Chords for Pick Hand Foundations for Mandolin!

Tempo:
115.9 bpm
Chords used:

G

D

E

Gb

Ab

Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Show Tuner
Pick Hand Foundations for Mandolin! chords
Start Jamming...
[G]
1, 2, 3
[Gb]
[G] [A] [G]
[Gb] [G] [D] [G]
[D]
[G]
[D]
[Em] [Gb] [Bm]
[G] Howdy!
Welcome to BanjoBenClark [F].com. I am [E] Banjo Ben, your host on the website that teaches you how to play mandolin, banjo, and guitar.
Today I have a good buddy of mine [G] here.
My brother from another mother, as I say.
This is J.P. Schaefer [E] from the heart of Texas.
[G] And I met you about a year ago, J [Ab].P.
Just about.
Yeah, and we got to know each other.
And then I found out that you're a Winfield [G] champion.
You placed third in Winfield in 2013 on mandolin.
So he's good, folks.
That's another way of saying he's really good.
[D] And he's just as good a fiddle [G] player as he is a mandolin player, and just as good a guitar player as those.
But one thing that really makes him special is he can also teach.
And that's what attracted me to him.
And [E] so today we're going to talk about [D] some very basic mandolin stuff as far as your right hand.
Your right hand technique's really good.
He's [G] really fast.
And we want to talk about [E] developing good technique and habits right here at the start before you're down the road too far.
[Ab] And even if you are down the road a ways and you've run into some speed barriers, I think you can watch this lesson and maybe get reset.
It's never too late.
Never too late to get things flowing right.
So here's what we're going to do.
We're going to talk about holding the pick, [A] different types of picks, exactly how to attack the [G] string.
Then we're going to talk about our wrist angle, how we hold our arm, how not to be tense, which is, you know, tension is an enemy of speed, right?
And then we're [Ab] going to talk of exercises on [G] how to get our right hands really going [E] good.
So if you're watching this on Facebook or YouTube, here in a moment I'll ask you to come over to the website, banjoandclark.com.
You can join as a GoPick member and then you'll have access to hundreds of lessons just like this one with JP, as well as hundreds of tabs and Rhythm Track MP3.
So I'd be honored to have you on board.
Let's talk right hand.
The first thing I want to talk about, JP, is holding the pick.
[D] And if it's something that you've never thought about, then you need to think about it because there's lots of [F] different ways to hold a pick.
And that [G] really goes into how [C] fast you play and it goes into [E] your tone and all kinds of [G] things.
But it also depends on what shape of pick you have.
That's what I want to cover first.
Really we've got two main shapes of picks, I would say, when it comes to bluegrass.
So [Eb] we have what you might call a teardrop shape pick, which is your standard guitar pick that they throw out at Leonard Skinner concerts.
You catch them in the front [N] row.
Show them what that looks like.
That's a Dunlop shape there, right?
This is a Dunlop Ultex.
This is a 1 and 14 size.
We can recommend different sizes and shapes later, but I want to talk about how you might hold that pick.
I guess the traditional way of holding that pick would just be by holding the fat part, of course.
Right.
It's got this nice thick end.
It gives you enough grip to hold on to.
And that is the way that most guitarists probably use it.
One of these teardrops is that they're going to hold on to this fat end and use the tip here.
Talk about the angle of your fingers here and how you go about grabbing a pick.
Sometimes I see people clamp it almost like a crab or something.
Whereas yours looks really natural.
Explain how you go about doing that.
If I just hold my hand and I just decide to close it up in a really loose fist, that's where my thumb falls.
And ideally that's what you want it to feel like.
You want it to be as natural as can be.
And then just place the pick in there.
Exactly.
Slide the pick in depending on what corner you want to use.
If you're going to use the tip of one of these teardrop shaped picks, you want it going straight out.
We'll talk here in a minute about pick placement on the string, pick direction, and all that good stuff.
But just as natural as you can and wherever you decide to hold whatever pick you're using.
You can either lay it down like this.
I know Ben, you've talked some about having an X shape.
So you can use that too.
Is there a [G] reference?
Well, I think in one of my speed videos I talk about that.
But I think the main thing is to have just a natural.
If you were just going to, the [N] way I kind of imagine it, if there's a business card hanging off the edge of the table
and I'm just going to go and just grab it.
However my [Ab] thumb would naturally go down against my finger, that's going to be naturally how I'll hold the pick.
So if I just [Gb] naturally do that, then take my pick [G] and just simply slide it in between those so that the point sticks directly out.
The main thing I think is that the point doesn't point more towards your index or more towards your thumb.
But it comes out of the middle.
That'd be right.
So [N] I'd say most people play with those teardrop shaped picks.
I played with them for years and then I morphed over to, adapted over to a triangle shaped pick, which I know you play with as well.
Yeah, this is my pick.
And this happens to be a Blu Chip 40, but a triangular shape, just like what Ben is talking about.
So there's not really a point that you play with.
All three points are equal distance.
Right, all three points work.
It's an even triangle.
Now some of them are kind of lopsided one way or another.
But yeah, this is all equal distance, like you said.
So it doesn't matter if I pick it up without looking at it.
If I pull it out of my pocket ready to play, it doesn't matter what point I've [G] got it ready to use.
[Am] [D]
[G] [D]
Key:  
G
2131
D
1321
E
2311
Gb
134211112
Ab
134211114
G
2131
D
1321
E
2311
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[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ 1, 2, _ 3_
