Thumb Picks?

[bhGreen]

I recently acquired some thumb picks. I've been playing with them for a bit, and like them pretty much. Picking feels weird a bit, but strumming is really nice.
The reason for this, well, for a week or so I'd be practicing and my grip would just drop. I have a show soon, and well, I didnt want to have the anxiety of dropping my pick (on top of stage fright and social anxiety >.>)

Any way, enough back story. Are thumb picks acceptable? In terms of preference, i really like it.. But if there is some professional Mandolin player lurking in the crowd, is he going to spot me and call me out on it?(anxiety talking :)) ) Is there an advantage of regular picks vs thumb picks? (for regular picking/strumming)

Thanks guys :D

[allenhopkins]

Acceptable to whom? The Bluegrass Police? The Mando Taliban? If it works for you, use it.

Thumb picks are usually thicker than "flat" picks or plectra, which is what most mandolin players use. Also, they're harder to use on an up-stroke unless you're gripping them with your index finger, which you probably are. I use a thumb pick and finger picks to play guitar and banjo, and almost invariably use the thumb for down-strokes only. However, if you hold the thumb pick with the index finger, no reason you couldn't play rapid up-and-down-strokes with it.

I expect some mandolin player somewhere has tried almost any method to get sound out of the instrument. If you're getting good results from a thumb pick, why not? Tell your detractors you're at the cutting edge of the new 21st century mandolin wave. (Do waves have cutting edges?)

[jim_n_virginia]

I suppose you could use one if you wanted to and got used to it. I have never seen a mandolin player use a thumbpick but I suppose someone somewhere does I would guess.

I tried playing with a thumbpick once and I couldn't use it because I felt like I had no control over tilting the pick a little for tremelo.

And if there is another mandolin player in the audience I doubt very seriously he or she would spot a thumbpick on your hand if they were sitting in the audience and if they Do spot it and say something about it just whip out a capo and clip in on too for spite! LOL! :mandosmiley:

Seriously maybe a textured pick will stick in your hand better so you don't drop it? Or have a handfull of picks in a handy pocket so if you drop one leave it lay and just pull another out quickly. You could already have it ready in between strings up in the headstock!

One thing is for sure and I KNOW from personal experience!

There is NO dignified way to bend over and pick up a dropped pick up on stage in front of an audience! LOL! :grin:

[CES]

Jim, when you look like us, I agree there is no dignified way to pick up the pick onstage. Heck, there's no dignified way to pull it off in my own living room! She may be able to pull it off, though :).

Seriously, if it works, go for it. There are some folks out there who finger pick a mando using a thumb pick and standard finger picks with great results. I've tried to switch between 3 finger style banjo and throwing in some strumming before, and had trouble in that setting keeping it on with upstrokes. BUT, I was trying to hold it with a FP in my index finger, which isn't terribly effective...if it works well and you're happy with the tone you get, run with it! And, hope your gig goes well for you!

[bhGreen]

The first day i started playing, i noticed huge sound difference.. MUCH louder.. obviously due to the thickness (i use a 1mm, usually with the cork circle underneath for grip) but after playing the two thumbpicks, they feel comfy.

I noticed upstroking was difficult at first, but after practice using one, gripping like a regular pick works just as good. I have one that is in the same shape as a pick, and a Dunlop L (if you google thumb pick, its a white one) i cant quite explain the shape.. i just think of it as "the long one" since its easier to pick with due to shape.


Also, what about capos?! are we not supposed to use those either >.> uh oh..the bluegrass police is going to be knocking down my door tonight! (my friend told me to try it, and its kinda neat haha!)

[barney 59]

Bob Artis always used a thumb pick it worked for him. I've tried it as I've been having grip problems but the angle just doesn't feel right to me. Someone suggested using a left handed thumb pick on the right hand but I haven't found one yet or maybe I just keep forgetting to look for one.

[Bob A]

I got a couple thumb picks for my Dad when I bought him a mandolin (to replace the one that disappeared some 40 years ago) because he was getting pretty arthritic, and I didn't think he could hang onto a regular pick. He didn't use them much. The other week I picked up his mando and couldn't find any regular picks, so I tried the thumb picks.

They were pretty thin and flexy, and I had to grip them to keep any semblance of control on the upstrokes. I suppose you could get used to them, but on the whole I'd rather not. Cork glued to the pick works pretty well, or else something like a Pickboy with aggressive gripping surfaces, might be a preferable alternative.

But "whatever works for you" is always the way to go. Just a matter of trying alternatives until you settle on the best.

