Even though I've become proficient at using a pick, I am determined to use my fingers more now that I have a baritone uke, on which my fingers can actually have a pleasant sound on its strings, unlike mandola and mandolin, for the most part. If I'm playing a slow piece, I can really milk the tone, but I find I'm using my thumb almost exclusively. (Just flesh, no nails, as growing them would interfere with my viola bowing.)
It's when I try to play something faster that my lack of coordination really shows. I really admire those who can fingerpick at a fast clip, but since in videos, their fingers are mostly concealed by the rest of the hand, I really can't see what they're doing. I either find my hand flailing about with tense fingers spread too far apart, or when I try to keep it more cupped, the fingers then get in each other's way, or that of a string, and will often stop the sustain of a note abruptly. And when to use the thumb? When to use a finger? And then, which finger? Sigh.
My instinct says to use the thumb on the downbeats, and only on upbeats if they occur on the next higher (pitched) adjacent string. On upbeats, I will try to use my middle finger when possible, as it has twice the meat on it as my first finger. Sometimes this is easier than other times. But what do I do in a fast passage that alternates between continuous notes on the same string and notes on different strings?
How can I get more fluent at this? I play a lot of Bach pieces, and they contain all kinds of passages.... linear melody, chords, counter-melodies, cross picked melodies, the whole enchilada. I can play these up to tempo with a pick, but wish to expand my horizons. In some practice sessions, my fingers may seem to have a brief epiphany, and the next time, I can't seem to reproduce what worked well the time before.
Do people have hard-and-fast things they always do, or do they make their fingerstrokes up on the fly according to what notes and chords are in what they're playing? My fingers are used to working together as a unit, not independently.
bratsche
It's when I try to play something faster that my lack of coordination really shows. I really admire those who can fingerpick at a fast clip, but since in videos, their fingers are mostly concealed by the rest of the hand, I really can't see what they're doing. I either find my hand flailing about with tense fingers spread too far apart, or when I try to keep it more cupped, the fingers then get in each other's way, or that of a string, and will often stop the sustain of a note abruptly. And when to use the thumb? When to use a finger? And then, which finger? Sigh.
My instinct says to use the thumb on the downbeats, and only on upbeats if they occur on the next higher (pitched) adjacent string. On upbeats, I will try to use my middle finger when possible, as it has twice the meat on it as my first finger. Sometimes this is easier than other times. But what do I do in a fast passage that alternates between continuous notes on the same string and notes on different strings?
How can I get more fluent at this? I play a lot of Bach pieces, and they contain all kinds of passages.... linear melody, chords, counter-melodies, cross picked melodies, the whole enchilada. I can play these up to tempo with a pick, but wish to expand my horizons. In some practice sessions, my fingers may seem to have a brief epiphany, and the next time, I can't seem to reproduce what worked well the time before.
Do people have hard-and-fast things they always do, or do they make their fingerstrokes up on the fly according to what notes and chords are in what they're playing? My fingers are used to working together as a unit, not independently.
bratsche