RIght Hand Advice, Starting Over

[Jerry Overstreet]

Good points Fred. Yeah, I was mostly referring to the fingerpicks action, but it is true that the thumb may have some influence on the fingers' execution which I did not address.

HItting the string full on with the thumb pick also puts more of the pick on the string, but it's about moving the entire hand instead of just wiggling the thumb back and forth.
My thumb does not have that severe angle as Jeff's. As I stated earlier, my hand is more like the player in #1, but the technique of the hand position is the same with the peaked first knuckle which causes the finger picks to hit at that angle. That's the idea of the position.

Sure, it's everyone's decision to develop whatever style, method they think works for them.

I do not mean to come off as some kind of expert on anything pedal steel or music. Sometimes, I don't feel like I know or have learned anything at all about it.
I was just making an attempt to explain the idea of and reason for the so called "Newman" method which probably fell short.

[Andrew Frost]

striking the string at an angle produced superior tone

Fred, the angle of the thumbpick blade was apparently a key part of Buddy Charleton's teaching approach.
Given his extreme cocked wrist, I imagine its the inside blade edge that he's using.

Obviously his tone and articulation was superb, so there may be some truth to that.

It'd be great to hear from anyone who took lessons from him in the 70s or 80s.

This is indeed getting into the weeds of technical minutiae, but this is the place for it, if anywhere.

In a podcast interview, Bruce Bouton talks about taking lessons with Charleton and gets into this a bit. I can't remember which podcast, maybe Russ Pahl's.

[Dave Magram]

Tevis and Chris,

Thanks for your kind words about my Blocking Guide.

And thanks to Marty Broussard (formerly with Tracy Byrd) who started a new thread
( viewtopic.php?t=411888 ) about my Blocking Guide, with some very positive things to say.


- Dave

[Bruce Coffman]

I’m still digesting Dave’s guide (lots of great stuff in there for an absolute beginner like me) but the tip on using a “block template” to help with correctly fitting/angling fingerpicks is OTHERWORLDLY VALUABLE!

[Dave Magram]

Bruce, thanks for your kind words.
I'm glad that you are finding the Blocking Guide helpful.

Please feel free to send me any suggestions you have to improve it.

It "takes a village" to learn blocking!

- Dave

[Bob Hoffnar]

I have worked one on one with both Jeff Newman and Joe Wright on this issue. Right hand technique was also a main focus of my lessons with Buddy Charleton. A main focus with Charleton was thumbpick positioning and getting the picks to attack the strings properly. If I am able to get a good sound it's because of the obsessive details that Charleton had me focus on. By the time I worked with him he was cool with pick blocking. If I was starting over I would go straight to Paul Franklin's course. He is a perfect distillation of what came before him.

[Bill McCloskey]

I'd love to learn more of what you learned from Buddy Charleton, Bob. His technique is amazing