Sideways

gpacetti

The crescent cut-out I spoke of earlier,,,,I'm not trying to sell anything
greg

Jazzaferri

Errrrr......what about those of us for whom the pick doesn't rotate seriously though interesting idea

Bones

Gpac, where does the crescent fit onto the index finger?

gpacetti

If your pick doesn't rotate more power to ya then. Though if it has a cutout as I describe, you will get more of a punch and I'm speaking of note to note,
not so sure on the chording chop but thats a likely the time that it would rotate which could be a good thing. The crescent cutout rests nicely against the index finger, pretty much like the picture.
Any energy delivered to the pick can be lost in pick movement, and a loss in attack and volume...I share this cause it works for me. A few years ago when
J Jorgensen turned me on to the heavy pick it was a revolution in my approach. I'm not a true Gypsy player but I want the style to influence my approach, and it has.....later greg

Jazzaferri

Hmmmmm....I hold the pick pretty loosely. Speed rather than force to get the attack. If I recall correctly watching a video of GB play in slomo...his thumb looked it was almost coming off the pick at the top of the stroke.

Steve Elliott

Hi, my (apparently unique) problem is that I often get an uncomfortable feeling that my pick is pointing the wrong way or I'm about to drop it. As I play it may move around a bit, causing that sensation. Then I'm struggling to right it mid-phrase. For that reason I like the Vladimir picks because they have an indentation for the thumb on the top (with the harp raised inside in relief) and a curved indentation on the bottom for the knuckle of the index finger. It seems to solve that problem for me.

Steve

Bob Holo

.

Steve Elliott wrote: »

Hi, my (apparently unique) problem is that I often get an uncomfortable feeling that my pick is pointing the wrong way or I'm about to drop it.

That's pretty much the way it is for players new to the style. I remember having pick rotation / drop difficulties early on - and my friends who were just getting into the genre also had them.

The thing is, at some point, it just stops being a problem. I can't remember the last time I had rotation problems with a pick. But yes, until your hand and brain get that motion hardwired to the point where you're not really thinking about it -- and it just works -- pick rotation is a bit of a PITA. Keep practicing - practice in front of a mirror so you can watch your form and identify problems & etc.

Jazzaferri

@Bob Holo that was my experience too. A few years back I became aware that my pics had stopped moving around.

Interestingly, it happened at the same time I was focussing on my rhythm playing again.

Bones

What Bob and Jazza said about pick rotation. I never really understood why but after a while that problem just went away by itself. Used to really happen to me on bossa rhythm but not at all anymore. Wish I could tell you why other than just stay relaxed and keep at it and it will work itself out. No clue as to why it stopped. As far as pick dropping I keep the nail on my right index finger clipped really short to keep me from catching it on upstrokes and losing grip on the pick.

Jazzaferri

It is a most delightfully peculiar happening eh @Bones