Wrist Angle, Sympathetic Vibration revist, and a bad habit?

Justin Schenk

I have a couple questions that the Gypsy Picking book didn't quite address.

1) what is the point of the "protruded" wrist, as opposed to having a straight line from your elbow to your picking setup? It seems to me like the bent wrist really crunches off your tendons inside your wrist. Yet, everyone "in the know" does it, which leads me to believe that there's something key going on here. Is there something i'm missing?

2)The biggest problem i've been having with the floating right-hand is Sympathetic Vibrations. I'm playing up on the treble strings and it doens't sound clear because the bass strings are a mess of vibrating harmonics. Is there a method for dampening them without compromising "the float"? The rest-stroke does take care of the adjacent string above the one currently being played, and the back of my fingers does gently brush up against the treble strings while the bass strings are being picked, but - seeing as you don't have fingers extending on BOTH sides of your thumb - once i get up to the trebles, there's nothing keeping the basses from turning into an absolute free-for-all.

3) As I mentioned before, i brush the back of my fingers against the strings for positioning purposes. However, once I get up into the higher strings, there aren't anymore strings to brush up against anymore. At this point, i've been brushing up against the body of the guitar, but this requires a bit or a change in the plane in which the pick is moving. I have to lower my "picking aparatus", moving it closer "into" the top of the guitar because of the fact that the strings i was brushing on before are, of course, set ABOVE the body. Intuitively, i'm thinking that perhaps having a "bent" plane over which the wrist follows when moving over the strings isn't a good idea. I used to have a similarly bent plane when i first started playing gutiar, because back in the day i used to anchor the meaty part of my thumb to the bridge pickup and slide that anchor point up the bridge as needed. it was a NIGHTMARE to UNlearn. I'm worried about running into this problem again, but i'm not entirely sure if it would even be that much of an issue with the "floating hand".

Thanks!

MichaelHorowitz

Hi Justin,

1) what is the point of the "protruded" wrist, as opposed to having a straight line from your elbow to your picking setup? It seems to me like the bent wrist really crunches off your tendons inside your wrist. Yet, everyone "in the know" does it, which leads me to believe that there's something key going on here. Is there something i'm missing?

If you're doing right it should be very natural. Classical guitarists also use a similar position. It is actually a very healthy way to play. If you feel strain in your tendons then something is wrong.

One of the main benefits is a wider range of motion which allows you to pick using gravity rather then your muscles. You can stay loose and get a lot of power this way.

2)The biggest problem i've been having with the floating right-hand is Sympathetic Vibrations.

Most players are actually doing some left hand muting. Often the thumb and other fingers are brushing the open string while playing, keeping them from vibrating. But in general, I'd say that sympathetic vibrations shouldn't be much of a problem if you're playing a good guitar. What do you have?

3) As I mentioned before, i brush the back of my fingers against the strings for positioning purposes. However, once I get up into the higher strings, there aren't anymore strings to brush up against anymore. At this point, i've been brushing up against the body of the guitar, but this requires a bit or a change in the plane in which the pick is moving.

I'd have to see you play...but it sounds like most of the time you're not touching the guitar at all expect when playing the high strings. I think you should commit to one way or the other. Either play all the time with no contact with the top (touching the strings is OK.) Or, always keep your finger extended and grazing the top of the guitar. Switching back and forth is probably too clumsy.

Good luck!

-Michael

Justin Schenk

Thanks for the speedy reply! It was most helpful!

RE: My guitar - I just got a Gitane DG-310

MichaelHorowitz

Justin Schenk wrote:

RE: My guitar - I just got a Gitane DG-310

If it has the factory bridge the action is probably too low which tends to make the guitar very "wet" and reverby. That might be part of the problem. A better bridge will probably help...

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ColinL

With regards to the top string noise, I agree with Michael. I play a DG-255 and threw away the stock bridge and ordered a dupont bridge. It made a HUGE difference. If you do this, it's worth taking your guitar in to get a luthier to fit it.

Lastly, regarding wrist strain, I want to warn you of a mistake I made when I was learning to float my right hand gypsy style. Do not raise your elbow, and do not rest your forearm against the sharp edge of the body! Doing this cut off circulation to my hand and lead to alot of pain and the beginnings of an RSI problem. Now that I rest my arm on the top of the guitar, the pain is gone, and I've become a much more relaxed player.

This is what it should look like:



Colin.

Justin Schenk

wow thanks, i'll be sure to avoid playing in that fashion.

RE: New Bridge - Any model suggestions and favorite brands? Dupont sounds good but are there any other favorites?