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Author
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Topic: right hand placment
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tbhenry
Member From: Chattanooga /USA
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posted 21 October 2006 04:54 AM
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I normally place my right hand around fret 26. One of my students was asking about the best place. Anyone got any thoughts on this? |
Hank Ruf
Member From: Branson Missouri USA
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posted 21 October 2006 05:08 AM
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There is a sweetness on every steel around fret 24 to 26. You just need to look for it.
I find, on my steel's,that spot is around fret 24 with my finger picking at that spot with my thumb slightly head of that. The farther down the fretboard I go the warmer the tone gets. |
Gil Berry
Member From: Westminster, CA, USA
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posted 23 October 2006 06:07 AM
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The closer you pick to the end of the string, the more harmonics you will generate (the shortest segment (the length between where you picked the string and its endpoint) will determine the frequency of the highest harmonic) - results in a more shrill sound. If you pick a string at the half point of it's length (for example, fret 12 on an open string) the string will vibrate at only one frequency - the wavelength of the string. So, in answer to your question - you MOVE your right hand all the time depending on what tone you want in the note(s) your going to pick....There will be a "home base" location - usually around fret 26 or so, but don't think that's where your hand should stay...anyway, that's my opinion.. |
Wayne D. Clark
Member From: Wisconsin, USA
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posted 23 October 2006 07:37 AM
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Yes & YesDesert Rose S10 3/5
Goodrich 120
Nashville 400
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basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 23 October 2006 08:20 AM
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We're back again to the relationship between the transient and the sustain section of the picked note.IMHO the nearer the pick-up and bridge, the better. Having your hand 'Dangling" somewhere other than at an anchored and muscle memorized position, is asking for trouble re consistency of attack and is not conducive to fast 'Accurate' picking, again IMHO.
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David Doggett
Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 23 October 2006 08:54 AM
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I think Gil has the right answer, but his explanation is not quite right. You get the richest sounding harmonics when you pick an octave above the bar. It's not one frequency. The fundamental (one vibration of the whole string from bar to bridge) dominates, the octave harmonics (fundamental divided by 2) is next loudest, and all the others come in fairly strong too. So at the octave point you get the fullest tone, and it comes out in the moan while sliding also.Ideally you would follow the bar exactly an octave higher. But fortunately the frets are so close together up there that practicaly speaking you don't really have to be precisely on the octave point. I find that picking somewhere around frets 18 to 20 is close enough to get the full effect with the bar almost anywhere in the first octave, which is where most of the playing is. If you get the bar up in the second octave, you'll need to move your picking up into the third octave, but again the frets up there are so close together that it doesn't have to be precisely at the octave point. If you shift your picking up right next to the bridge, you get a brassier but thinner tone, that can cut through the mix better. I find this is especially effective when picking on the low strings, where the sound can be a bit dull and muddy otherwise. |
Bobby Lee
Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA
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posted 23 October 2006 10:23 AM
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The fullest tone is at the half-way point between the bar and the changer. |
Earnest Bovine
Member From: Los Angeles CA USA
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posted 23 October 2006 11:29 AM
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quote:
You get the richest sounding harmonics when you pick an octave above the bar
Actually, half the harmnonics are absent when you pick in the middle of the string. Any harmonic that has a node there, i.e. 2,4,8,16,.., will not be excited at all. That's why it sounds so different when you picj there. |
David Doggett
Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 23 October 2006 12:00 PM
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I'm not sure it's that simple, Earnest. Once the pick has left the string, it is free for the fundamental and existing harmonics to excite other harmonics, even ones with a node at the mid point. Certainly the octave harmonic, with a node there is a major part of what is heard. Whatever, the technical explanation is, from a practical standpoint, there is a richer, fuller tone at the midpoint.[This message was edited by David Doggett on 23 October 2006 at 12:01 PM.] |
Earnest Bovine
Member From: Los Angeles CA USA
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posted 23 October 2006 12:07 PM
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Yes, it is not so simple, and you are right that after a while, the other harmonics will sound to some extent. It seems kinda ironic that a sound that is "empty" of half of the harmonics is sometimes described as "full". |
Jim Bates
Member From: Alvin, Texas, USA
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posted 23 October 2006 06:42 PM
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I think more important is to always sit with your 'belly button' lined up on the same fret each time. My best place is at the 15th fret. Once you get a little more advanced then move up and down the neck for variation in sounds as needed. Only a 1/4 " difference in where the pick attacks the string can give a noticeable change. Thanx,
Jim
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