Palm Blocking! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Jason Putnam · From: Tennessee, USA

This palm blocking technique is absolutely driving me crazy!!! I have watched youtube videos, tried it over and over. I just don't get it. If I set my picks down on the strings like I'm in position to pick notes, the edge of my palm is no where near the strings. If I turn my hand clockwise it is, but then my picks aren't close to the strings. There has to be some trick to make this happen that i'm missing. I guess its something you have to learn in person, because the videos aren't helping. I don't know if I can contort my hand in a way that will make it happen! Surprised

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Peter Freiberger · From: California, USA

Although Jeff Newman didn't endorse this technique (unless you were JayDee Maness, he used to say), some players use it. Try curling your pinky and ring finger under and muting the higher strings with them and the lower ones with the back ofyour palm.

Here's a YouTube where you can see JayDee's right hand pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAENUcHceZ4

Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

See my post in the other thread. Curling the pinky and third finger under doesn't necessarily result in Jaydee's hand position. For me, it results in the more "rotated clockwise" hand position and feels very comfortable. When I was starting out 29 years ago I really gave the extended pinky a try, but found it was a weird contortion that weakened my picking fingers. But everyone's hand is different.

Claire Winter · From: Washington, USA

How I empathize with you, Jason! I tried for WEEKS to make my right palm and extended pinkie flatten onto the strings AND be able to pick them, and there is just NO WAY my physiology allows this! My hand just won't do it, period, because of its shape. (Been fingerpicking guitar since 1964.)

I didn't know JD Maness does this as well, but I found that curling my right pinkie tightly and right ring finger loosely, so that the tops of the first joints of both fingers lie flat on the strings along with the heel of my palm, I can successfully block all strings up to my middle finger position. Since my right pinkie doesn't lay out over the upper strings, I have to either shift my whole hand up to mute strings 1/2 or pull the bar off them towards me to mute them. Not the best, but other than surgery there's no other option for my hand shape.

I'm also going to try to learn pick blocking, though the first few attempts have been pathetic. I guess players do use both styles alternately, so I'll gnash my teeth and pick-block 10,000 times till something happens! Find what works for you, that's the bottom line! You'll get it!

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

As I came into it from rock'n'roll guitar and bass, it almost seems to be... over-thought? When you're playing an SG into a humping little amp, the default position is... silence. I mean, my whole attitude towards playing electric instruments is that you "block" or mute everything and just let the notes you want to "escape."

It's a mental trick, maybe, but instead of playing a bunch of notes and simultaneously trying to get them under control, "install" the muting first and just let the right notes peep out. Of course this is a certain kind of exaggeration, but it may help you if you sneak up on it from the other direction. I used to go a bit medieval on my guitar students if they wouldn't learn how NOT to make noise - playing ONLY the music & nothing else is kinda a prerequisite, as I see it.

It's quite possible that your hands just won't do a few little things, but I'd also look real closely at your picks and the angle they're hitting the strings at. If they're poking straight out, you'll want to round them up towards your fingertips - just set your palm right down, touch the picks to the strings and look at the angles... shaping picks is a necessary evil here.

Douglas Schuch · From: Valencia, Philippines

Jason,

From one beginner to another, here is some advice I just got from Don Benoit as he passed through Dumaguete briefly: lay the side of your hand on the strings. Then roll it over just until the picks are in position with the side of the hand still touching. Play your grips while muting the strings. Do that until the grips feel comfortable (probably a very different position than what you've been doing). Then Start lifting the side of your hand JUST ENOUGH to let the strings play - no big motion, then mute. Do that slowly through your various grips.

I found I got the palm blocking fairly easy when using thumb and two fingers, but I like using thumb and three on C6, and that makes it much tougher for me...but it is coming along.

Unfortunately, Don arrived with a bad cold and went straight to bed. The following day we had a power outage as a typhoon (first ever for here) went overhead. Don left before power was restored, so I never got to hear him play. Oh well.

As long as the playing continues to improve faster than the arthritis restricts my playing, I will be happy!

Doug
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Gary Reed · Posted 16 Dec 2012 4:27 am

A quote from Jeff Newmans' No speed Limit 3 lesson.

