Bluegrass technique - am I stringhopping?

Sorry for the delay in responding!

This is a great angle. The only minor thing I’d suggest is the exact same angle, but just a little higher, so you can see more of the arm. Otherwise, great job with the framing.

Things are still pretty blurry and hard to see, so I’m guessing it’s the phone. Does your phone have a high-speed mode, either 60fps or 120fps? If so, that would probably produce sharper video here with less blur. If not, and you can borrow one that does, that could be helpful for an occasional test.

The tone concerns are not due to the motion, it’s the pick attack. You’re using a lot of edge picking. When you do that with a heavy gauge pick, with a rounded point, on heavy gauge strings, you get no treble. Everything is round, so the pick slides right off. If you use a bluegrass pick like a BlueChip, you have to play it almost flat. The pick is still rounded over even on the flat side, so you’ll still get sliding and you will still be able to play smoothly. But you will also get much more treble. That’s the trick.

If you keep this form, with the high edge picking, you could also use a pointier pick and you’ll get more treble. Bluegrass players don’t generally do that, but it does work. Even a darker pick like a Jazz III XL can still work in a pinch if you have to use this form.

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Thanks, Troy! Unfortunately, that’s the highest resolution on my phone. I was using a Blue Chip TAD-50 but I filed the edge, to make it pointier. Still, I understand what you’re saying about using too much edge! The tone definitely improves, the more I use the flat part of the pick! My accuracy is improving, also but I still have issues with certain picking patterns( mostly with an upstroke on the string above, after a downstroke). I assume the only way to resolve this is to employ a double escape by rolling my forearm. This is a motion that feels very natural and doable to me… I guess I just have to put in the hours! Thanks again, Troy… you’ve been very helpful!!! :+1::wink: