Over a year into my experiments with plucked instruments and 8 months after investing in a mandolin that is actually playable I have learnt something about the right hand technique.
For all this time I have been holding the pick (the plectrum) as if it were a pen. All the illustrations of hands holding picks show the index finger tucked under, the pick against the first knuckle, but when I held a pick it was almost always near the tip of my finger and all the action was coming from the fingers, using the fine control muscles that I use for writing - wrong!
The action has to come from the wrist; the digits mere grips for the pick and, suddenly, striking two strings is possible.
This revelation followed some experimentation with different picks. For months I'd been using a 2mm large triangle. I bought a Dunlop Americana, some Ultex Vs, polycarb and nylon stubbies and the break through came with the 3mm stubby for some reason. I think it helped that I had been trying to strum more recently too. I had tried, with my old and incorrect technique to change the grip on the pick, but it wasn't really helping. Unfortunately I have a lot to unlearn now and find it difficult to play anything accurately. The sound is much better though, with less tightness, two strings and a better ring. The main improvement is an immediate introduction of rhythm; it is so much easier to space the notes with the whole hand moving. I had been struggling to join up a tapping foot with the finger movements.
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