Current Issue | Home | Back Issues | Other Mel Bay Sites
The Girl I Left Behind Me | Indiana | Artist Interview with Dix Bruce
My Soapbox: Pick Direction | Break it Down! | Interview with Peter Sawchyn

My Soapbox: Pick Direction – Are You Doing It Right? PART 2

by Joe Carr

By now you should be comfortable with eighth notes in common (4/4) and cut time (2/2). Dotted notes and rests may make the music look more difficult, but the rule stays the same: Downstrokes on downbeats, upstrokes on upbeats. Exercise 1 begins with a quarter note on the beat followed by six eighth notes. Follow the pick direction indicators.

Here is the common fiddle shuffle pattern.

In the next exercise we "wait" during the first downbeat and start playing with an upstroke.

Since a dotted quarter note is "worth" three quarter notes (down up down), the second note of this measure is played with an upstroke.

Exercise 5 presents a variety of note values and rests for practice. Be sure you are comfortable before moving on. The pick direction in parenthesis (d) (u) should be played as you say the following word.
Measure
1) Count: (d) one , (d) two (u) and (d) three (d) four.
2) Count: (d) one (u) and two(u) and (d)) three (u) and (d) four.
3) Rest and (d) two and (d) three (u) and (d) four.
4) Rest (u) and two (u) and (d) three (d) four (u) and.
5) Rest and two (u) and (d) three (u) and (d) four.
6) Rest (u) and rest (u) and (d) three (u) and (d) four.
7) (d) one (u) and rest (u) and (d) three (u) and four and.
8) (d) one (u) and (d) two (u) and (d) three (u) and four and.

Next time we'll look exceptions to these rules.