Subject: Plastic Thumb Pick
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 18:24:37 -0500

Hi Mickey!

WHile playing my banjo my plastic thumb pick gets caught between the strings,it almost seems that there is too much plastic wrappeed around my thumb, it does not happen with a metal thumb pick? Bob L.

Greetings Bob,

Glad to assist:

Yes...this problem is common...especially if not used to using thumbpicks. It sounds like you may be encountering a few problems:

1. It's very critical to have a little finger, or both ring and little finger, pivoted on the head. This ensures that your picking hand is kept at a stable distance. If your hand is floating, there is more liklihood of the thumb digging in too deep...which may cause the problem you described.

2. Your thumbpick may have too short a tongue on it...this is the part of the thumbpick that strikes the strings. If the tongue is short, the strings are likely to get caught under the loop where it wraps around the thumb. Try experimenting with other thumbpicks with longer tongues...such as Dunlop makes...one of my personal favorites.

3. Be sure to go through our lessons section for some right-hand pattern studies...I hope to include many more exercises that may further establish a solid right-hand foundation. With repetition, you may find that your right-hand will stabilize preventing this choking of the strings with the thumb.

Going to a metal thumbpick wouldn't be the answer...besides, a metal thumbpick on a banjo is non-traditional...

Mickey