index scratches

schors

Hello,
I have been working with your book for about one week, and I wonder if it's OK that the top side of my index (the first joint holding the pick) scrapes the strings below the string I am striking on a down-stroke. This causes pain and scratches on my index.

(Sorry if my English is not correct, I need to improve it.)

ramsezaz

As far as I'm concerned i've been scratching the strings with my index for so long that I now have an ugly callus? (de la corne) on the first joint. It's not really cute, but there is no more pain

MichaelHorowitz

It's totally normal for your fingers to scrape against the strings. I'd say it's actually desirable, it helps to give you a sense of position, especially if you play with you finger totally off the top of the guitar.


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schors

Thanks to both of you for your two fast replies.
I tried to play without my index touching the strings but it proved to be tricky.
Now I think I can keep playing with the index touching the strings and calluses will form at last.

Mike S

I actually came here today to approach this very subject.. (and make sure I wasnt doing something wrong!)

Lately as I finaly start to make progress with my rest stroke, Ive been getting the sore knuckles.. Hours of practice more or less numbs the scraped knuckle at the time, but the next day I can barely practice the rest stroke and have to take a few days off for the callus to form. I think Im on my second set of calluses now on my middle finger first knuckle, and a new one has now formed on the index finger along the line where the fingernail goes under the skin.

A friend of a friend who absolutely owns the gypsy picking in all ways, told me recently that if my knuckles didnt hurt I wasnt doing it right and sure enough now that they hurt Im noticing some improvement, but its nice to come to this site and read that its a common issue with beginers to gypsy style picking .


* PS: sorry to bump such an old post! :P

dennis

Mike S wrote:

A friend of a friend who absolutely owns the gypsy picking in all ways, told me recently that if my knuckles didnt hurt I wasnt doing it right and sure enough now that they hurt Im noticing some improvement, but its nice to come to this site and read that its a common issue with beginers to gypsy style picking .

hmm.. are you sure your friend owns gypsy picking in all ways? it should be the other way around, if you're in pain, you're definitely doing something wrong.

although it's normal to lightly scrape the strings, it should never have to come pain...

Mike S

well I wouldnt call it pain, but when the soft new skin gets scraped off, it tends to get a bit raw for a day or two, like any minor scrape.. As for the friend, he has old calluses in the same spot so it doesnt bother him.. After I posted above, I read a few other old threads where Michael and others discuss the same thing.. So the fact that my knuckles do brush the strings isnt indicitive of an incorrect approach to learning the style.

Unfortunately for me my 'friends friend' lives in another city, so I only get rare social 'lessons' from him. But of all the gypsy jazzers Ive seen over the years he is one of the best pickers, rythm and lead.

dennis

".. So the fact that my knuckles do brush the strings isnt indicitive of an incorrect approach to learning the style"

it certainly isn't. Pain, on the other hand, is.

a

i really don't think pain is part of the equation when it comes to gypsy picking. it goes against being relaxed. brushing against the strings is ok, but digging into them with your knuckles seems counter productive. if you want a full sound, try a thick round pick with a big bevel.

one thing i noticed is that there are several different components that make up the sound. the "musical" parts- the notes are caused by the pick swiping up against the string, not pushing through it. if you push through, you'll here a pronounced thumping sound every time you do a downstroke. i'm not sure if that thump sound really affects the musical part, but it seems like a real waste of energy.

Mike S

well.. maybe the question was misunderstood. The was no 'digging' or 'thumping' goin on.

brushing fresh skin against strings for hours on end causes the skin to scrape away. Coming back to the guitar and brushing the same newly raw skinless areas over the strings can cause quite a stinging feeling especially once they start to heal.

I guess Id wanted to know, was this common in newbies to this style of picking or was I doing something wrong by having my knuckles brush the strings. Seems it is fairly common though, not unlike new guitarists finger tips (which I calloused up about 15 years ago) .

My knuckle scrapes have finally calloused over and now I can practice endlessly with no problem