As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't make any difference whether you use 1, 2 or no fingers on the head. If pinkie on the head works for you, why try something diffent?

I used to be a pinkie on the head player and my ring finger just sort of did it's thing and moved with my middle finger. I was told you HAD to have 2 fingers on the head in order to be a good picker. I worked for months trying the 2 finger method. I did exercises to divorce my ring finger from my middle. I finally made it after several months of hard work.

Now? It's according to what I'm picking, how fast or slow easy or difficult. I find as I go up the neck I tend to have only the pinkie on the head. Doesn't seem to make a difference in my playing.

Nothing wrong with resting just one finger. NOTHING.

I'll start the list; others can add to it:

Allen Shelton
Tom Adams
Alison Brown
Sammy Shelor....

I'll start the two finger list

Earl Scruggs
Ralph Stanley
JD Crowe
Don Reno
Bela Fleck

There are no banjo police. I'd would have been in prison long ago the way I play.

I have a friend that plays totally different from any i have ever seen. Hand floats above head, no fingers planted. Thumb and then middle and ring finger to do the picking. He said he learned
wrong and by the time he was told the right way---too late, couldn't correct it.
To top it off he is very good. Play it the way you want, no prison time. Have fun.

Rich

I agree with previous comments, Whatever works for you is the right way.

The outside of my pinky may brush the head. Reason why I buff the head smooth in that area. My palm may be closer because of the no picks thing. But whatever is comfortable. And comfortable means, able to play for hours.
I had some moments because I play a bass with my thumb, while everybody and their dog uses their fingers or a dreaded pick. Then I found my best buddy used his thumb. That sussed it.

Glad to hear/read allthese great posts.
I've been at it for 50 plus years. Only began putting pinky down over the last five years.
This works well when I play single string.
I've tried to get the ring finger down. It seems to float with the middle finger no matter what I do.

Bottom line:
Whatever works. Have fun, learn, love the music.
Mike R

I’ve heard from more than one instructor that if planting both fingers is creating unnecessary tension in your picking hand, try just one and see how that goes. We all have different hands (size, strength, past injuries) and there’s no one size fits all approach.

There are a few banjo players I can think of that even put a fingerpick on their ring finger (Adam Larrabee, Greg Liszt, Trevin Nelson). Probably not so much utilized while playing Scruggs style, but further adds to the list of examples that you don’t need that ring finger planted to sound great!

I do believe Rob McCoury plants his ring finger only most of the time. Dave Hum planted his palm above the strings .

There used to be a contingent that were adamant that two fingers was the only way to go. But I think we’re over that now. There are a ton of posts in the archives about this, because it still seems to come up every year.

I had to pick up a banjo and look and see what I do. I never think about it.

(two fingers)

Are you comfortable enough to change the accent/one, to either finger or thumb?
I didn't give two hoots about "the one" until I started taking bass classes.
For us drum-less folks, the one is boom.

I plant just my ring finger, I have seen others say you dont have to plant at all or ypu could plant off of the palm and, while its your banjo and you can pick it however you like I think you would be better off not doing either of the things mentioned above for several reasons.

1: Without any anchor there is often a tendency for excess movement which is a loss of efficiency and a waste of energy. You also have nothing to pull against making it harder to actually pick the string. The tone is also much different. (This can be utilized to make certain notes stand out from others)

2: By planting thr palm you are setting your hand up to have a poor attack on the string whitch will make it more difficult to get a good tone. You are also dampening the vibrations of the head whitch will reduce volume and "pop" (This can also be used in certain situation when you want that muffled tone such as vamping)

The bottom line is that this is just my opinion, do what makes you happy and give you joy, you are PLAYING the banjo after all.

If you lift the arm rest up to maximum you could pick with no anchors like classical guitarists.

In reality if you plant two fingers (pinky and ring) on the head you are also playing with one of those fingers (pinky or ring) on the head so you are technically playing both styles at once. Any way you slice it the object of planting a finger(s) is for stability. Whatever it takes to get the job done.

This has been an endless subject of debate. When I worked security at the Shriner's Hospital, the hand surgeon explained something to me. He said that not all hands are the same. Some people's hands will allow them to move their ring finger a little more independently from the middle finger than others. In that case, it would be easier to plant two fingers. For those of us whose ring and middle fingers are more tightly connected, it is easier to plant one finger. That's not exactly how he described it, he did it in medical terms, but that's the general gist of it. He also explained that, if it's not natural to plant two fingers, a person should not attempt to force their hand to play that way because it could eventually cause nerve damage.
I hope that made sense.

Pinky only for me. I fingerpicked guitar with three fingerpicks and thumb pick long before banjo, and didn’t change with banjo. It’s worked out well as I get older, as arthritis is making my index finger less reliable, and most of my picking is done with T, M, R

There are a few things that affect the tone.
Distance of hand from the bridge
String sizes
Tailpiece height
Head tension
Fretting pressure
Bridge weight
Bridge material

I don't believe one can hear a difference in tone due to whether one or two fingers are planted.

quote:

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Originally posted by Herringboned

Should I force myself to learn two fingers on the head for banjo. I know two fingers on the head changes the sound. Less overtones. Maybe two fingers on the head is key to Scruggs sound.

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No.

In camp classes, Tony Trischka has demonstrated how Earl came up with his hand position and planting two fingers: It's what happened when Earl reached his arm and hand over the head when he started playing banjo at 4 years old. In other words: It's the way he had to do it.

Thoughts?

I'd say don't overthink it.

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A guitar player that frequents jams around here is missing the ring and pinky fingers of his right hand. In an attempt at "funny," I asked him where he stood on the one/two finger plant conundrum facing banjo players.  He had no idea what I was talking about.  [Nothing like having to explain a joke to deflate things.   ]

Thanks all. Sorry for overthinking it! 

Don’t heed those anti-overthinkers…… !

Yeah this is like ground zero for overthinking - don’t take that away from me!

Herringboned: "Maybe two fingers on the head is key to Scruggs sound."

I figure "it depends" ....  sure as hello ain't two of my fingers.  

The finger is simply an anchor point…one or two- whichever is most comfortable. IMO , I’ve found that resting 2 fingers ever so slightly, decreases a little tone because it’s muffling the vibration of the head. It may be unnoticeable to some and I’m sure some will disagree but I can hear it.