Anchor or free floating right hand when finger picking

On the first video tutorials I saw on finger picking, the instructor indicated that you should rest your pinkie on the top of the ukulele as a reference anchor, but on subsequent videos I've watched on Travis picking, the right hand floats.

When I try to do it, I find that I have better mobility with the floating hand, but have better accuracy with the pinkie anchored.

I don't want to develop bad habits when starting out and I suspect the correct answer is to use the floating hand technique and just practice to increase accuracy, but I would like to hear the community's take on this.

Neal said:

Your accuracy will improve with practice.

Some will say "do what feels best", and the answer is "it WILL feel best if you practice it!"

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Great advice. I agree 100%. Especially about doing what feels best. Just because it doesn't hurt you now doesn't mean that bad habit(whatever it is) won't be detrimental down the road.

On that note, I wonder how many of the "damn the right way, I'll play my way" players are now experiencing hand/wrist/arm/body pain and have to limit or end their uke playing per discomfort?

I tried resting my pinky, but it was really uncomfortable for me. My fingers are short. But I'm glad I free float, I feel loose and dextrous. I feel tense trying to anchor.

I listen to my teacher. We have discussed this. He says to anchor. So...I anchor.
He has not led me astray yet.

Personally, I do both, I just switch between the two depending on what feels comfortable at the time.

sukie said:

I listen to my teacher. We have discussed this. He says to anchor. So...I anchor.
He has not led me astray yet.

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So are you 100% anchor? I hope he is teaching more than just anchoring. I say this as a teacher who would not want to limit his own students or see other students limited because they rely on a single teacher to tell them what is right.
I have found that anchoring is great for some songs but it shouldn't be the only trick in my bag.

What about the neck/body area? I love playing my thumb with my fingers at the neck/body joint.
Or doing some down the neck plucks near a hammer-on or pull-off. Or some higher end plucking near the bridge.
I really do feel like anchoring has it's place but it is so damned limiting on sound dynamics, note color and overall responsiveness, especially in a well-made instrument.
:2cents:

TheBathBird said:

Personally, I do both, I just switch between the two depending on what feels comfortable at the time.

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Me too ... some tunes lend themselves to an anchored reference point, others seem to need a bit more flexibility, especially if there's a (partial) strum involved.

I must admit, I do find it more difficult to make a mistake with my picking hand firmly "referenced" ... YMMV

I'm a beginner. I feel comfortable anchoring as I learn. I also feel I can run free in the future.
Like traditional martial arts. Practice the basics this way. Then practice them some more. You will learn enough to take your own path eventually.

Juvet woodwork said:

I'm a beginner. I feel comfortable anchoring as I learn. I also feel I can run free in the future.
Like traditional martial arts. Practice the basics this way. Then practice them some more. You will learn enough to take your own path eventually.

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I agree with your reasoning. I'm in the "both" group. It just depends. I think that a lot of times when you start getting into an either/or mindset you limit yourself.

It's a ukulele, come on ...

TheBathBird said:

Personally, I do both, I just switch between the two depending on what feels comfortable at the time.

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Yay,the best answer I think,do what the music tells you to do ,feel what it needs,the music should lead .

Luckylibby said:

It's a ukulele, come on ...

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You're right. It's not a REAL instrument subject to any of the discipline accorded to an instrument like, say, the mandolin or guitar. It's simply a fun instrument that can and should never compete musically with any of the standbys like the bass, brass, or any of the other serious instruments.

People that take this particular instrument serious are missing out on boatloads of simple fun. And the talk about actually cultivating "good habits" are really just buzzkills missing out on all the joy and happiness the uke brings to the table. Do what FEELS best, because ultimately, you DO know better in the long run.

That about covers it, and I won't delete this one.

you kids are nuts.

Neal said:

You're right. It's not a REAL instrument subject to any of the discipline accorded to an instrument like, say, the mandolin or guitar. It's simply a fun instrument that can and should never compete musically with any of the standbys like the bass, brass, or any of the other serious instruments.

People that take this particular instrument serious are missing out on boatloads of simple fun. And the talk about actually cultivating "good habits" are really just buzzkills missing out on all the joy and happiness the uke brings to the table. Do what FEELS best, because ultimately, you DO know better in the long run.

That about covers it, and I won't delete this one.

you kids are nuts.

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What do you mean it's not a real instrument? Do you seriously believe that? Just checkin'.

Yes it is a real instrument, it's a real fun instrument designed to accompany and pick out simple tunes.
Some people moved it beyond what it was primarily designed for and made it into something like a small guitar

The tenors and the concerts come along and then some people seem to stress up on trying to emulate the people who play for "hours " a day and think that they can emulate that style of play by twenty minutes a day of exercise and regimented rigidity. No offence ,it is just a fact that you need to put more time in to get more result out.


