I’m talking clawhammer style here. I use my index finger for the melody notes.
My issue is that my drop-thumb notes are so much quieter than my index finger notes.
I’m OK with the 5th string sounding quieter than the melody notes; in fact, I prefer that. I think that the 5th string drone should be a bit subdued compared to the melody notes.
But when my thumb drops down to strings other than the 5th string to play melody notes, it doesn’t sound right with the thumb being so much quieter than the index finger. Especially on fiddle tunes, with passages that alternate between the index finger and thumb for quite a while. It’s almost as if half the notes (the thumb notes) are ghost notes.
I don’t know if there is anything to do about this. It makes sense that the thumb is quieter, since I am striking the string with the flesh of the thumb but with the nail of the index finger. The nail is much harder and is going to make a louder sound.
Do folks use the nail of the thumb to address this? Or develop a really hard callous on the flesh of the thumb? Or just back off with the index finger so that it is only as loud as the thumb?
Any advice?
Thank you!