Matt Buckley - Posted - 02/15/2024:  11:13:05

My questions have to do with the actual finger/hand/wrist mechanics of playing triplets.  I'm not asking about timing or pick direction, practicing more or less, using a metronome, etc.

1.  Do you find that you do, or do not, change the tension in your pick-holding fingers when doing a triplet?  Meaning, is the feel of your pick grip exactly the same as when not playing a triplet?

2.  When playing a triplet, do you add any wrist movement?  If other words, when moving the pick up or down, you can either just use your pick-holding fingers, or you can use your wrist.  Do you change your approach, however slightly?

Hope my questions make sense.  I want get as efficient and as clean as possible. 

Matt

trapdoor2 - Posted - 02/15/2024:  12:08:40

quote:

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Originally posted by Matt Buckley

1.  Do you find that you do, or do not, change the tension in your pick-holding fingers when doing a triplet?  Meaning, is the feel of your pick grip exactly the same as when not playing a triplet?

2.  When playing a triplet, do you add any wrist movement?  If other words, when moving the pick up or down, you can either just use your pick-holding fingers, or you can use your wrist.  Do you change your approach, however slightly?

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Preamble: I have no idea if my technique is "correct", it is just what I do...I never studied it.

1. Depends on my level of familiarity with the piece. While practicing, I tend to over-grip the pick during ornaments such as triplets. After the piece is "mine", my grip doesn't really change. I tend to learn only one version of any tune, rarely improvising beyond deciding to insert a given triplet or not. This is especially true if I'm playing with another lead instrument (such as our fiddler). 

2. Again, it depends. I plant my pinky sometimes and pick using mostly the fingers. However, sometimes I do not plant...and I use a combination of rotating wrist and finger movements. Now that I think of it, I would say that if the tune uses all 4 strings, I tend to float rather than plant. If the tune is limited to 2 or three strings, I will plant my pinky...

Enda Scahill - Posted - 02/17/2024:  10:13:28

I do a “thumb tuck” for triplets. Which effectively achieves two things - changes the angle of the pick relative to the string which thereby stiffens the action of the pick against the string. This reduces the bounce back of the string making the triplet easier to play. Pick also has less distance to travel back and across the string because of the angle of trajectory.

Theory is based on the concept of pick slanting explored by Troy Grady