I noticed the fingers on your fretting hand appear to be contacting strings at a slight angle and not directly straight on the string. Is this a video optical illusion or an acceptable angle for making string contact?
I’ve been trying to contact each string straight on and find it extremely difficult (especially with chords). I would like to clarify if this is simply another beginner hurdle that too will pass with practice or an acceptable fretting hand positionl
Discuss the Banjo lesson: Banjo Hand Positions
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@kooseman, the boss is out of town for a few days, but my opinion is that slight angles are normal. Especially on chords. You will hear it stressed by some to play on the tips, but I think that’s just a start. Depending on what you are doing, you may well use different parts of the fingertips and even the pads. I use the side of my finger for some barres.
Just my two cents!
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I agree with @Mike_R. Also, my fingernails point toward my right shoulder, not the ceiling. It would be really helpful if you could post a photo/vid of your hand position.
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Thanks so much Mike & Ben for the advice, particularly about fingernails point toward my right shoulder.
I’ll definitely give that a try. Thanks also for the expedient replies.
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Hello Ben and others. I am brand new to the site and the banjo. I am really enjoying it,. I was making good progress on the forward rolls and then I got my first picks. I’m determined to learn how to use them but it is definitely a step backwards.It’s revealing that my hand position was not quite correct I think. so now as I move forward through lessons my difficulty is I"m not sure if my problems are related to band hand position, bad pick wearing, or just needing more practice. I’ve seen at times that the suggestion was made to post a video in the video swap and then people could help me determine if I Need to adjust my hand position or my pick wearing strategy. If I post a video the the video swap will ben or someone else help me?
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Hey David, welcome to the forum (and the banjo)! Absolutely! You will probably receive some kind of response within a day or so. Ben is on a mission trip as we speak, but he is still keeping up with the forum somewhat (I also keep tabs on it pretty often). I’d be more than happy to help you out. We love seeing video swap submissions.
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Thank you Michael! I will post a video today later. My two basic difficulties are that I find on backward rolls (but not so much on forward) I am hitting the head with the middle finger pick. I was hitting the head with the thumb pick initially but that seems of have corrected itself. But now, when I try playing anything with the thumb other than the fifth string, I find that I catch the wrong string with the band end of the pick. Does that ever happen to anyone else?
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Weird things like that have happened to me too, especially as a beginner. I think it’s just because of the awkwardness of starting out with this instrument that requires a good deal of learned precision— most of my little peeves that I had as a beginner (picks catching on strings, fingers scraping the banjo head, etc) eventually went away on their own as I kept learning and playing.
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Do you have any suggestions on how to set up the video. I mean do I just close up on the hand, and is there a particular angle which will work best? O just a video of me sitting and playing straight on? Any suggestions on what will give you the best view? And then do I just post it as a new video under my own topic “pick hand critiques?” or something like that?
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Whatever shows the issues you’re struggling with the best- doesn’t have to be fancy. Straight-on is fine, but it’s ok to have it slightly angled as well, as long as you feel it accurately represents your hand position. A slightly wider shot than just the hand would help as issues can come from the shoulder/posture as well. You can always film more than one shot (e.g. close up and then full frame) if you feel that gives a clearer picture.
Yep!
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BTW I hope his mission trip is going well!
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I have a beginner question relative to my fret hand stretching. I seem to have a genuine problem when it requires me to stretch from index to third finger. But, I can more easily use my pinky in lieu of the third finger.
Is this an acceptable option or will it develop a bad habit further on .
I’ve just viewed Alan Munde’s vid. on Controlling Fingers and will definitely attempt the stretching exercises he recommends. But I would still like to know if the use of my fourth finger is an acceptable option.
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@kooseman my answer to that question is…it depends. There may be times where you need to be able to make that stretch because you’ll ultimately need your pinky for another fret/string. And there will be times that it’s strictly personal preference.
I think you’ll be fine to do that and there will be some rare things that you can’t do, perhaps.
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Thank you for your responses.
Currently, I totally relate to Alan’s initial determination of who “OWNS” my pinky !!! 
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I have been playing for about six months, and the joint at the base of my left thumb has slowly gotten sore, finally to the point where I just had to take a week off. I am wondering if left hand position is the problem.
I use a shoulder strap so that I don’t have to hold the neck up with my left hand. I have been playing with the pad of my left thumb resting on the side of the neck, which leaves my fingers plenty of room to reach around. But now I notice the instruction in the videos I have been using seems to rest the neck in the crotch between thumb and first finger. A lot of the time, the corner of the neck rests against the top joint of his thumb, and the pad sticks up above the neck. I started watching videos of people who obviously play a lot, and this seems to be the most common left hand position. At first blush, I think it means moving my fingers less to reach different frets, and maybe improves my precision. And it probably moves stress from my thumb to my hand and maybe it would relieve my sore joint? On the other hand, I see some very accomplished players hold the pad of the thumb on the back of the neck, and a lot pf people seem to favor holding the neck in the crotch of the thumb, but also move the thumb to the back of the neck. I did find the fifth string tuning peg was in the way if I kept the neck low and tried to reach the 7th fret. Meanwhile, BanjoBen in this video suggests resting the neck against the joint at the base of the first finger most of the time. For me, that seems to really restrict the reach of my first and second fretting fingers. If I am going to lower the neck, I think I have more finger agility if I rest the neck against the lower half of my thumb, between the top two joints.
Another bit of advice in the instructional videos is to be sure to slide the whole hand, not reach a finger, when doing a 2-4 slide. I do think I feel more thumb pain if I reach too much.
So help! How should I position my left had to play well and avoid joint pain?
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If you are doing a lot of practice then your thumb is going to get sore. When I was a beginner and recently retired I used to average 12 hours study/ practice each day. Not only was my thumb sore so were the tips of my fingers which often bled. Yes I was obsessed.
My best advise to you is study @BanjoBen 's hand position. And rest often.
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Most of the time you need to hold the banjo like I’ve described. There are some stretches that may require you to press your thumb against the back of the neck.
The best thing to do is take photos or vids of your left hand from above and perhaps straight on and post in the video swap forum category…we’ll get you straightened out!
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