the coolest guitar thing i've ever heard - that is one hip chicken, man he is right in there
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What thickness is that pick? I'm using a .71 and I can't see wear like that. (I don't have the best eyesight, though.) Originally Posted by Nabil B
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Speaking of picks, here is the present grip. (The assignment: have more pick sticking out.)
Attachment 20301
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Well, the month of coaching with JC is coming to an end. Here is one of the pictures I took last night. I made a mark with a Sharpie pen at the crease of the top joint of my index finger so that you can see just how far the pick has moved since a few weeks back.
Attachment 20627
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JC says that is getting closer but I'm still not quite there. I don't know how much more pick I can expose without dropping it! Guess there's only one way to find out....
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Mark - what are you actually struggling with that you're trying to correct? I just ask because I haven't noticed a huge effect in my playing from how much pick I let hang out. It seems to just be a sound/tone choice and really doesn't change how fast I can do things.
My guess is that if you're having difficulties at this point it probably has less to do with the grip and more with the muscular motions you're using to pick.
Try this in order without skipping steps:
1) On the B string, practice a "prepared" rest stroke with the metronome set to 50bpm. A prepared stroke is where you use one beat to bring the pick against the string, and then wait until the next beat to actually play it. So you'll have a two-beat cycle: (click 1) set the pick against the B string, (click 2) play the string and let the pick fall against the high E, (click 3) reset the pick against the B string. Work that up to 300 bpm.
2) Get rid of the preparation motion and do a "continuous" rest stroke where you play the string on each beat. Start at 50bpm and work your way up to 300 with quarter notes.
3) Now do steps (1) and (2) but with upstrokes up to 300 bpm with quarter notes.
4) Now do steps (1) and (2) but with alternate picking on the B string starting from the downstroke up to 300 bpm in eighth notes.
5) Now do steps (1) and (2) but with alternate picking on the B string starting from the upstroke up to 300 bpm in eighth notes.
See if you can do that. When you get up to the quick tempos, you should start to feel like most of the motion is coming from the base of your thumb.
I like the "prepared" picking because it teaches you to make a very controlled motion and learn to feel the string against the pick before you just try to go for speed.
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I doubted I was getting as much as I could out of the technique, so I wanted to see what JC could see. Originally Posted by ecj
He thought the grip was pretty good but not quite right and that I needed more of the pick extended. It took awhile to get this much more out. (It's not hard to stick it out but it takes time to get used to such a change.) He still doesn't think it's quite right but that it's much closer to being right.
(This isn't about speed. I could play faster the way I was doing it a year ago but I didn't like the sound I got.)
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