Point is , for me ,that whatever style you want to play , then that is your style and nobody has the real right to scoff at anybody elses' style, which sometimes blurs the lines here. If it hurts you when you play then you are doing it wrong FOR YOU, so try a different way . I don't plant my thumb on the back of the neck ALL the time , I move it around ,to ease tension and ache and to get some real pesky chords that older getting fingers can't quite reach.

In this wordy bag of bollox I am not saying that I am right , just that I think that you don't learn from a rigid structure alone , but with experimentation and improvised exploration. But best of all have enjoyment in doing it.

I speak as a no good slob who has taught myself many instruments over the decades , finally about two months ago, I braved the violin ......at the risk of sounding big headed ,after 8 weeks I can produce some simple tunes and some improvisation over simple jazz that aren't full of squeaks and squawks and scratches.

Why ? Because I don't agonise at how I am getting the tune right ,just that it sounds right. Watch a few vids on YT dismiss what doesn't work for me and what I don't need at the moment and then play with the instrument ...hours a day.... That's the fun part.

Ad then sling it through ooooh lots of degrees tuck it under my arm and strum it . However if you prefer a more structured and rigid application ,have fun doing it, Horses for courses. But whatever you do ,play the bejabus out of it . Stretch the scope of what youdo and get a really big book of chords , or learn moveable chord shapes and go up and down the neck . Just with a smile and passion.

Ciao, Tschuss and ...the Russian one. DossiDanube or something .

I started out as a thumb picker & supporting the uke with the rest of my hand, it works O.K.

I'm now developing my finger picking skills, & I intend keeping my hand flexible & free.

We're all different, do what is most comfortable for you, as long as the end result is what you are after. :music:

P.S. The uke is a real instrument, it's just that it's a fun one to play!

What defines a "real instrument" and who gets to decide that?

Rllink said:

What defines a "real instrument" and who gets to decide that?

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The who ? I suppose that's the players, no -one else ,the players...and it's real enough if it makes music.

Rllink said:

What defines a "real instrument" and who gets to decide that?

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That's an easy one - one that can play music.

OK, so it took me a moment to figure out that you all were talking about the pinkie. For free stroke, I'll have the pinkie float next to my ring finger. It's a technique I had engrained in me during my classical guitar days, and I find it translates well to the ukulele. Personally, my biggest issue with touching the pinkie to the sound board is a concern that it can lead to strain on the tendons that naturally keep your pinkie and ring fingers together.

As an aside, I have messed up hands, genetically speaking. They're tiny for a man's, and I have crooked pinkies and swan-necked fingers. They bend backwards quite a bit, and my knuckles crack involuntarily. When I'm older, I'm probably guaranteed arthritis. So I make sure not to put extra strain on them. Just the thought of anchoring the pinkie sounds painful to me.

Now, on the other hand, for rest stroke, I always anchor the thumb on the top-most string (G on the ukulele). It gives me a lot more stability and control. In this position, the pinkie floats with the ring finger too.

Overall, floating free stroke will probably be a more difficult technique to master. If you want to do it, here are a few tips. Make sure your wrist alignment is proper. If you have it too flat, the floating free stroke will lose power. Also, be sure to have your fingers move from the hing-like knuckle at their base rather than your middle knuckle. This will help make the tone clean and keep your hand from becoming a cramped crab.

A really good book on this fingerstyle technique is Pop & Rock Ukulele: Volume II: Picking by Elisabeth Pfeiffer. I highly recommend it.

I wont pretend to be any authority nor tell anyone else how to play, but for myself I will never anchor anything down.

I do a lot of flamenco-type strumming and am working on some George Formby and Roy Smeck type strumming as well, and I also do LOTS of finger-picking, triplet strums and all kinds of rolls, all interchangeably in the songs that I've written.

Coming from classical guitar it was considered VERY bad form to have your hand or fingers tied down, and seen as an impediment.

Staying completely free-floating on the ukulele from the start has served me well.

Agility, accuracy and speed are no problem at all. One finger per string where necessary,, no feeling of being insecure, and I never get lost and never feel the need to root my hand down immobilized.

The sole exception being that if there are lots of notes that are picked, both up and down with the thumbnail, I *MAY* gentle rest my 4 other fingers on the underside of the upper bout since sometimes I need leverage for fast stroke, and aiming to pluck near the 12th fret, this is a natural place for the hand.

Seems to me you might as well just tie my right arm behind my back if I would be forced to play with my pinky attached to the soundboard. It's too restrictive for me.

Also, it actually drains energy from your hand and arm muscles to force your pinky extended and then press and HOLD your hand down with the pinky out and pressed on the soundboard, and that is energy lost that you cannot use for the rest of your fingers, hand, and arm to play otherwise.

YMMV and to each his own. :music: