Fingerpicking dilemma

boredmatt · #1 April 23rd, 2008

I'm thinking of learning fingerpicking. I can't grow my nails because of my job and I don't know whether I'd need plastic fingerpicks (to act as nails).

I play electric so i'm not even sure wether i'd need them at all. my fingers are a little stubby at the end and this makes picking them without picking the next string too a little difficult.

Would getting them be a good idea?

Cheers!

Matt

Kirk Lorange · #2 April 23rd, 2008

Hi, boredmatt. I'd persevere with the bare fingers if I were you. It might take a while but you will find your sound. The trouble with fingerpicks, apart from feeling like little clamps on your tips, is that when you lose or break one, you're lost. That's what made me quit decades ago. I do have a bit of nail showing but when they break I still manage to get a sound.

Having said all that, there are many players who do opt for finger picks. You certainly get a loud, clear ring wearing them, but it's a bit like trying to tap dance wearing skis at first, if you know what I mean.

mattz196 · #3 April 23rd, 2008

Have to concur with Kirk ( hard not to

) , the tips of your right( pickin' ) fingers do harden in time somewhat so you do eventually get a sharper tone from just flesh ,you might find Matt that your nails don't have to be all that long and a combo of mid length nails and finger tips do give you good tone . I found that after about a year of letting my nails them grow not too long and with regular filing they really toughen up so maybe you could get by at work , though if have not tried fingerpicks I found a thumb pick really diifiicult.

tomg123 · #4 April 23rd, 2008

I grow my nails for pickin but if i were to start all over i would consider just the flesh

JF-30 · #5 April 23rd, 2008

I finger pick most of the time. And when I analyze what I am doing, most of my sound comes from using the flesh of my fingers even tho I have nails. But I am always breaking my nails with the work that I do, so I end up having to file them. I do suggest a thumb pick, personally I am lost without one. It's nice to get a good clear tone on your bass notes.
Bob

cshude · #6 April 23rd, 2008

I can't manage to keep my nails long enough without them breaking, so I'm a "fleshy fingerpicker", I guess. Never heard anyone complain about the tone that I get...

Noodler · #7 April 24th, 2008

I wonder what sort of work means you can't have your fingernails grow just beyond the pulp? They don't have to be very long, just 2 or 3 mm past the tip of the finger looking from the palm. I wouldn't trade my fingernails for anything, and I keep them short for work too. It's just a couple of mm longer than you'd normally have them anyway. It's nothing.

Another thing to do a search on (very worthwhile) if you haven't already, is rest stroke and free stroke under classical guitar technique. This might help to address the stubby finger thing, which I also suffer from. Andres Segovia had even stubbier fingers than me and he managed. In fact, the whole classical right hand technique can be applied to any finger-picking, and is great to have under your belt. There would be tips online for sure.

I'd even go so far as to see if you can get just a couple of face to face classical lessons (no matter what type of fingerstyle you're doing). Classical is so much about the right hand (eg hard vs soft plucks). I'm really glad I did it for a while. You'll get so good at it very quickly.

solidwalnut · #8 April 24th, 2008

I play alot using my finger tips. Mostly the thumb, fore- and middle fingers. I found when I started out that I had no problem getting either a soft sound or a 'snap' out of my fore or middle fingers. But when it came to the thumb, the sound was so soft and 'fleshy'. No snap. Well, after a while I began to develop a callous on my thumb. So now I can get that 'snap'. Plus, I learned how to play the bass notes with my thumb by also grabbing the string with the rounded corner of my thumb nail.

So you can work it out. Hey, try both and see what you like.

cshude · #9 April 24th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noodler

I wonder what sort of work means you can't have your fingernails grow just beyond the pulp? They don't have to be very long, just 2 or 3 mm past the tip of the finger looking from the palm. I wouldn't trade my fingernails for anything, and I keep them short for work too. It's just a couple of mm longer than you'd normally have them anyway. It's nothing.

One of the challenges I have with the longer nails is that I have rounded fingertips, so that whenever I grow them out just a bit past the tip of the finger they look a lot longer than they really are. When I'm playing enough, however, I tend to build up calluses on my picking fingers that help get a nice clear tone.

scott58 · #10 April 24th, 2008

A little off topic, but my G/F just gave me one of those dremel looking finger nail manicure (grinders) she got from Avon. This thing is almost a must have for finger pickers. You can shape your right hand finger nails to anyway you want them in just a few minutes (left hand too!). Think she gave like $17 for it. It's worth $1000.

bmurnahan · #11 April 24th, 2008

I personally prefer nails to flesh and find it to be a real disaster when I break one, which is not very often. I keep glue on nails in my guitar case for just such an emergency.

At last years CAAS convention we were having a conversation with Doyle Dykes about his nails. He keeps them fairly long and plays hard. He actually told us which salon he goes to in Nashville to have them put on.

Those fake nails are hard as rocks. I guess that works for some players.

As always with most things music and guitar related, there are no absolutes. You will find what works for you.

Bob

Stratrat · #12 April 26th, 2008

I play some hybrid picking stuff (using a pick and my middle and ring fingers), and just use the flesh of my fingertips....I can't stand having nails that long. I don't get quite as much attack from my fingertips as I do from the pick, so I just make up for it by plucking a little harder....it evens it out well enough for me.

Playing mostly electric guitar, so YMMV......

blackcat · #13 April 26th, 2008

Because i have a manual job i find it impossible to grow nails, and i have tried on many occasions, but i am now quite happy with the sound i get just from fingers

Noodler · #14 April 27th, 2008

After reading this thread, I've just cut my thumbnail right off. Keeping my other nails. I'm going to work on building up a callous on my thumb like solidwalnut has done.

I'm getting into the rockabilly/ Travis Picking thing, and want to be able to do the bass with just my thumb so I'm not lost without a thumbpick. And also for those Wes Montgomery style octaves too. It'll be worth it once the callous develops.

Is it going to hurt and peel and all that sort of stuff, solidwalnut?

solidwalnut · #15 April 27th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noodler

...Is it going to hurt and peel and all that sort of stuff, solidwalnut?

Oh, I don't know. I think it probably will, but not as radically as the fret hand fingers do.

I also thought more about my attack with finger picking. I really add flavor and varying levels of volume/string attack by not only using the fleshy parts of my fingers, but by also playing with the edge of my nail.

I keep my nails cut back, but not to the quick. So mabye there's 1/16th of an inch or so of nail...I find that I am playing the string with the edge of the nail at the same time that I am using the flesh. I get more bite the more I aim for pressure on the nail, softer attack with more flesh.

Many times, I'll intentionally catch a string by the underneath side of the nail and 'pluck' it. I'll continue like this for any individual note runs I want to incorporate. I also love the occassional 'fling' of the back of the index nail in a downward strum a la Flamenco style.