Right Hand Techniques in Music

There were some really fun, kind of exciting, cool right hand things happening in the second and third pieces that I just played. They involve really pretty simple techniques, but they can be quite powerful. Let me show you the most basic technique that I was using.

Basic Groove and Tuning

Keep in mind, when you go back and look at the tab, you'll see that I'm departing from these techniques frequently. However, these techniques still provide the basic groove to the pieces you heard.

Tuning

• Orkney Tuning: C, G, D, G, C, D
  (Note: This tuning has nothing to do with the Orkney Islands in the north of Scotland.)

Capo

I usually don't have a capo on, but for these three pieces, I decided to use one. I'll take it off soon.

Right Hand Technique

The technique I'll be using focuses on the right hand. This might be a good time to remind you about the angle function on your DVD remote. We're high tech here! You can isolate my left hand when you want to, my right hand, or just look at the full-body picture here.

I recommend going to the right hand function because I'll be discussing a pretty important right hand technique.

Basic Pattern

That's the basic pattern. It's deceptively simple. You want to keep practicing this at home, in your car, or at work until you've internalized it.

• Technique: It involves a pinch followed by a downward pluck with the back of my fingernail.
• Effect: This gives you a flat-picking effect.

Introducing the Breton Riff

Now, I'm going to introduce the Breton riff. This is our pump primer riff for the techniques I will be showing you. It's just a little riff I came up with for this project to give you something fun to practice these techniques with.

Riff Example

Here's how the riff goes, and I'm going to play it a few times using just this basic technique.

"I could go on and on. That's really fun and really easy once you get this pattern in you."

All that sound I just made, a melody with bass happening with a groove, came from this simple technique.

Modifying the Technique

Now, I'd like to modify the technique ever so slightly. I'll keep the same groove but introduce more than one string during the first pass. It doesn't matter what strings I use yet; it's just about expanding the technique.

How It Sounds

This is how it sounds on our Breton riff. The old way becomes the new way. It fills it out, and while it doesn't necessarily make it better or worse, it's an option for your arsenal of techniques.

Important Note

It's crucial to remember, it's not important in this particular Breton riff, but when creating a right hand groove, if there's a note needed in your melody that's not in your right hand pattern, you can always grab that note with your left hand.

Counterintuitive Technique

This idea might be difficult at first, as it involves a new technique combined with a funky rhythmic style.

"Just this."

Middle Finger Thwack

Let me show you another variation on the Breton riff. This is the infamous middle finger thwack, a technique I learned from Martin Simpson. It's very useful but not necessarily suitable for an entire piece.

How It Works

• Technique: Take your middle finger, dig it into the base of your thumb, and flick it off like you're flicking a booger.
• Application: Isolate one single string for it. This can create a lot of noise and might sound awful if you don't hit the right string, but that's okay.

Riff Incorporation

Now, let me incorporate that into the riff.

"By the way, this is probably one of the most difficult patterns I'll be showing you."

If you get frustrated, don't give up! This requires practice.

Final Variation: Palm Slap

Lastly, let's explore the palm slap technique. I'll start with the very basic pattern I showed you earlier, but during the downward motion, I'll gently slap the strings.

Technique Explanation

• You want to keep the slap gentle and percussive.
• During the slap, you can either:
  • Hit the string on your way down, or
  • Skip the downward pluck entirely and create your melody note with your left hand.

Sound Example

What my right hand did there was simply this. I didn't need to do any downward plucking because I made the notes with my left hand.

"You can also help the melody along by keeping your downward pluck happening along with the slap."

That's really important! Thank you for participating in this lesson!