[barney 59]

I've had this idea for a little while and last week I bought some plastic finger picks to experiment with. Your thumbpick thread inspired (reminded?) me. I realized that while a thumb pick wouldn't let me get the proper angle for me that a finger pick might --so I just now tried it. I took a finger pick, heated it with an alcohol lamp I have and crushed the pick flat in a vise. The pick will need additional modification with a file but I can twist it on my finger until I get a comfortable angle of attack and the loop will hopefully stop the pick from drifting . This particular pick is working really well on the upstroke and not so good on the down but I think I can fix that. When I used a thumbpick the upstoke was terrible and nothing I tried improved it much for me. The pick length is short but I had always used those short Dunlops until recently when I decided I needed more to hold onto.

[man dough nollij]

I don't have a thumb pick handy to try. (I could swim 2500 miles to get one, I suppose...) It seems that the pick wouldn't stick out quite at the right angle for the "power grip", though. I wonder if it would work to put the thumb pick on my index finger, either over the fingernail, or between the first and second joint. The idea there would be that I would have a regular flat pick, with a "security loop" around my finger to make sure I could grip it very loosely without the danger of it flying out. Just a thought. :confused:

[mandroid]

Check into Herco thumb-flatpicks they are essentially a flatpick with a loop that goes around your thumb, made in a variety of thicknesses , though the extra heavy isn't really ,but that is in comparison with Dawg/goldengate,etc. and other mandolin players idea of x thick..
grip it like a flat pick and it works .. wont fall when your grip loosens , and you can pinch off note pairs, too.. non neighboring string double stops ..

[Rhinestone]

As a pro pedal steel player for over 35 years, I'm very comfortable with thumbpicks and fingerpicks but I could never really play mandolin as well with them as I could with a flatpick. It's a real hassle to shed the thumb and finger picks and grab the mando for a couple songs in a fast paced show and then have to get the picks on quickly and kick off the next tune on steel. I wish I could play mandolin with a thumbpick. There is something called a sharkfin pick which is a kind of velcro strap-on flatpick and I can sorta play mandolin with that - but it's still not as good as a flatpick for mando in my view.

[Ivan Kelsall]

CRIPES !!!! - bhGreen,what is your avatar ??. :disbelief: I play Banjo as per Bluegrass 'normal' with a thumb & 2 finger picks. When i began playing Mandolin i had some difficulty in holding a pick for any length of time so that it either didn't rotate or slip out of my fingers,so i tried using a thumb pick at one time.For me,it just didn't work,plus the fact i thought that i was cheating myself by not 'doing it right'. Concience kicked in & i just persevered with a standard pick until i got used to it,
Ivan;)

[mandolirius]

The first day i started playing, i noticed huge sound difference.. MUCH louder.. obviously due to the thickness (i use a 1mm, usually with the cork circle underneath for grip) but after playing the two thumbpicks, they feel comfy.

I noticed upstroking was difficult at first, but after practice using one, gripping like a regular pick works just as good. I have one that is in the same shape as a pick, and a Dunlop L (if you google thumb pick, its a white one) i cant quite explain the shape.. i just think of it as "the long one" since its easier to pick with due to shape.


Also, what about capos?! are we not supposed to use those either >.> uh oh..the bluegrass police is going to be knocking down my door tonight! (my friend told me to try it, and its kinda neat haha!)

If you're gonna pick that thing with a thumbpick, using a capo is the least of your worries - a misdmeanor after a felony! :))

[300win]

It is fun to tune in a low open chord and use thumb and finger picks like a banjo, or maybe more like Merle Travis guitar style. I used to do that to see how it sounded. Fun to do, but I've not tried it in a long time.

[Mandoist]

Dr. Ralph fingerpicked mandolin on 'East Virginia Blues'. Somebody ask him what he used for a T-pick...it's too expensive to call him from where I'm at.

[JCook]

There's a video on the Gypsy Mandolin site:

http://www.gypsysmusic.com/audiovisual.html

showing a guy playing mandolin with a thumbpick. He's fingerpicking, which is another whole thing altogether, but it's got good shots of his picking hand.

Jack

[Michael Gowell]

Your choices in thumbpicks used to be quite limited, but now come in many sizes, shapes, flexibility, and even built-in blade twist. I use one for guitar sometimes, but carved down the blade to half its original length so I didn't hang it up on my recovery after a stroke.

[CES]

Lee,

You're right about the angle being wrong for the power grip, and it's even a little wrong for a more "pencil grip" approach, but I have a thumb pick that I bought a little large early in my banjo days that I can rotate a little, and it works OK...still some trouble with upstrokes, but I think with some practice it could work...