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Joined:
November 2008
Posts: 1119
Location: Michigan | Originally posted by AlanM:
Originally posted by MWoody:
Medium plectrum or broken Travis picking!
I like to involve the Thumb and 3 more fingers, with my Pinky as an anchor (Doc Watson).
My nails are soft and even with chemical assistance (formaldehyde) I can't grow them to finger pick with.
Tried the Alaska picks, metal and plastic fingerpicks but they just didn't take. It was GREAT to read this! I didn't know that others used their pinky fingers as an anchor...I figured I was the only one who did that. I figured further that it was a BAD habit as it had the effect of dampening the vibration of the guitar top. Does anyone know whether this DOES indeed have that effect? And, if so, is it a dramatic difference?
The teachers I had told me you limit the movement of your right hand by anchoring it. Neither mentioned that it would dampen the top. |
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Joined:
March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | They SAY you can do muscle or tendon damage, but I've never heard anyone complain of that. On some songs I use thumb and all four fingers, on some I use thumb and three fingers, and on some of the faster stuff I have to keep it down to thumb and two fingers or the extra fingers get in the way and seem to get tangled up. On those songs I find I often anchor the pinky. Hasn't hurt me yet, and I have never noticed it dampening the tone. As a matter of fact, there are some songs where I change around from all fingers to only some fingers during the course of the song. Nobody has ever noticed a tone change on the parts where my pinky touches the soundboard. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15678
Location: SoCal | Jerry Reed used a thumbpick and fingers and on really fast stuff, he curled his index finger up, not using it at all. Couldn't tell you why he did it, but said that it gave the music a different feel.... |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago | How 'bout Tony White and "Polk Salad Annie"?
Oh yeah!!! |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7237
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by dobro:
How do YOU pick? Fingers? Fingerpicks? Tapping? Just a thumb like Wes? Mostly octaves? Chords? Single lines? Pick (which pick?) Do you maintain strict alternate picking or is it downstrokes etc? Which is your pick of choice? Tell the story! All of the above? I can't do flamenco style or most of the fancy Jazz or Classical finger picking, but basic stuff when it's appropriate. I try to not make it appropriate by not playing songs that require that. As far as picks... it just depends. My favorite picks are the Graphite Adamas picks. Held normally most of the time, but for speed I hold them vertical. My other favorite pick are .60mm and I think they are Tortex picks from Dunlop. The ones I have are imprinted from VOX, but they seem to match the Tortex description. They are pretty normal, just not shiney, so they grip easier.
I have used finger picks and thumb picks, but only when the tune seemed to need it for some reason.
My third favorite, just carry around, nice picks are the ones I used to carry for the OvationFanClub. The heavier ones were heavy but not too heavy, the lighter ones light but not too light.
You asked.... |
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Joined:
March 2009
Posts: 715
| I flatpick because I've never really done that much fingerpicking. I do know where to position my hands to fingerpick, I just haven't concentrated on it yet.
I was using a Fender heavy pick because the size was big enough for my big hands, but I've recently changed to a Dunlop 1.14 mm pick. I think it helps give my guitar a "softer" sound. The Collector's tends to be a boomer, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Michelle |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago | Can't explain it, but when I was a kid (13-15) I used the Fender "Jazz" (tear drop) picks exclusively. I rather abruptly switched to full-size "regular" format. Now I can't remember why I EVER used the little ones.... Maybe "fat hands" syndrome? (Microdot) brain damage? |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago | I'm willing to bet that few of us have used these weird alternative gizmos:
First there's the THE JELLIFISH
or these:
1) THE E-BOW
2) HARMONIC CAPO
3) STONE PICK
Now there's even a patent pending for a
MECHANICAL GUITAR STRUMMER (go to p. 64)
looks like the patent is pretty old (1993)! |
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Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 34
Location: here | Clayton .45mm pics.
I don't drop these as much as others and they sound and feel good to me. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 36
Location: There's no place like 127.0.0.1 | I've got 2 out of 4. Need to order a harmonic cahpoh from Al. |
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Joined:
September 2009
Posts: 144
Location: SW Washington | When I first started getting really serious about guitar I was a huge fan of Leo Kotke and John Fahey and Hot Tuna so I started out mostly finger picking with my nails. Now I think I actually use a flat pick more than my fingers but I use both heavily. I still rely on my fingernails...could never get the hang of thumbpick and/or thimbles. So if I break a nail, I use mostly flat pick until it grows back. For the most part, it seems like almost everything I write at least starts out as a fingerpicking tune, but some of them morph into flat picking things. I just got some Dunlop Tortex 88's that I really like the sound of. They sound great on my LX...nice warm sound. |
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Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1455
Location: Texas | I mostly finger-pick my acoustics. When I do use picks, I have always preferred lighter/softer picks, regardless of the guitar. That's probably because I don't pick with the "pointy" end of a standard-shaped pick, I use the less-pointy corners, actually almost the long edge, with only a sliver sticking out to pick with so it can only bend a little. I originally learned to play on a solid-body electric guitar (a long time ago) and I convinced myself that I had more control that way, and it became habit, although not necessarily a good habit?
But recently I've been experimenting with lots of different picks, including trying metal finger-picks on an electric 12. (So far, that works much better for Roger McGuinn than it works for me…)
;)
Although inexplicable to SWMBO, this is a great thread… |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 1017
Location: Budd Lake, NJ | Almost always finger-pick, pinkie (feminine spelling ;) ) planted, but strumming I do with fingers on the down-strokes and thumb on the up-strokes. (I feel like I have more control that way.)
I like the really thin nylon Dunlops (.38) if I absolutely have to use a pick on a guitar, a little heavier for the mando, and about a .60 if I need one for the bass. I have used the .46s (I think that's the size) when I play blue grass and am in a room with a whole lot of people thumping away on their various instruments...
I started out finger-picking, and am extremely comfortable playing that way; using a pick still feels a little weird sometimes, even all these years later.
--Karen |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Originally posted by dobro:
It's amazing how little even the GUITAR itself matters. It's the player and the hands. And therein lies the problem for the vast majority of us... |
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How do you pick your "O" (and why)?