"I am opposed to the use of Dunlop picks. They are great for everything else but steel guitar. The ring part part of this pick is too wide at the top and it will cause you no end of trouble when muting correctly. The pick will always catch a string in front of it. Wear your picks only back to the rear edge of your fingernail. This leaves a lot of the blade out in front of the finger and some will be sticking up above the finger nail itself."

Jeff supports the idea of the pinky extending out, but claims success can also be had with the pinky curled back.

Jeff Newman finger picks can be purchased from Jeffran College. $5 a set.

Craig Schwartz · From: McHenry IL

I dont know if this will help, its worth a shot,

Find the wrinkle in your palm when you close your hand and mark it with a pen....With This mark on the string use your mid finger to strike that string. This pen mark will always be the mid finger when bouncing around

So..Rest your hand in a karate chop position with that pen mark on any string,
move thumb only to left with a natural fall,
hold it and turn your wrist till the thumb hits strings,

this is your position, recognize the wierdness and get used to it, force yourself if need be,

using the edge of your piks is what will happen (make sure there soft and not sharp edges)

Your thumb will need to get out of the way, so extend it out

Even though JD looks like he`s eagle clawing, he can still palm block, He also has a big right hand which shocked me when I met him and shook his hand, In fact I grabbed it and checked it out, That was kinda wierd on my part but we got a chuckle out of it.(THE HAND)

Paul Franklin pik blocks quite a bit
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Len Amaral · From: Rehoboth,MA 02769

This what works for me. YMMV....however, I use a Zookie 20 degree thumb pick and I feel it allows me to from pick to palm blocking easier. Then again, whatever works for you is OK!

Lenny

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

My short tutorial on talk blocking. Practice a few minutes at a time and quit as soon as your hand gets very tense. Come right back to it after a short rest. Don't attempt any speed at first. Slow motion is the way to go in the beginning.

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Palm%20Block/Palm%20Block.html

Greg

Terry Winter · From: Saskatchewan, Canada

When I first started I too was so frustrated,so I decided to concentrate on string groupings,chord positions, foot pedals, knee levers and I suppose pick muting was how I had to deal with it but guess what!
after some years I pick and palm block without even knowing where I'm doing it. Probably not ideal but I concentrated at the time extensively on knowing my musical monster first. Terry

Jason Rumley · From: Foley, Minnesota, USA

This may or may not help depending on where you're having trouble exactly. I've been using cross picking in my practicing and the blocking seems to take care of it self. Just remember to go slow and slowly build speed.
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Rick Schmidt · From: Prescott AZ, USA

Every right hand is different. Not everyone can physically bend their hand the way that some pundits say you "must". Just pay attention to the sounds that you want and the sounds that you don't want. Learn your instrument and learn by watching and listening to great players. Youtube is great for that!

CrowBear Schmitt · From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France

you can also use your left thumb to mute too

Joe Babb · From: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Jason,
Here's a couple of things. One is a DVD by Jeff Newman called The Right Hand Alpha, available from Jeffran Music.
The other is that when we were starting out, our teacher Stoney had us rest the edge of our right hand on the pick-up, then roll that hand to the left so the picks were in position to play. That's your playing position. It's kind of similar to the other suggestion by Douglas about playing while you mute the strings which is a cool idea and I'm gonna try.
Keep playing and practicing and you WILL get figured out what works for you.
Joe & Sharon

Donald Boyajian · Posted 17 Dec 2012 7:56 am

I struggled with palm blocking when I started, but it will become second nature.

The best advice I can give is this:

Your baseline hand position should be blocking the strings...your palm only comes up so that notes can ring through. It's not the other way around. You're not keeping your hand levitating and then stopping notes by dropping your palm down.

Also, staying really relaxed with the right arm helps, as does curling your right wrist a little bit counter clockwise.

Try not to overthink it, and just enjoy playing...it'll come around.
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Chris Brooks · From: Providence, Rhode Island

If the wrap-around portion of your finger picks are catching on a string as you pick, cut off half of each tab, ending at the "air hole." File the cuts smooth. There will be enough of the tabs left to grip your finger.

Chris

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

I think is mis-named. It's not your palm that does the blocking - it's the side of your right hand and little finger.

