Backup for Irish Polkas: Notes on Picks, Grips and Rhythms

Trad Irish Music
1

So I’d been having trouble with applying the generally accepted and sought-after double-time strumming used when playing backup for polkas. What I’d been doing was a single-time plunking (“It lends some very much needed elegance to polkas” was my justification :laughing: )…it was the leader of the band I’m in that pointed out that I needed to use a thinner pick.

ohhh…duh :roll:

Anyway, I’m a fan of Dunlop® nylon picks (you gotta love that no-slip grip), and was using the .73mm as my dreadnought: flexible but firm enough for individual notes to be heard when doing that sort of thing. I went and got a couple each of the .60mm, .46mm and .38mm jobbies to try out, and the problem was solved; from the .60mm on down, all served, with each one making for a thinner sound than the one above it. So far the .60mm seems to be the best for my cittern-playing needs.

The bandleader also pointed out that for pick stiffness, all I needed to do was grip the pick closer to its tip, (another duh moment), and that the “shave-and-a-haircut, six bits” rhythm would provide some textural possibilities. Good suggestions, I thought.

Leave it to a piper to point out the obvious.

Just some thoughts for those of you having similar issues…

Best,
N

2

Playing double time like that, or doing my Bo Diddley thang, I often dispense with pick altogether. Downstrikes with the back of index finger (the nail) or any other finger for that matter, upstrokes with the back of the thumb. If you can cope with an overexcited piper, you can even throw in a few flamenco touches .. if you’re that kind of guy.

3

Since the style I’ve evolved for accompanying Irish music (tight, percussive, punchy, with a fair bit of right-hand damping) needs a healthy amount of pick noise, I use the red Dunlop tortex picks. I think they’re .50 mm or something like that. I can still get a decent tone out of them by attacking at an angle rather than having the pick perfectly parallel to the strings.

For playing melodies on guitar and mandolin, I go to the opposite extreme: Dunlop JD 204s. Teardrop shaped 2 mm picks, rounded tip. These give a great big fat whomping tone, and I can play pretty fast with them. My triplets really came together when I started using them.