That Bouncing Right Hand

[Jim Fogarty]

I'm mostly a pick blocker, with palm blocking occasionally, as needed.

But I see a lot of players with their RH bouncing up and down to mute, almost exclusively. Is that a standard technique that's taught somewhere? Is it what Newman teaches in "Right Hand Alpha"?

Just curious. It seems to wide-spread to just be players figuring it out on their own.

Advantages?

Thanks.

[Ricky Davis]

I think there is an advantage and delivery of the few main picking styles. I also think it's important to work on those picking techniques; so when you need them, you can pull them off. Watch this solo I played 20 years ago in Holland..ha..and I start with palm blocking; then go right in to pick blocking; then into bouncing hand and on from there to twin Dale...It is ALL the hand technique can offer.
You can tell how fluid and the delivery of all techniques in the solo; is what makes the solo soooooo cool. Actually Lloyd Green heard it and said:

"Damn Ricky!
I don’t know that I had ever heard the live recording of you and Dale Watson with the song, “Help Me Merle”.
That is some absolutely cool E9th playing.
Dale and you should still be together. You were on fire, man.
Nobody could have done that better. Perhaps nobody could have played it as good as you did!
Really impressive my friend.
Love ya,
Lloyd"

Here's that solo>
https://youtu.be/WParxip-RJM

[Dave Hopping]

Once I learned how to "bounce-block", pick-blocking came easier. It started with doing harmonics with the heel of my right hand, and progressed from there.It all becomes muscle memory.

[Kenneth Mennen]

HI Jim - I started playing almost exactly three years ago, and I started out learning to pick block. I got pretty good at it I thought, but I always had "chinking" sounds as I blocked, and this drove me nuts when I started to record. So, fast forward to the start of the pandemic, where I was working from home 100% of the time (and still am), and I decided It'd be a good time to try Jeff Newman's Right Hand Alpha - best decision I could have made. Humbling at first for sure, and believe it or not, I'm still working on it! Unlearning old habits is slow going, but trust me, it's well worth the effort. I'm faster by far, and way cleaner in blocking both picking (bouncing, etc.), and also how I handle all my grips. NO "chinking"! Just one man's opinion of course...

Ken

[Jeff Garden]

I'd classify Buddy Cage as a "bouncer" too - check out his break at 2:25 on Hello Mary Lou https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFD7Ltn5TF8

[George Biner]

I'm playing for three years, I've only done pick blocking, but I'm beginning to see that to play really fast, you will have to do some palm blocking.

In particular, in pick blocking, usually in the process of picking the next not, it just works out that you block the last note. Sometimes that's not true and you have to take special movement to block the last note -- and there's just no time for that special movement when playing really fast. Especially if you're double stopping.

So now I have to train myself to palm block -- actually I think a lot of folks do it with their rolled-under pinky instead of the palm. Like others, I would be curious the best way to learn this, also.

[Fred Treece]

There have been great players who appear to have employed one blocking technique or the other almost exclusively. I believe this is a misconception. As Ricky Davis implies, different circumstances allow (or require) different techniques, including left-hand involvement, sometimes in the span of a single 15-second solo.

Paul Franklin discusses “fingertip” blocking in one of his blog posts. https://www.paulfranklinmethod.com/post ... g-blocking

When palm blocking, I have been under the impression that the height of the “bounce” should be minimized. Buddy Cage had a very aggressive up-tempo right hand attack. I think that’s why his blocking bounce seems so busy compared with other players (like the other Buddy’s) whose pick hands almost seem to be at rest on the strings.

[Gene Tani]

This is the whole German TV studio clip from the New Riders, lots of closeups of Buddy Cage's bar hand also, lots of thumb blocking, bar tracking, tipping bar on nose:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZWw87UgrwI

[Ian Rae]

It's good to hear a player as experienced as Ricky point out that you need to have both main styles. There are things you can't pick-block and things you can't palm-block, so it's no use expecting to do everything in your preferred way.

The "bouncing" style is simply what happens if you palm-block rapidly (unless I'm missing something)

[Dale Foreman]

I absolutely agree with Ricky, you need to learn multiple ways to block. I use pick blocking when playing single note riffs and when using multiple grips I employ palm and pick.

[Donny Hinson]

"Economy of movement" is a topic that players should study and become familiar with. While there are some good players that do exaggerated up and down wrist movements to block, I think most pros would advise trying to do the same task with smaller movements.

[Mike DiAlesandro]

I agree with Lloyd, nice playing Ricky, that's a cool video clip...

[Steve Mueller]

Nice playing Ricky! And the "Hello Mary Lou" video is Buddy Cage at his best.

[Ian Rae]

"Economy of movement" is a topic that players should study and become familiar with. While there are some good players that do exaggerated up and down wrist movements to block, I think most pros would advise trying to do the same task with smaller movements.

That is true in principle on any instrument. But if you're playing steel in front of an audience it does no harm to draw a little attention, otherwise you can appear to be doing nothing at all. Guitarists can take a pace forward for a solo - we have to substitute for that somehow.

[Mark Dershaw]

I'm a huge fan of Buddy Cage and have always strived, but never 100% accomplished his bright, bouncy blocking technique. Ricky is "on it" in the video clip he provided. Kudos man! I learned some things on the steel guitar when I was young, but never really felt like I was getting anywhere until I was able to take some lessons from Jeff Peterson in the late 70's. If he taught me anything, it was right hand technique. I'll be forever thankful for that.

[Tom Quinn]

The Bounce. I figured it out 45 years ago when I realized that it was more the "up" and not the "down." In other words the resting position is with your palm on the strings and the hand is raised just enough to let a note ring out.

The really good pickers have a much more subtle move to their hands. I was taught that pick blocking tends to make clanky noises as the metal pick touches the strings. Obviously there are GREAT pickers who use pick blocking but I've stuck with palm blocking through the years, sorta like Ford vs. Chevy...

[Lynn Fargo]

The Bounce. I figured it out 45 years ago when I realized that it was more the "up" and not the "down." In other words the resting position is with your palm on the strings and the hand is raised just enough to let a note ring out.

My thoughts exactly. I've come to think of it more as unblocking than blocking. Though I consider myself a palm blocker (pinky finger, actually) when stopping to study it, I noticed I use both "palm" and pick blocking. Depends on what I'm picking, whatever it takes to get the job done. And it mostly isn't even planned anymore. It just happens naturally, surprisingly.

[Dale Rottacker]

The Bounce. I figured it out 45 years ago when I realized that it was more the "up" and not the "down." In other words the resting position is with your palm on the strings and the hand is raised just enough to let a note ring out.

My thoughts exactly. I've come to think of it more as unblocking than blocking. Though I consider myself a palm blocker (pinky finger, actually) when stopping to study it, I noticed I use both "palm" and pick blocking. Depends on what I'm picking, whatever it takes to get the job done. And it mostly isn't even planned anymore. It just happens naturally, surprisingly.

Wish I'd figured that out a hundred years ago... What I read from Jeff Newman and the way I was interpreting it had me looking like I was having a seizure ... this was back in the early 70's,... my interpretation nearly had me quit playing, cause I just was NOT getting it... as a "Work Around HACK" I started blocking anyway I could... Lifting the bar was one of them and always heard that this method was forbidden... since then I've seen Buddy of all people doing this very thing. I finally settled on a Hybrid method of pick blocking, (also told this wasn't allowed) palm blocking, no bar lifting but pulling back and even blocking with my Barhand thumb... I also read Buddy saying to block anyway necessary to get it done... I don't think I'm proficient at any of it, but don't play fast enough for a lot of that insufficient-ness show up... MUCH