I have been playing banjo for over 30 years, and this video about hand position and thumb “out front” has made a world of difference in my speed. Thank you!😊

Some great tips here. I have to say I like the old timey sound of playing the banjo without picks like you showed in this video. Even though it`s the same technique it just sounds more mellow and natural... and well old timey if you know what I mean.

Thanks for watching!

An important topic to cover. Thanks!

Dude, thank you so much for this video! I was about to throw these finger picks in a drawer and never see them again, you've helped me a lot, good sir!

Beautiful playing 👏👏👏

I appreciate the tip about ditching the picks. I NEVER use them and feel like I am wrong for doing so. As soon as I try to put them on, I regress and have no idea where my fingers are in relation to the strings because I can't feel them (the strings).

Go Dawgs! My son plays and yes he misses strings. I hear it when I record him. He noticed your pick in the first 45 seconds! $45 picks are worth it. Great advice.

I have a $35 thumbpick sitting in a drawer while I'm using a $1 Fred Kelly thumbpick. The rest of your advise was spot on.

I used to not have a problem with accuracy until I got arthritis in my index finger. Makes my finger want to draw up and miss strings.

All excellent tips! I also use a Blue Chip thumb pick. It's everything wonderful except inexpensive. Current price is $40. It's worth it, but it's hard to accept it. The ProPik thumb pick is pretty good too, and significantly more affordable.

The Blue Chip thumbpick is the best pick I’ve ever used, and I’ve played for years. I will use nothing else.

What was the roll you were playing when you took the picks off? Looks like a good speed exercise for me to practice.

Yo Idaho, don't neglect the outdoors, get up north and get in some fishing & hunting but always be alert for what can sneak up on you. Cats & bears are faster than you think if not familiar with that fact so take a buddy along and have each other's back. Great vid on picking advise. I recommend all beginners learn to play slow at first NOT looking at the strings but ingraining the feel of where your fingers are and picking. Finding a anchor point and sticking with it and correct hand position is frustrating as a beginner but work through the and yes, get the thumbbput front but don't stare at the picking or fingering hand or you never learn to instinctively play . It's the difference in a performer who looks at the audience and can smile projecting the joy of playing and personable character instead of a mechanical stressed out preformer . Ben Pera, on KZfaq has one of those smiles and a very diverse musician with a sense of humor.

Greetings! Great video. I have a bit longer nails on my index and middle finger for clawhammer, but have a new issue. Lately, when I am playing Scruggs style with finger picks, I miss the string with my pick and catch it with my nail. I am hoping this is a new player "phase" I am going through. Any thoughts? So far I am just concentrating on what I am doing and it is happening less. Thanks!

I've just received a banjo, yeah! Among my many questions is this: are picks made in sizes? The ones I have for my fingers are tight but the ends over my nail are not touching, about 1/8" gap. Suggestions? They also cause throbbing.

Hello, can you help me? I want to learn the banjo. Can you send it to me? I am in Morocco?

A couple issues I'm having, though I suspect one is more is what I find more comfortable. 1. I don't rest my little anf ring finger on the head at all. I find when I do my middle and index fingers don't feel like I have enough room to play(if that makes sense). The other is instead of missing a string when I pick I occasionally end up skipping across 2 of them(for example when I pick the 1st string ocasionally I'll pick that plus skip across the 2nd and sometimes the 3rd string as well). In my defense though I have only been played since Christmas 2022, so i'm sure it's a common mistake\issue.

I have tiny hands and tiny fingers. I can't find a thumb pick that won't spin around out of position. Can you recommend a source for child size picks?

I find it a lot easier to hit the strings accurately without the picks but I find that if I do that a little too often it throws off where I think my point of contact is and it takes me a while to return to using picks accurately.

How come nobody plays bare fingered? As a bassist I find that an oddity, I get that picks sound different but you'd get much different tones with fingers. I suppose most people want to keep their fingertips lol. To me the tone is much richer without picks. Glad you're at least showing how to practice that way.

Im not sure what happened to me - relatively new to the instrument but I’ve developed this new nasty habit of MISSING completely my index finger on the third string. Been compensating by extending the index finger pick but I know thats a half assed solution. Use picky picks… have for awhile now. Not sure whats been happening…lazy hand position?

Acoustic Idaho but wearing a Georgia shirt? Are you from Georgia or just a fan?

Answer: Practice

where can i get a blue chip pick

only bad day is a day thats not good

put you sound up or get near the mic

put you dam sound up