Pick or finger ????

[Frenchy]

Well there it is, I have been playing for a little while but can't seem to get use to the pick. Should I bother with it or what, I do like the soft sound of strumming with the thumb a lot better though, but every one tells me to get used to the pick.

[Krieselman13]

Here goes some good advice even a beginner can give you. It's all up to personal preference. What do YOU prefer? How do YOU want to play? Well thats all I can give you, lets see if anyone else can help you here.

[slaughteredsoul]

I think you should give the pick a chance,it does take time to get used to anything,but if you keep telling yourself that you can't do it,you won't be able to..cause your heart isn't set on it.
Maybe when u get the hang of using a pick, you'll like it better:)
Give it a real go and then decide if u want to use it or not.

[jazzman15]

It depends what style you're playing. If you're playing jazz rhythm guitar, you need a pick to get that chunk-CHUNK-chunk-CHUNK sound. A pick is also useful in rock.

If you're going to be playing softer rock, classical, blues, or acoustic, you should learn to play with the fingers. Don't strum with your thumb; there is a correct way to do it. Go to Dansm's guitar page (search for it) for a good lesson on fingerpicking. Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits plays guitar this way.

My advice: learn both! :cool:

[barbietta]

Hey, I checked out that Dansm's site, and I noticed he was asked to remove all the tablature from his site. I wonder why? There is free tab all over the web--although I noticed most of it says it is to be used for educational purposes only.

What's the scoop on publishing tabs?

[jaytee]

i say both too...

strumming with a pick seems impossible when you are beginning....i always felt like i was tangled up in the strings...

i would get frustrated and quit trying...and then id just strum with my thumb (which i didnt think was so bad? maybe im wrong...)

anyhow...i noticed after a while that once i got the hang of rhythm and changing chords while strumming with my thumb...i could go back and work on using the pick...and then i would get it...

i think i was just trying to learn too many things at one time...maybe you could try it without the pick till you get the motion down and then try a pick again?
i never thought id get it and had thought id just learn to fingerpick but now that i can deal with the pick i know it just really makes some songs sound a whole lot better...

--jt

[chrisbs]

If you learn fingerstyle, 150 daily studies for the right hand, by carcassi is excellent

[Andrew]

There are loads of different ways of using you fingers on the guitar. It is alright to strum with your thumb, loads of people do it. It gives a slightly softer sound than a pick. You could also use the thumb for the bottom three strings and three fingers for the top three. This gives more range between hard and soft, depending on how you use your nails. A really easy way to get hard attack is to strum with your middle finger, using only downstrokes. The downside is - it's only downstrokes, so much slower.

If you're not going to use a pick at all, you will need to find a way of playing lead. You can alternate your index and middle fingers, you can alternate your index finger and thumb, or you can put your index and thumb together and use the thumbnail for upstrokes and the index fingernail for downstrokes. Mark Knopfler uses downstrokes with his thumb for all notes, but I think that is a pretty stupid way to play