Do you use a pick?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Larry Melton on March 22, 2012 at 6:20pm

I always use a Doyle Dykes thumbpick or just my fingers if I am

playing softly.

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Permalink Reply by eric congdon on March 25, 2012 at 6:34am

Hybrid picking for me, just can't get used to a thumbpick.  But I like to be able to go from Travis picking style to lead style and having a flat pick really helps for that and just works better for me personally.

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Permalink Reply by Steve J. McWilliam on April 14, 2012 at 7:11am

No.  I use bare thumb and two fingers (mainly) - very occasional use of third finger. Flesh and a bit of nail (approx 1/16 to 1/8 inch) protruding.

Steve

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Permalink Reply by Blues Agent on April 17, 2012 at 1:01pm

The day I put the flat pick down, I discovered the dexterity of thumb and opposing finger... I gained an extra digit and never looked back. A little volume and speed was no sacrifice considering the agility acquired. And ... no more, "where is my pick?"

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Permalink Reply by Curtis on April 17, 2012 at 2:41pm

No picks whatsoever.  Started out using a pick and was able to cross pick pretty well.  When I started playing fingerstyle I used a thumb pick, but ended up hurting my thumb presumably because of the slight twisting of the thumb that occurs when I was using the thumb pick.

Every once in a while when I'm playing electric guitar I use a pick and it feels funny.

Curtis

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Permalink Reply by Glenn Weiser on April 17, 2012 at 8:03pm

I play with a pick for blurgrass type stuff, with a thumpick and fingers for country blues, and also with fingers and thumb and no pick when I play Celtic and softer folk stuff like Stephen Foster tunes. But then again, I've been playing since 1966.

Glenn Weiser
www.celticguitarmusic.com/

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Permalink Reply by Miklos Birta on April 19, 2012 at 3:03pm

If I play alone, I like to use my fingers, but for solo much better to use pick.... It's hard question...
Here is an example

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Permalink Reply by Jud Hair on April 20, 2012 at 6:48am

To strum, I use a flat pick about 95% of the time.  I've tried using a thumb pick to do fingerstyle, but find it clumsy and hard to get used to.  When I Travis pick, I use my bare fingers.  The metal finger picks are almost impossible for me to get comfortable with.

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Permalink Reply by Noah Wood on April 26, 2012 at 11:46am

More and more I've stopped using a pick.  The sound of the strings is so much sweeter to my ear when strummed by hand.  And of course, your options are so much greater when you play with your hand.  You can grab a couple notes, make chords of 2,3,4,5 notes.  It's a good exercise to put down the pick and start using your hand more.  I've found it very expanding.

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Permalink Reply by Gary Swiech on May 5, 2012 at 9:54am

Sometimes, but I usually use the tips of my fingers. I used to flatpick but I've been using

this technique for 20 some years now.

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Permalink Reply by AJ Ouellette on May 21, 2012 at 3:31pm

I always used to use a flat pick or do hybrid picking. But then I taught myself the solo to Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" by ear and came across a part that was much too fast to play with a pick, or even by hybrid picking. Ever since then I've been using only fingers. I find that it sounds better and I can do a lot more. If I play something really fast I use my thumb, too. I sometimes even forget that other guitarists use picks haha

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Permalink Reply by Gary Swiech on May 21, 2012 at 4:30pm

You know how much volume and finesse Neil Young has when playing acoustic, if you have any DVDs of his, watch

his technique. He doesn't use a pic either. He uses his fingers in the shape like he's holding a pic, but there's none between his fingers. He's a gorilla on the fretboard. That's where I leaned to play with only my fingers.

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