Two-Finger Picking--Learning

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Two Finger Pickers

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For the eclectic banjo player who counts 2-finger styles among their tools of the trade.

515 Members, Created 1/31/2011 -

Administrators: stigandr5 (owner) , Marc Nerenberg , revellfa

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From BlowingRockNC on 2/13/2014 10:41:44 AM

http://2ftlbanjer.wordpress.com/about-2/

I found the above description of the basic (beginner?) two-finger picking style. First, is this a reasonably accurate statement of the basic style? Second, if it is, when using it for a specific song, do you just throw in the melody notes with your thumb or second finger, while continuing as much as possible the basic style set forth in the web site? I don't know much about this, but I'm working on it. Thanks.

5 Comments
	chip arnold says: 2/13/2014 11:15:32 AM Melody notes will be mostly done with your thumb in this style. There is also the Index lead, 2-finger style where you pick melody primarily with the finger. There are examples and a short tutorial on my Banjo Hangout music page. Some folks mix the two styles.
	BlowingRockNC says: 2/13/2014 12:18:04 PM Thank you for the response. I'll check out the examples on you BH page. Thanks again.
	japus says: 2/13/2014 12:28:31 PM durnburnit..I've been doing that and never knew what I was doin, it sounded good to me so I kept it up
bart_brush says: 2/13/2014 1:10:30 PM As Chip says, some thumb lead players mix in index lead, especially to get melody notes up on the first string. However, if you stay in thumb lead on the 2nd string (and 3rd) and go farther up the neck to get those melody notes, you'll get a different sound. There are bends and slides up there that sound great and are fun to experiment with. It's not "better" than switching to index lead, just different. I've also found that doing this has led me to explore the upper neck more.
	BlowingRockNC says: 2/13/2014 1:22:23 PM Thanks for the additional comments. It's amazing. With just a few suggestions, I've been able to play around for the past hour and actually start to see things starting to come together. Not good on my part, but I'm picking the sound you guys are talking about. It actually exists on my banjo. I didn't know it until just now. I know it will take a lot of practice, but it's nice to get something that sounds about right, even if it's just something very simple. I keep wanting to find something for my middle finger to do, but I understand that's another style for another day. My regular picking style involves all three fingers, but it's not a Scruggs style, but it's not an OT style either. I keep wondering if I can modify my regular style just a tad and actually end up with a true OT style. I'm working on this because I've got a good fretless banjo coming, and I know that using chord-based playing isn't going to cut it with a fretless. I've got to move towards using tuning and a different picking style. I like mixing things up, but sometimes mixing just produces gunk.
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