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My Soapbox: Pick Direction;

Am I Doing It Right? Part Three - Exceptions

by Joe Carr

If (and only if) you are comfortable with the first two parts of this column (check the archives) here are some notable exceptions to the alternate picking rule.

1. Crosspicking - Crosspicking on the mandolin was popularized by bluegrass great Jesse McReynolds. "McReynold's" style at bluegrass tempos is a breathtaking blast of eighth notes producing a "wall of notes" sound. The approach emulates the sound of a five-string banjo played in the Scruggs style. Melodies in this style are most often played on three adjacent strings. The "forward" roll is often played DDU and the "reverse" roll is often played UUD. The sound can be simulated with an alternating approach although some would argue this is not technically "crosspicking."

2. Irish and other World Musics - Various world music styles may require specific pick approaches. Jigs are in 6/8 time and feature six eighth notes in a measure. While jigs can be played in the dud udu, alternating style, many Irish musicians prefer to keep a dud dud pattern. Additionally, the popular triplet ornament found in Irish jigs and reels turn your picking "up-side-down." Check in the archives for Chris Smith's Irish tenor banjo article in the Dec 2003 -Jan 2004 issue of Banjo Sessions. "Mac's Fancy" and "The Silver Spear" demonstrate numerous exceptions to the alternating rule. The Irish tenor banjo is tuned one octave below the mandolin and uses the same picking techniques.

3. Special Situations - Some musical phrases just seem to "want" a particular picking pattern. This is fine as long as you have tried the phrase out in standard picking form and find the creative approach is superior. Of course, you may want to return to standard alternating picking as soon as possible to complete the selection.

The goal here is to make the pick do what you want - not the other way around. In my many years of teaching and playing, I have found the alternating approach to be most successful. But . . . I have concentrated on American styles such as Bluegrass, Country, Rock N' Roll, Swing and Jazz. These musics all seem to like the strong 1-2-3-4 beat that alternating picking imparts.

Noted Irish banjo and mandolin player Seamus Egan says on his video that he does not play in any patterns but devises a specific set of pick directions for each tune he learns. The idea of this approach sounded like chaos to me at first but just listen to Egan and you'll agree he is a flawless world-class player with seamless technique. Check out "Irish Tenor Banjo and Mandolin with Seamus Eagan," Lark In The Morning, distributed by Mel Bay.

So - When in doubt, ALTERNATE, but be open to other solutions. A string musician should have complete control over how he or she strikes a note. Don't let laziness lull you into an "it's ok" kind of attitude. Any time you spend working on pick direction will be well worth it.