Pick Noise, Choice, and Technique
Written by Barry Hunn
There is a mysterious, hidden secret that will be revealed here today about reducing pick noise when playing the banjo. But before this top secret information can be shared, there are some bits of information that should be discussed first.
Fingerpicking:
Most bluegrass players use one thumbpick and two fingerpicks. The most traditional and most popular combination is a plastic thumbpick and two metal fingerpicks.
Thumbpicks:
Choosing thumbpicks is mostly a matter of experience. You try several different styles and decide:
- Is it comfortable on my thumb? Does it pinch too hard? Is there a bump in the shape that abrades my skin? Is it too loose and flops every time I hit a string? Some players heat their plastic thumb pick in hot water and then bend it to more closely fit their thumb. If you can find one that feels good and works at the store, it’s best to just buy some. Bending the picks is a little tricky.
- Is this material too thick and heavy? Is this material too thin and floppy?
- Does this material pass smoothly across the string? Does this material have a grating or scraping sound when brushing across the strings?
- Does this pick have a wide or broad tang?…the tang being the part that hits the string. Does it have narrow or sharp pointed tang?
General rules of thumb about thumbpicks:
- Thicker material combined with a wide striking surface usually gives you a rounder fuller tone. It also increases your physical dynamics… the ability to play harder or louder.
- Thinner material with a narrow striking surface usually gives you a thinner, brighter tone. Your physical dynamics are reduced because the harder you pluck the string, the pick bends more and you can’t increase the volume as much.
- Thicker material with a narrow striking surface seems to pronounce brighter and more of a midrange tone but still allows full physical dynamic power because it doesn’t bend too much.
- Thin, narrow striking surface creates a very light, delicate sound with very little physical dynamic control.
There are some “hybrid” thumbpicks from our friend Dave Guptil, founder of ProPiks that have a metal wrap around your thumb with a “delrin” tang. This allows the player to bend the metal to fit the thumb but has the smooth, durable picking surface of the delrin. Delrin is a plastic that wears down smoothly and has a kind of “lubricity” that helps it smoothly pass over the strings. There are also metal thumbpicks that are all metal that offer a bright, clear sound with lots of dynamic power.
Fingerpicks:
Choosing fingerpicks is just as involved as thumbpicks. There are plastic fingerpicks that are much like the plastic thumbpicks. Since most players use all metal fingerpicks, we’ll discuss those here.
Metal fingerpicks usually come in a “one size fits all” configuration so the player “bends them” to fit their own fingers. There are some “smaller” metal fingerpicks for folks with really thin or small fingers. Dunlop brand fingerpicks have gently “flared” edges which make then easier to slide on and off and the flared edge can be a little more comfortable to wear for long periods. They offer the picks made of brass and nickel silver and in about six different thicknesses. The string striking tang surface is slightly rounded and has a rounded tip. These are available in most music stores.
Kyser and National fingerpicks, have a flat striking surface, flat finger band and they seem to be made of a metal that is a little “harder” than other fingerpicks. The tip of the striking surface, while rounded, is not as rounded as other brands like Dunlop. These picks are chosen by some of the top players. They are not as comfortable for some players as picks with flared edges, but they are in demand none the less.
ProPik makes some very innovative fingerpicks. In addition to single band or single ring designs that wrap comfortably around you fingers, they make what is called a “split ring”. The band that wraps around you finger is divided so for some players the bands don’t sit on the cuticle of your fingers which for some players greatly increases comfort for long playing sessions. Also, most fingerpicks have the playing tang or striking part of the fingerpick sticking straight out from the band that wraps around the finger. ProPik makes picks where the striking part of the pick angles to one side. This helps some players pluck the string at more of a ninety degree angle without having to angle their wrist. ProPik also makes some “small size” fingerpicks for players with thinner, smaller fingers.
There is another fingerpick that has a very thin string striking tang. It is almost pointed. Some players like these because the striking surface is so narrow, the angle of their fingers that hit the string is not as critical as it is with a wide, rounded fingerpick. It also has a light, sparkling sound that many players like.
- Thick and wide, more rounded fingerpick striking surfaces tend to sound fuller, rounder with more bass response.
- Thin and wide rounded finger pick striking surfaces tend to sound sweet but with slightly less power than thicker picks.
- Narrow fingerpicks tend to have a sparkling, light sound.
