coming back... but this time with 3 finger picks (+ thumb)

J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

I had "retired" from PSG in 2001 when moving from the US to Europe, packing with me "just" a (few) Rickenbacher Lap Steels. And to be true, I didn't play much and got into "Gypsy"-Jazz Rhythm guitar and Bosa Nova (finger-picked) and well, learned a lot about progressions, chords and Jazz and Swing... but must admit that I have not laid my hands much on any thing horizontal except for a few "Ladies".

I got a beautiful S12U from MSA now and swore not to try to play much of what I had played in the past but to take it from where I am now on Jazz Rhythm and Bosa Nova Guitar.

I looked up a lot of Youtube. Evidently the Jazz side is still "under-populated" but the are great things by "our" Jim Cohen, Mickey Adams, some old stuff by "our" late Bobbe Seymore and evidently a new and exciting push by PAUL FRANKLIN.
I can't say how much I MISS my friend and mento MAURICE ANDERSON, whom I could call, go see and just ask "what's this?" and get a clear concise no BS answer with lot's more than what I asked for.

Today, because I finger pick Bossa on the standard guitar with 3 fingers and the thumb (but NO picks!) I shaped myself a 3rd finger pick. I have always fought picks and at a time even made my own.
This is like going back 53 years to my first tries at WALKING. I had to fish it outta strings, pick it up from the floor, find it capriciously entangled in the curtains... I am afraid I will find it in my underwear soon.

But I have decided that I want to be able to get "them" chords.

Right now I am stubbornly working on | x | | x | and switching to close grip | | | | intervals. It's coming but while I am a very disciplined adept of Jeff Newman's "Right Hand Alpha", I don't rest my hand, y keep a left angle of my hand... that I have to change my hand "neutral" position in two axis's (rotate and angle) when playing from only Thumb-Index-Middle to al 4 and even much more when playing close grips to wide grips, so the ring finger pick doesn't claim independence and free speech or just throws the towel and takes a hike.

My question is to the probably very few 4-pickers is: do you get to the point you hold a steady hand position or are you playing as to what I seem to experience now?
Do you shape your ring-finger-pick much differently than the other two?
Any other suggestions.

I am also somewhat thinking over my S12U set up.
I want to keep it E-neutral (E9th open)... because I seem to base my chord location more easily off the 11th string as it relates to E9th and to the standard guitar.
I DON'T lock my E-lowers! I think as one tuning.
But even tho, "we" have many of the added pulls on the Universal C6th players have on the their neck but placed on levers... many combinations are impossible.
I also seek a way to add a B-to-C (C to C# on C6th) change so that I can play it in combination with the "5th" pedal (the 2 below 9th chord change) to not just create another 6th chord midway between the open 6th and the open M7 7/5 frets apart, but to create another relative minor "midway" so the get vim, iim, V, I "clouds" closer together.

I have decided to sacrifice the "C" pedal, I was never that kind'a E9th player... I play along the strings much more than across the strings and favor fat or wide chord vocabulary over the largest amounts of string over "moving string gimmicks".

I am toying with replacing the "C" pedal with a B-to-C pedal to the right of the "B" pedal and the left of the so called pedal "5"... so I can play them together and have my levers (G# to G Vertical, B-to-Bb LKR, B-to-D LKL my E lowers and raises on the RKs) at disposition.

Thanks!... J-D.
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Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"

A Little Mental Health Warning:

Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.

I say it humorously, but I mean it.

Markus Mayerhofer · From: Vienna, Austria

Uni 12 and 4 Picks? Looks like Joe Wright's stuff is what you're looking for...

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

I have always used 4 picks because I like close harmony, and I've never played guitar!

On my uni 12 I have the Day setup, so that the A pedal is next to P5. I also have a tunable split with the vertical lever, so if I use all three together I get that 6th chord up three frets, just as if I had the half-step raise you would have on C6. The action of A, 5 and V is nice and natural.

Hope my explanation made sense Smile

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Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

Thornton Lewis · From: New York, USA

I do not palm block at all except (badly) when playing octaves across the strings. For me it kills the ring finger, but I was never good at it even with three picks so maybe it's just me. I am only now becoming semi competent at 4 voice 7th chords which I can play (closed voiced) in all inversions with roots from the 11th string to the 5th. I find it difficult to invert chords based on string 12 and I have to use the B pedal and slant a half step up to get inversions on string 10 that involve pedal 7 (raise 6+5 whole step) on the rest of the guitar. My walking bass is currently at the "Look honey, he rolled over all by himself!" stage. none the less I think four picks makes jazz cleaner and more beautiful on the instrument. Rakes are for rhythm in solos, not for backup. I want to be able to isolate the moving voice.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

There is another alarmingly simple reason for using 3 fingers. If you want to omit the 6th and play a plain triad on 3, 5 and 6 it's way more comfortable to finger it T-1-3 without disturbing your grip.

Because I have no D string on my uni it comes in handy in E9 as well; the 6,8,10 grip becomes 6,8,9 which is very comfortable also.

I mentioned above that I've never played guitar, but I have played other instruments such as clarinet and trumpet where the 3rd finger has to be as strong as the others.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

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