Question:
Hi Ryan
Just joined your site – looks good.
I’m from the UK and am brand new to Banjo playing. My wife bought me one for my 40th birthday last week – after years of hinting!
My real newbie question is this: how should I wear the finger picks? I know they will take some getting used to, but should they sit proud of the fingers, be snug against them or what? Perhaps you could post a photo of your fingers with the picks on and ask members to do the same?
Cheers
Damian
Answer:
The ProPik #2 picks are what you see on the videos and are what I am currently using. You can pick up a set of these at first quality music. I buy the standard #2 blade picks and then bend them a little up to touch the ends of my fingers.
There is a huge difference in the many styles of finger picks that are on the market. Using the wrong picks can really dampen your ability to play correctly. Stay away from the plastic and flimsy metal picks. I recommend the Propik. They’re very rigid and strong. They produce a great tone and stay on your fingers remarkably well.
The ProPiks are very stout and take some effort to bend. You might try a set of the angled #2’s as well to save yourself the extra bending. They do extend a bit beyond the tip of my fingers. I have found that this gives me a brighter tone, that’s not so tubby sounding. The ProPiks seem to stay on my fingers better in extreme conditions, and are more comfortable than most.
The wrong fit can also be detrimental to the ease of playing. You definately don’t want your picks sliding off your fingers and this is one of the advantages of the Propicks. The angle is just as important. I like a pretty steep angle. I used to use picks that were almost straight out from my fingers, but now I’ve switched to ones with about a 60 degree angle.
I’ll post a member’s video this week going into much more detail about thumb and finger picks. See you then!
Thanks,
Ryan
