| Subject: | Re: [RESOGUIT-L] Ouch w/ the left hand; length between fingertip and tip of pick | | Date: | Wednesday, May 28, 2008 10:18:48 (-0700) | | From: | Richard DeNeve <richard_d13132 @.....com>
|
The following is opinion, and may not be worth much more than it costs you.
I keep as much of the finfertip and pad as possible in contact with the pick.
I.e. the pick curls around the end of the finger. I wish the picks were just a
bit longer (or my fingers thinner), as I have to keep my nails well trimmed or
they will reach above and past the pick tip and pluck the string just after the
pick does. Not a good thing. This amount of contact allows me to pick very
hard. In photos, it looked like Josh Graves' picks almost curled over the ends
of his fingers. He plucked a string sideways, with his fingers almost closed in
a fist.
As for your bar hand, try several different ones, or changing your method of
gripping it. I cannot use the bars with slanted ends (e.g. Scheerhorn or Tipton)
for more than ten minutes without my hand cramping. I tend to grip a bar between
the crease at the end joint on my index finger and the crease across the palm of
my hand. I need the corners on a Stevens Style steel for this. (I use the
Shubb-Pearse #3.) The slant-end steels are too shoort and lack the corners.
Swallows-style steels are fairly comfortable, with their arched wooden tops.
I grip the bar side-to-side between the side of the pad of my thumb and the
second joint of my middle finger, with my index finger lying in the groove along
the top to "steer" end of the bar. The very end of the finger hangs over the end
of the bar slightly to assist in this.
If possible, the back of your hand (both hands, really) should be in a straight
line with your forearm, with a little side-to-side bending allowed, and VERY
little up and down bending. Otherwise, you may develop carpal tunnel problems,
which have been discussed in this space before. I was once on the verge of
carpal tunnel problems, and monitoring my blood pressure at the left wrist
several times a day to see how well medication was working. The pressure of the
cuff aggravated the condition to where I could play no longer than half an hour
or so. Started measuring blood pressure on the right wrist, and the problem went
away.
In short, try varying what you do while playing. Good luck.
Dick DeNeve
--- On Tue, 5/27/08, Sean Terry <seanct114@yahoo.com> wrote:
> From: Sean Terry <seanct114@yahoo.com>
> Subject: [RESOGUIT-L] Ouch w/ the left hand; length between fingertip and tip of pick
> To: resoguit-l@elistas.com
> Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 3:29 AM
> This issue with the fingers has prompted me to ask a couple
> questions I've been meaning to ask. First, how much
> distance or extension is recommended for the finger picks?
> I've tried it anywhere between 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch,
> and I'm not sure which works best for me yet. Is this
> something that is personal or is there pretty much a good
> standard?
> Second, with my bar hand I've been getting a fair
> amount of diffuse hand pain, which varies with amount of
> practice obviously. I use a finger/hand gripper exercise
> contraption to strengthen both hands, which helped me when
> I first started dobro, but that is becoming less
> successful. Should I give the hand a break, or keep working
> it and strengthening it until it goes away? I don't want
> to do more damage, but it's also hard to give up
> practice when I want to.
> I appreciate the information being handed down on this
> list. It's immensely helpful!
> Sean
>
>
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