James Hill - Cherry Picking / Cheri Picking

I don't know about "Dead" thumb ....I certainly have a Dud one ....on both hands ...just for better balance !!:D
 
Here is a *small video*... sorry for the crapy webcam and crapy mic. This is the basic cherry picking technique as far as I know : thumb down, then index up, then index down. Repeat.

For each of those movements you can brush all strings or just one. No restrictions. The index down movement when picking just one note derives from clawhammer.

 
the pattern is index down - thumb down - index up . All the time , thats the easy part of the cheri picking explain in the video by tobias, the dificult part is apply that triplette in singles string and mix all.

nico

sory about my english
 
nicm70 said:
the pattern is index down - thumb down - index up . All the time , thats the easy part of the cheri picking explain in the video by tobias, the dificult part is apply that triplette in singles string and mix all.

nico

sory about my english
Click to expand...

I think you may mean thumb down, index up, index down.
 
Both are correct... it depends on where you want to put the strong beat... which tends to be on the index down. Try to play the same tune starting with the thumb down or starting with the index down. The feeling, sound and difficulty is very different.

On James Hill's Smash the window (see the tab) he starts with the thumb. I can not say if he always do so. My guess would be it depends on the song.
 
xyz said:
Both are correct... it depends on where you want to put the strong beat... which tends to be on the index down. Try to play the same tune starting with the thumb down or starting with the index down. The feeling, sound and difficulty is very different.

On James Hill's Smash the window (see the tab) he starts with the thumb. I can not say if he always do so. My guess would be it depends on the song.
Click to expand...

Not so. If he is using this technique, he starts with the thumb. Otherwise it would be just a regular triplet strum. Tobias makes this very clear and he has studied with James over several weeks.
 
Last edited:
Thumb or index, I don't know, but thanks for taking the time to make the video. I appreciate it greatly.
 
It end to agree with Ken on the thumb down issue. I think of it as leading with the Thumb, probably because I typically use my thumb for the pick-up notes then start counting for the strumming pattern.


Apologies to xyz: in my earlier post I said "dead thumb" rather than "DropThumb". Dead thumb can be used for Cherry Picking but has much less utility when used for highG reentrant tuning.
 
Ken Middleton said:
Not so. If he is using this technique, he starts with the thumb. Otherwise it would be just a regular triplet strum. Tobias makes this very clear and he has studied with James over several weeks.
Click to expand...

Wow Thank you Ken ! That makes a lot of sense.
 
IamNoMan said:
in my earlier post I said "dead thumb" rather than "DropThumb". Dead thumb can be used for Cherry Picking but has much less utility when used for highG reentrant tuning.
Click to expand...

No problem, I'll have a look at the DropThumb technique as well. Always interesting.

Thank you all for your contributions to this thread, I really appreciate it.
 
Don't want to belabor the point, but I guess I am going to anyway: In the first video posted in this thread, Tobias says that the technique is like the triple strum and he leads with his index. I would guess that if I watched a number of cherry picking videos closely, I would see it sometimes being started with the thumb and sometimes the index as xyz explained. I only bring it up because I have been practicing the technique since I first read this thread. I am not ready for prime time with it but am slowly training the fingers.
 
In "Miriam" (see the tab here : http://theukulelereview.com/sheet-music-for-instrumental-ukulele/) Tobias starts mostly with the thumb. The more I play Miriam & Smash the window the more I feel it's really different in sound & beat than from starting with the index. But perhaps he mixes both sometime...

I'm rewriting my tab of somebody to love using index down, thumb down, index up (even for picking). I tried thumb down, index up, index down... it becomes twice harder to play... and has a very different feel. I'm not decided yet on which one I'll settle.

I'll be tabing St Anne's reel in december, keep you posted here when done and I have James Hill OK to make it public. We'll see how James Hill goes around high rhythmic complexity with this technique as St Anne's reel seems harder to play than smashing the window...
 
xyz,

Thanks for plugging ahead. I think there is a lot of interest in this technique, judging by the number of views of your thread.

Thanks,
Doug
 
That's why I created this thread, to put the technique on the map and have people share their thoughts about it. I'm glad their is interest on it.
 
Jackwees said:
Did you complet the tabing of St Anne's reel?
Click to expand...

Wife got pregnant.. twins... spare time reduced next to zero... one day perhaps...

It seems I was the only one left tabbing artists performances... I'm sad nobody took the succession...
 
One of the many things I love about this amazing instrument is the constant learning, growth, feeling of discovery and magic. I just came across a video of Tobias playing this song on a TUS sound sample and was blown away. Then I read a comment that it was a James Hill song and it made total sense... had to search for a James Hill version and now here I am spreading the magic for those who may not have come across it yet. I never knew I needed this in my life!!!..


And I should also credit TUS and Tobias for leading me there...
 
Since this is the technique sub-forum, any suggestions on what we should be focusing on to emulate technique-wise from James Hill's video. It is the thumb, right?
 
ripock said:
Since this is the technique sub-forum, any suggestions on what we should be focusing on to emulate technique-wise from James Hill's video. It is the thumb, right?
Click to expand...
When I was initially searching, I found that Tobias has a whole playlist dedicated to the technique, including a few videos breaking down the first part of this song. I'm looking forward to giving this a shot!

 
Thanks for the follow-up. James Hill is such a maestro that I didn't know which part of his erudition I was supposed to be looking at.
 
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