Current Issue | Back Issues | Other Mel Bay Sites
Featured Article | Slim's Magic Mandolin Chords | Crosspicking

My Soapbox: Pick Direction . Are You Doing It Right?

by Joe Carr

In 30 years of playing and teaching, I have found that correct pick direction is the "secret" to good professional mandolin playing. Even if you think you have got it right, it is worth a few minutes to check and make sure.
Solid alternating picking is the cornerstone of every good mandolin player's picking hand. Although some techniques require different patterns, the basic "down, up, down, up" pattern is one you must master. Here are the basics:

Downstrokes on downbeats, upstrokes on upbeats.

Simple enough, right?

In a measure of 4/4 music with four quarter notes (ex 1), each note is played with a downstroke.

With all eighth notes (ex 2), begin with a downstroke and alternate down and up until you play the last note (up).

Moving from string to string (as tunes do) makes alternation more difficult. The following exercises isolate different string crossings. Play each measure slowly with a metronome until it is smooth and effortless. In Ex 3, we isolate the situation in which a downstroke is followed by an upstroke on a different string.
Once you are comfortable with this exercise, move on to Ex 4 in which an upstroke is followed by a downstroke on a different string. Exercise 5 isolates two more common string changing situations.

Now let's use alternating picking in a melody. Here is the "A" part of a hornpipe entitled Harvest Home. This arrangement is designed to be a good alternate picking and string changing exercise. Use the first and last note in each measure as a checking point. Make sure you are picking as indicated. If not, go back, play slowly and find where you are playing two ups or two downs in a row.