Fingerpicks must be bought and tested for comfort and for tone. Beginners should buy whatever finger picks are available and decide over time and experience which ones they prefer. There is no right or wrong choice with something as personal as thumb and fingerpicks.
Some players bend the striking surface of the pick to exactly follow the contour of the finger. Other players straighten out the tang or striking surface of the pick so it is almost parallel with the fingernail.
There are also plastic fingerpicks that wrap around the finger on the same side as the fingernail to simulate a fingernail that is thicker and stronger. Classical guitarists who are learning the banjo sometimes find these fingerpicks to feel more natural as they learned classical guitar technique of plucking the strings with their fingernails. The advantage of these, “over the fingernail fingerpicks”, is that the player can both “pluck” the string toward the palm, and “brush” the string or strings as you would with your fingernail. Not many banjoists use this style of over the nail fingerpick but some are taking to it to allow easier transition to strumming or brushing across the strings, while fingerpicking… something to consider for greater versatility.
Flatpicking:
Flatpicks, or plectra, are made of plastic, metal, stone, wood, bone and in the past, tortoise shell. We will confine our discussion here to plastic as that is what is available in most music stores.
Thin flatpicks create a very light, delicate tone. Dynamics are very low, but the strings pass easily across the strings which is nice for players who have trouble holding onto the pick.
Thicker picks have a full, round, slightly darker tone. They have the broadest dynamic of playing loud or playing soft.
Plectrum banjo players and many tenor players like light to medium flat picks. Since banjos have very light strings, a medium pick is pretty stiff when it hits a thin banjo string.
Some Irish tenor players use heavier picks on their low tuned Irish tenor banjos. That is what gives some of the Irish banjo music the deep, “growling” banjo sound.
Six string banjoists usually adapt their guitar style to the six string banjo and bring their flatpicks with them. The slightly heavier strings of a six string banjo will allow a slightly heavier pick than a four string banjo and the pick won’t “over power” the thicker strings like it can with a four string banjo.
Now, the great secret of reducing pick noise:
Whether you are fingerpicking with fingerpicks or flatpicking, when you swing your pick at the string and “strike” it, there is an audible “click”. However, when you move your pick next to the string, touch it gently, and THEN pluck it, you will notice the “click” noise is reduced.
So, the question now is, how do you bring your pick to the string instead of “hitting” the string? And, how do you do that when you are playing fast? How do you do that when you are playing a difficult passage when fingers are reaching across strings and you have to get to another string quickly?
The answer is, slow, slow, slow practice and lots of it. Generally, when you move your fingers or hand slowly to the string, you tend to “pluck” the string without hitting it. However, when you hurry to get to the string, you tend to “hit” the string in addition to “plucking” it. The hurried “hit” is like a hammer swinging to hit a nail as opposed to pressing the nail into the wood.
When you pick up an egg to make your breakfast, you tend to move slowly to pick it up without breaking its delicate shell. When a juggler juggles un-cooked eggs, he is moving fast to move his hand from egg to egg, but he has practiced slowly for many hours so he minimizes the “hit” to the egg when juggling. His hand “meets” the egg with each move instead of “hitting” the egg.
This is what the banjoist does with fingerpicks and flatpicks.
When you practice at a super slow pace, it’s no problem getting from string to string with a minimum of pick noise. So, as my voice teacher used to say, “Singing fast is exactly the same as singing slow….it’s just faster.” She meant that when your body is thoroughly trained to move in a relaxed manner, moving a little or a lot faster is no different than moving slow.
How long does this kind of training take? Speed of learning varies from person to person. But just because one person takes a little longer to train, does NOT mean they can’t do it. The trick is to enjoy sitting and playing rolls or picking patterns at a super slow pace so the movement of the hands, fingers, etc, are relaxed and comfortable.
This requires faith that the training will pay off. In my years of teaching banjo, I’ve observed that slow practice is what makes players progress faster. Whenever a student or I “try” to play fast, we make mistakes, our tone degrades and it makes us tense all over. The increased tension slows down our potential speed and our accuracy in hitting the string becomes erratic at best. I learned very young that when I practice super slow, I hit the string I want, my tone is full and consistent and I feel pretty relaxed all over. This seems to work for everyone universally regardless of age, technique or instrument. The longer you practice slow, the faster you learn and believe it or not, the faster you are able to play.
Be good to yourself. Practice slow, learn fast and reduce the pick noise in the process. And the best part is, the more you play your banjo this way, the better and faster you get and the better your banjo sounds. What joyous way to spend your time.