[Gb] _
[G] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [G] _ _
[Gb] _ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ [G] _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
[Em] _ _ [Gb] _ [Bm] _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ Howdy!
Welcome to BanjoBenClark [F].com. I am [E] Banjo Ben, your host on the website that teaches you how to play mandolin, banjo, and guitar.
Today I have a good buddy of mine [G] here.
My brother from another mother, as I say.
This is J.P. Schaefer [E] from the heart of Texas.
[G] And I met you about a year ago, J [Ab].P.
Just about.
Yeah, and we got to know each other.
And then I found out that you're a Winfield [G] champion.
You placed third in Winfield in 2013 on mandolin.
So he's good, folks.
That's another way of saying he's really good.
[D] And he's just as good a fiddle [G] player as he is a mandolin player, and just as good a guitar player as those.
But one thing that really makes him special is he can also teach.
And that's what attracted me to him.
And [E] so today we're going to talk about [D] some very basic mandolin stuff as far as your right hand.
Your right hand technique's really good.
He's [G] really fast.
And we want to talk about [E] _ developing good technique and habits right here at the start before you're down the road too far.
[Ab] And even if you are down the road a ways and you've run into some speed barriers, I think you can watch this lesson and maybe get reset.
It's never too late.
Never too late to get things flowing right.
So here's what we're going to do.
We're going to talk about holding the pick, [A] different types of picks, exactly how to attack the [G] string.
Then we're going to talk about our wrist angle, how we hold our arm, how not to be tense, which is, you know, tension is an enemy of speed, right?
And then we're [Ab] going to talk of exercises on [G] how to get our right hands really going [E] good.
So if you're watching this on Facebook or YouTube, here in a moment I'll ask you to come over to the website, banjoandclark.com.
You can join as a GoPick member and then you'll have access to hundreds of lessons just like this one with JP, as well as hundreds of tabs and Rhythm Track MP3.
So I'd be honored to have you on board.
Let's talk right hand. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ The first thing I want to talk about, JP, is holding the pick.
[D] And if it's something that you've never thought about, then you need to think about it because there's lots of [F] different ways to hold a pick.
And that [G] really goes into how [C] fast you play and it goes into [E] your tone and all kinds of [G] things.
_ But it also depends on what shape of pick you have.
That's what I want to cover first.
Really we've got two main shapes of picks, I would say, when it comes to bluegrass.
So [Eb] we have what you might call a teardrop shape pick, which is your standard guitar pick that they throw out at Leonard Skinner concerts.
You catch them in the front [N] row.
Show them what that looks like.
_ That's a Dunlop shape there, right?
This is a Dunlop Ultex.
This is a 1 and 14 size.
We can _ _ recommend different sizes and shapes later, but I want to talk about how you might hold that pick.
I guess the traditional way of holding that pick would just be by holding the fat part, of course.
Right.
It's got this nice thick end.
It gives you enough grip to hold on to.
And that is the way that most _ guitarists probably use it.
One of these teardrops is that they're going to hold on to this fat end and use the tip here.
_ _ _ Talk about the angle of your fingers here and how you go about grabbing a pick.
Sometimes I see people clamp it almost like a crab or something.
Whereas yours looks really natural.
Explain how you go about doing that.
If I just hold my hand and I just decide to close it up in a really loose fist, that's where my thumb falls.
And ideally that's what you want it to feel like.
You want it to be as natural as can be.
And then just place the pick in there.
Exactly.
Slide the pick in depending on what corner you want to use.
If you're going to use the tip of one of these teardrop shaped picks, you want it going straight out.
We'll talk here in a minute about pick placement on the string, pick direction, and all that good stuff.
But _ just as natural as you can and wherever you decide to hold whatever pick you're using.
_ You can either lay it down like this.
I know Ben, you've talked some about having an X shape.
So you can use that too.
Is there a [G] reference?
Well, I think in one of my speed videos I talk about that.
But I think the main thing is to have just a natural.
If you were just going to, _ the [N] way I kind of imagine it, if there's a business card hanging off the edge of the table
and I'm just going to go and just grab it.
_ However my [Ab] thumb would naturally go down against my finger, that's going to be naturally how I'll hold the pick.
So if I just [Gb] naturally do that, then take my pick [G] and just simply slide it in between those so that the point sticks directly out.
The main thing I think is that the point doesn't point more towards your index or more towards your thumb.
But it comes out of the middle.
That'd be right.
So [N] I'd say most people play with those teardrop shaped picks.
I played with them for years and then I _ morphed over to, _ adapted over to a triangle shaped pick, which I know you play with as well.
Yeah, this is my pick.
_ And this happens to be a Blu Chip 40, but a triangular shape, just like what Ben is talking about.
So there's not really a point that you play with.
All three points are equal distance.
Right, all three points work.
It's an even triangle.
Now some of them are kind of lopsided one way or another.
But yeah, this is all equal distance, like you said.
So it doesn't matter if I pick it up _ without looking at it.
If I pull it out of my pocket ready to play, it doesn't matter what point I've [G] got it ready to use. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ [D] _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _