Page: 1 2
Truth be told, I played finger style guitar long before banjo, so just kept going with 4 picks. So I play a lot of three finger, with three fingers… just because you are wearing four picks, doesn’t mean you have to use them all the time. It’s worked out well, because I started having a lot of index finger trouble (lifelong mechanic with arthritis) and now do most of my three finger picking with T-M-R.
Dean T Here’s Don Cormier from New Brunswick - he also had problems with his index finger
youtu.be/zFiFuCG42Fg?si=riUGONFCF4higsw5
YES! I play like that a lot, but with a pick on my index finger that occasionally hits a bass or root note every now and then, and I’ll use it on back up and sometimes arpeggios. I don’t think much about it anymore, it just does what it wants to.
quote:
Originally posted by Bronx banjoI think this happens because everybody’s hands are constructed differently.
With some hands, the middle and ring fingers need to move together while with other hands, these fingers can move more independently. As long as it doesn’t interfere with picking, there’s nothing wrong with the ring finger following along with the middle finger. There are a few very successful and well-known banjo pickers who play this way where just the little finger is anchored. I guess it’s possible to work on it so that both fingers are anchored, but I bet there are some cases where it’s just impossible and trying to change could be a source of needless frustration.
I agree. I was fighting this because I was told ring finger and pinky HAD to be anchored. Then someone said hold out your hands. The left seperate like the Vulcan salute and the right serarate between the index and middle and the pinky and ring separate. So I've got one of each. Gave up on anchoring the ring finger. Just try to keep it out of the way.
Anothet finger discipline is getting the middle and ring finger over the first string to play the 2,3,and 4 strings. I think its one of those things like our posture. We have to keep working on it if we want it to be good. Keeping the me.bers limber and moving id a discipline thst requires constant effort. I'm about 8 weeks out from a shoulder surgery and couldn't pkay for a few mobths before surgery. It's almost like starting over. Nothing wants work, and every thing hurts.
Doug Dillard has already been mentioned. I think it's about time someone also mentioned the following great players:
Allen Shelton
Sammy Shelor
Alison Brown
Lynn Morris
Tom Adams...
...and that just for starters. Hey, guys 'n' gals, feel free to add your favorite one-finger anchorers to the list.
I'm not sure how accurate this is, but a few years ago I had a session with a banjo instructor who told me that the ring finger for most people is built differently than the others. There is something about how the tendons are set up in the hands that do not let the ring finger move as independently as the other fingers. With exercise and practice this limitation can be overcome somewhat, but it is not your imagination that it is more difficult to move a ring finger as easy as you might wish.
quote:
Originally posted by TucsonBillI'm not sure how accurate this is, but a few years ago I had a session with a banjo instructor who told me that the ring finger for most people is built differently than the others. There is something about how the tendons are set up in the hands that do not let the ring finger move as independently as the other fingers. With exercise and practice this limitation can be overcome somewhat, but it is not your imagination that it is more difficult to move a ring finger as easy as you might wish.
I actually had to get up, grab a banjo and see. I'm a pinkie planter. My ring finger is just dangling out there on its own, not doing much of anything.
I'm not sure about them not able to move idependently. When it comes to the left hand, I play the full and partial F and D chord shapes up the neck a lot. I have to switch the ring an middle fingers all the time from one chord shape to the other. It took a long time to get them to cooperate, but they eventually figured it out and change without thinking. They most definitely move independently from each other. I learned that technique from Ned Luberecki at a three day workshop I attended last year. I use it almost all the time, along with the barred A shape.
quote:
Originally posted by Tractor1mine never are completely independent--If I hold the ring straight there is no way I can make a fist with the pinkie and middle--If I plant the ring finger ,the middle loses it's ability in a drastic amount --Through the skin,I can see apparent movement of tendons"" tied across ''when looking at the back of my hand in attempts-- Folks that can park their ring with no problem are blessed and sometimes they figure we are making it up---I have got around to a hand position that lets my ring finger fly---Over the years I tried about all of the fixes--especially after a doctor here said it was a mental thing--I won't go into my thoughts on that
The phenomenon that you describe about not making a fist with your middle and pinky when you hold you ring finger straight has an anatomic explanation. It is not in your head. In my previous life, I as an Orthopedic Surgeon, specializing in Shoulder and Hand Surgery. The anatomy and function of the fingers and the hand is the most complex arrangement in the body, so I will try not to get too esoteric.
To keep it simple, there are basically two muscle/tendon groups that bend the fingers. The deeper group, known as the profundus, is really one muscle with 4 tendons that go all the way out to attach to the bone at the tip of the finger just beyond the tip joint. The more superficial group, or superficial, is really four muscles, each with its own tendon going into the finger and attaching to the bone just beyond the middle joint.
So, if you manually hold any finger (not the thumb) out straight at its tip, you are effectively holding the profundus (deep) tendons of all the fingers out straight which prevents them from contracting to bend any of the fingers. You will still be able to bend at the middle joint because the superficial tendons are independent of one another and will still be able to contract. But the tip joints will remain flaccid. In some people the profundus (deep) to the index or forefinger is independent and will work even if the middle or ring or pinky are held straight.
Hopefully this is not too confusing. Try it on yourself .
Page: 1 2
