Hey y’all,
I’ve been lurking around here off and on for a couple of years, but I don’t believe I’ve posted anything before…
Long story short, I have a neurological disorder called Focal Dystonia that makes it essentially impossible to use my right hand index finger when picking any stringed instrument. When I attempt to use it in the context of a roll, the index finger curls into my palm.
I played three-finger banjo professionally for several years in the early 2000’s, and I developed the condition from playing banjo for thousands of hours. I gave up strings for about a decade starting in 2008, and I resumed playing banjo about eight years ago. I now play clawhammer and two-finger styles on the banjo.
I played dobro for a few years back in the day but gave it up after I developed the Dystonia. My undying love for the instrument has drawn me back to it in the last few months, and I’m tackling it with only the thumb and middle finger of my right hand. Brother Oswald and some of the Old School Country and Hawaiian stuff work pretty well with two-fingers, but I used to play a roll-based style. That’s tough to do with a thumb and one finger, but I’ve made some surprising progress with it.
I play a forward roll TTM and a reverse roll MMT. The key for me is to arrange the rolls so that the finger used twice in a row always plays adjacent strings. So, a forward roll might be 5-4-1 or 4-3-1, for example. A reverse roll could be 1-2-4 or 2-3-5. I wish I could use three fingers as God intended, but I’m hoping with systematic practice and a metronome to build up decent speed. I also play a fair bit of the Bill Keith Melodic style, and that approach works pretty well with two fingers.
So, my questions are: Do y’all know of any players that utilize only the thumb and one finger to pick the dobro? Does anyone here suffer from Dystonia or anything else that forces you to utilize an unorthodox right hand technique? Is there any hope for this approach?
All the best,
PT Grover, Jr
Edited by - taygrover on 07/28/2026 15:10:21
I admire your tenacity.
I don't have a "cure" but would point out that a LOT of music can be made without classic 3 finger rolls by utilizing hammer-on/pulls & cross picking using the thumb and middle fingers only.
h
quote:
Originally posted by hlpdobroI admire your tenacity.
I don't have a "cure" but would point out that a LOT of music can be made without classic 3 finger rolls by utilizing hammer-on/pulls & cross picking using the thumb and middle fingers only.
Also would add the Mike Auldridge used the T-T-M..T-T-M approach quite often in his style.
h
Edited by - hlpdobro on 07/28/2026 15:16:23
Howard,
Because of an early obsession with Seldom Scene’s Live at the Cellar Door record, Mike Auldridge is the dobro player I know and love best. I had no idea he did the TTM thing! Very cool.
Thanks,
PT
On a recording of a festival workshop somewhere online, Mike mentioned that he did this.
And on a video of a jam with Jimmy Heffernan Mike played a lick and Jimmy said "I like that; which song did you play that on?" Mike replied "all of them".
A legend, indeed.
There’s a great banjo player on the West Coast named Nick Hornbuckle who plays a powerful and totally convincing roll using just the thumb and index finger. He says, for him, this technique has a 140 BPM speed limit. That’s plenty fast for my purposes!
Best,
PT
Interesting that this subject should come up today. I saw the Steep Canyon Rangers perform last night and their drummer, Mike Ashworth, also plays dobro and guitar during part of the show. I'm pretty sure he was playing with a flatpick between his thumb and index finger and a single fingerpick on his middle finger. That approach was working for him as his playing was pretty solid. That seems like pretty close to the technique you're using.
Edited by - mesmithut on 07/28/2026 20:48:24
Here is an example of Mike's TTM-TTM-TTM at speed. It's the intro!
Yep, the eight string, but useful on the six, for sure!
h
Edited by - hlpdobro on 07/29/2026 07:31:14
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Privacy Consent (EU/GDPR Only)
Copyright 2026 Reso Hangout. All Rights Reserved.