Keep in mind that it isn't a big movement, and that it isn't incompatible with pick blocking. Try to position your hand so that the edge of it is close to the strings when doing your normal picking moves. There shouldn't be a big difference between your hand at rest on the strings and your hand lifted when strings are being picked or ringing.

I use right hand blocking when all of my picks are moving to different strings, when I want to mute a big chord to dead silence, or when I have to do a big bar movement between notes. It's just another aspect of having the strings under control.

Both hands are important. Don't overlook the left hand blocking techniques like muting with the left thumb, pulling the bar back from the high strings and playing with the nose of the bar. Even lifting the bar off of the strings is acceptable in some styles of music where gritty noise is encouraged.

My philosophy is this: Anything you can do to improve your control of the strings is fair game.

Everyone's hand muscles are different. I've had students show me techniques that just didn't work with my hands, and some students just can't do the things I show them. Their hand muscles and nerves are wired different from mine. So it's whatever you can do that will work for you to control your strings.

There is science involved, but the bottom line - This is art.
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Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

I've always maintained that playing the steel guitar is 85% right hand (picking hand). If you can get that correct, you are well on your way.

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

I agree completely with you Jim: the right hand is a hugh part of playing steel guitar.

I would add, the chances of a person developing an effective right hand (notice, I didn't say technique!!) if they adopt the hippie, lassie-faire, do whatever feels right approach, are extremely remote.

If you want to spend your time and energy trying to come up with some new way to play, have at it; but just accept the fact that you are far more likely to give up on the instrument than to achieve your goal of greatness.

The vast majority of new players benefit greatly by learning from an experienced player, who can really play, who says "hold your hand this way", etc.

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

Some very good advice and insight here.
When I first started I went to a prominent local steeler and asked him to show me exactly how he was blocking- he showed me the "karate chop then roll your hand to the left" thing, and then he said... "It's easy. You pick a chord or note, then you roll your hand back to the right onto the karate chop edge, block the note, then you play the next note, and so on. Pick, block, pick, block..."
I went home and practiced like a demon and just could not get it together. Next weekend I went back and watched him, and on his break told him he had told me something completely different than what he was actually doing. "What are you talking about?" He said. I showed him that he was actually playing from a resting position (or strings muted) and simply lifting his hand straight up incrementally to allow picked notes to ring out, and returning to the blocked "down" position.
I think he was amazed to see that he hadn't actually examined what he was really doing....
While each person's hand and fingers are different shapes, it seems to work best for nearly everybody to curl the hand as if holding a racquetball sized object, lay the edge of the palm across the strings lining up the crease with the string to be picked with the middle finger. Let the hand fall over to the left for the picks to contact the strings, and use a muted or blocked position as your home base- simply raise the hand directly up at the peak of the knuckle to allow notes to ring, then let it drop back to resting position to block. The assertiveness of the movement will change the character, sustain and duration of the notes for different sounds and tones, as will how hard the strings are picked. Very little up and down motion is needed, so watching somebody blocking can be deceptive. The comfort of thumb- and fingerpicks will take some experimenting. In my case, Bob Perry picks are much more comfortable, being just slightly longer on the sides, so they don't cut into the cuticle when worn as in the Newman instructions mentioned above. The Zookies thumbpick eliminates the notch wear I would get with other brands if I didn't bend them myself with hot water. Everybody's built a little differently, but the classic advice on right hand position really does make a huge difference in tone and accuracy.
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Brett Day · From: Pickens, SC

Tim McCasland's Pedal Steel Guitar video gives some great pointers-Tim McCasland says that the best way to learn how to pickblock is to start out by pickin' three strings and as soon as you play the notes, put the bottom of your palm over the strings to stop them from ringin'. Start out slowly, then go a little faster.

Brett

Robert Daniels · From: Chicago, Illinois, USA

As a newbie myself, I struggled with palm blocking. Until a new teacher showed me how to bend my picks over the top of my fingers, I was never able to get my hand in the right position for this to work. I was never able to curl my fingers under enough to get my palm into position. I resisted bending my picks in this way, but now I have made huge progress and was surprised at how much better my tone got once I started doing things "old school". Just my experience.

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

Of all the learning techniques that I struggled with, palm blocking was the easiest, because I found out that I was already palm blocking without knowing that I was doing it. It was something that I didn't have to learn.

Having said that, I could never understand the advantages of pick blocking.
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