[jonescrusher]

First of all, apologies if this is a nooby question that comes up time after time, i searched but couldn't see ( if I do rub you up the wrong feel free to come over to the forum at drummerworld.com and ask questions about whether TRavis Barker is better than Buddy Rich etc.)

As a beginner who really has done nothing other than mess about on my dad's acoustic, i'm wondering whether it's possible to become a decent guitarist on acoustic and electric without using a pick. Can you be ass versatile and get the range of techniques with just the fingers. I've intuitively always played with fingers and thumb and attempts at using a pick have just felt wrong. I'm really hoping i can get away without using one. I've got exceptionally long and slender fingers and it seems a waste not to use 'em. Opinions?

[knight46]

Well if you look at Kirk's playing he is a fingerpicker, acoutic and electric and does a great job on both.

[Stratrat]

Sure you can. I can think of a lot of acoustic fingerpickers who sound pretty doggone good - our own aforementioned Kirk definitely being one of them! On the electric, the first person who comes to mind is Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) - he does a lot of fingerpicking on his Strat and manages to do pretty well.

[ken.clark]

I have never got on with flat picks either. I have thumbpicks which I use sometimes for whacking out the bass line while finger picking. When I strum I use the backs of my nails.

You might find it sounds better if you grow your plucking-hand nails a bit, not always possible if you are a mechanic or similar.

Cheers

Ken

[si16]

Yes it's possible, as the others have said, there are many great payers who don't use picks. I'd also recommend that you keep going with picks though, set aside a part of your practice routine just for picking. Soon enough you'll achieve a reasonable level of comfort. Oh and Travis Barker is much better than Buddy Rich.

[felixdcat]

I use my fingers, and will use on electric, guess it's gonna be alright. Fingers are in fact faster, and easier to use, once you learn how to. It's natural (personal opinion) and you don't have to skip strings like with pick, you can actually have your hand rested, and move only when you have to. You have 4 picks, I guess that does it.

4:1 for fingers.

[billywhitebread]

you can pick your guitar, you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, you can pick your friend's nose, BUT, you can't roll your friends up on the end of your finger, and flick them across the room!

[felixdcat]

Originally Posted by billywhitebread

you can pick your guitar, you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, you can pick your friend's nose, BUT, you can't roll your friends up on the end of your finger, and flick them across the room!

I like to drink milk.

[jonescrusher]

Lol, all very reassuring. Sounds like the fingers will do the job, and i'm not looking to become the next Yngwie (would anyone?), but, as said, it seems worthwhile to learn how to at least handle a pick.

[mattz196]

Hi and welcome Jonescrusher, your lucky to have those digits you describe.
Prior to coming to this site and finding all the fingerstyle lessons lots of which have double stops , I only played with a pick nowdays the total reverse on accoustic . Others of probably the more accomplished players here have in the past recommended learning hybrid picking ,there is a great video somehwere on the site of Rockerbob demonstrating this .

[st_jo]

i had heard from a respectable friend who plays the blues very well that it is in poor taste to have your nails heard on the strings when finger-picking. then i read that finger-picking is different than flat- picking. my playing has evolved to sound less "mushy" now that i concentrate more with the electric. with the acoustic, i still enjoy the sound of my nails scraping across the metal strings. to a "purist" this may sound barbaric. to me: it's become part of my style.
i have experimented this last 10 months on shaping my nails- what a difference in tone each shape makes. its like having 4 different guages on one hand!
i pick my friend's guitar nose, with a 9 penny nail.

[__tsidewinder__]

A pick can come in handy, if only for the tone it gives. There are some things easier with both fingerpicking, and flatpicking. I fingerpick 99% of the time, on both electric and acoustic. I'm not great at guitar, but I get along alright with my fingers.

[Live Stone]

I have just gotten into finger style picking and really like it, but I will always use a pick for some music. Song melodies as Kirk teaches are beautiful and I can't do them with a pick properly. Watch Kirk play electric and accoustic and you may want to learn from the beginning using only fingerstyle.

A finger stylist can pick both nostrils at the same time thus twice the flicking power. Very dangerous stuff. Could put out an eye.

[eddiez152]

jonescrusher,

Have you not seen Kirks lessons ? He uses no pick. I'd say he certainly is a great guitar player.
For me I use a thumb pick and fingers.
There are however certain types of music you can't do without one
begin specific to the notes played.

[bolerama]

Hello Jonescrusher,
I used to play on stage every night using both an acoustic and electric, I strummed with a pick for volume and percussive effects and I picked with steel fingerpicks in songs which required fingerpicking. Again I used these for volume mostly. I discovered much later that fingerpicking, plucking and strumming can all be done with the pads of fingers or the backs of nails or the underside of the nail to get different tone and effect. I found pickless to be much more dynamic than with a pick. Only my opinion I suppose, but this is where the development of a "Style" has led me.

Good Luck with whatever you choose.
Bolerama