I was working on flatpicking technique recently, and noticed that I have a tendancy to at times lightly rest the palm of my right (picking) hand on the bridge pins. I'm doing this even though I also use the pinky of right hand to "anchor" on the pickguard.

What got my attention on this was Bryan Sutton's DVD "Secrets for Successful Flatpicking". In the DVD, Bryan talks about how he keeps his picking hand off the bridge pins, and also keeps his picking hand as loose as possible. He mentions that resting the picking hand on the bridge pins impacts the tone, and keeping it off will improve tone. I tried this, and sure enough, he's right (of course, no surprise there, he's Bryan Sutton ).

My question is how many of you flatpickers rest your palm on the bridge pins, and for those who do, have you noticed any benefits from doing so (for ex., is there less fatigue doing that). I'm trying to decide whether to kick this habit, but I'm wondering if there will be any drawbacks for us mere mortal flatpickers. Thanks for any insight you care to offer.

Pinky here, too. I'm not a solid enough player to break free of that anchor.

Palm on the pins puts me too close to the bridge. I prefer the fullness that comes closer to the center of the sound hole.

Elambo, thanks for those comments. I don't think the pinky anchor presents a problem tonewise (in contrast to putting the palm on the pins, which does). Sutton himself, and virtually all other major league flatpickers I've seen use the pinky anchor for stability. The only exception I can think of is David Grier; he seems to have his entire picking hand free of the guitar body. But we all know David is not of this Earth

Pinky, but no palm, for me - same reason as Elambo. I can't truly float my hand because I lose track of where it is without a guide. But with some attenton I've been able to stop "digging in" with my pinky (and therefore eliminate tension) and just let it glide up and down and occasionally land against the high E string as a refence point.

Working on the hand floating free thing, hand held in a relaxed (ideally!) fist. One of the benefits of doing this is that I play rhythm with my hand free, so there's less adjustment between single string stuff and rhythm playing. When I'm attempting runs that are complicated or fast for me, my knuckles tend to drift towards and faintly brush the pins, just for a little extra security. I'm OK at slower speeds, and it seems at least possible that one can learn to keep track of where one is simply from the last point of contact.

I want to be able to say that, in at least one way, I play like David Grier.

B

Unless I'm damping the strings on purpose, I don't anchor my right hand at all. It was easier for me, maybe, since I was a fingerstyle player first, using semi-classical technique with four fingers and my hand loosely arched over the strings. So, when I pickup up a pick, I wasn't tempted to be touching the guitar, since I hadn't before. But good players have been all over the map with this, playing from behind the bridge or at the top of the sound hole and everywhere in between. Watch great players; copy them. When you can't, work it out. Play. Then play some more. I have to think anchoring slows you down. time/motion. tom

Hey Tom, as best I can tell, most of the great ones (talking flatpickers here) do anchor with the pinky on the pickguard, but just lightly. Makes sense, since it gives you stability, keeps track of the picking depth, and if your only lightly placing the pinky on the pickguard, probably any impact on tone is de minimis.

Anyway, that's where I think I'm going, since it will just involve getting the palm off the pins (my pinky is already on the pickguard); no big change here. Will still put the palm down when I actually want to dampen the tone.

PS: Just checked again, and looking at some YouTube footage, Bryan Sutton, Tony Rice and Kenny Smith all seem to have that pinky down on the pickguard. That's pretty good company

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tom F.,

Maybe the key is the word anchor. To me, too stiff, too rigid, too inflexible, too redundant. Watch Django on Youtube, or clapton. the right hand could not be more relaxed unless you're asleep- but not at the wheel. Clarence White, same way. there's a clip of I Am a Pilgrim and Soldier's Joy, pre Byrds days. Just wrong. It's a journey. tom

Youtube check: just enter Clarence White, and the first thing that comes up is him and his bro and others playing "Pilgrim" and "Joy", with lots of close ups of The Man's hands. Ain't no anchor nohow, and ain't no one yet played better. As good, maybe, but better: they'd tell you themselves he invented it. And he did. He does Nashville style rolls and pinches with his other fingers, and only, very occasionally, has his pinky in contact with the top. Note the relaxation. to me, that's the model I'm aiming at, with increasing futility. but ain't it fun? tom

Tom, FWIW, looking at the video of Clarence you reference, I see some anchoring going on. Remember, I'm not talking about firmly planting the pinky into the pickguard; its lightly brushing it. I've got the actual DVD reissue of that TV performance, which is clearer, so when I've got the time I'll check that out.

Then again, wouldn't surprise me if he didn't anchor. Grier doesn't, and Clarence is certainly a huge influence on Grier (and just about everyone).

Whatever works for ya....

IT's my semantic gene, dagnabbit. A brush ain't an anchor. Avast, me hearties, throw that brush over the side; we're goin' ashore for rum and wenches. I do lightly brush, so whatever- now, I'll be thinking about that instead of playing. Arrgghhh. Clarence ain't just in the hall of fame: he has his own wing, maybe two: one for bluegrass and one for telecaster shredding. Long time coming, longer time gone. too soon.

Okay, there went the rest of the morning. I went in played "Pilgrim" a few times and watched what the hey my right hand was doing. The pinky is in contact with the guard more often than not, but it moves constantly. It's very light contact (yeah, brush works) and never a fixed point. I squeeze Nashville two and three note clusters using my third and fourth fingers, and play more freely, nearer the bridge, when I'm playing a rhythm sequence. Talk about over thinking something- man, I turn it into an art form. But I am aiming at what I see in Clarence's right hand, even though all we have in common is that we're white guys with a guitar in our laps. tom