Right hand technique

[Jocko MacNelly]

Y’all, what’s the general consensus on anchoring the right pinkie? It's hard to tell from pictures one way or the other what the early guys did.

As a classical guitarist, I’d have never dreamed of doing that in the past, but I’m sure the way my guitar technique has evolved lately has my teachers doing Whirling Dervish dances in their graves anyway. So with my banjo, I go between anchoring (which I think strains the tendons), lightly resting my palm behind the bridge, resting the base of the thumb on the vellum (a big no-no I’m sure)… Anything but traditional hand-free classical guitar style!

Even the early guitar guys advocated anchoring the little finger, but they played a smaller axe. The bluegrass cats tend to anchor both the ring and little fingers, which makes my right hand go numb just thinking about it!

It occurred to me today that if I could bend my little finger and allow the nail to lightly rest on the skin, that might be an option. I could have that orientation but keep the finger relaxed. 

Have I brought up a contentious subject in the CB world? I admit to being a bit of a troublemaker.... :o)

[Shawn McSweeny]

.  .  .  And those looking for just the right spot to anchor a finger call that task hide 'n seek.

(another rimshot!)