Am I the only guitarist in the world that can't get the hang of a pick?

EdgarHF · May 7, 2009

I am basically a fingerstyle player using a pick maybe 1% of the time. I had not been practicing scales much and mostly learning new songs when practicing. The past few days I have decided I better get to doing scales again so I pulled my old copy of Mel Bays Complete Guitar Improvisation Book out of the closet. Running through scales I am finding I am utterly hopeless with a pick. Is anybody else out there pick challenged?

tuckomf · May 7, 2009

I got my start musically as a bass player, so that got me into the habit of index and middle fingers, sometimes a thumb. Then I switched to lap slide, so again, thumb, index, and middle fingers. I've been playing for 14 years now, and I cant use a pick for the life of me. My ring and pinky fingers are equally useless. Back in my smoking days, I'd hold my cigarette between my ring and pinky fingers during a song.

It made for some smokin' solos.

anthonyc007 · May 7, 2009

I never use a pick.

onewilyfool · May 8, 2009

Edgar......I'm with you.....I just can't get into the pick. Sometimes I use a thumb pick.....just like to 'feel' the guitar I guess

EdgarHF · May 8, 2009

Edgar......I'm with you.....I just can't get into the pick. Sometimes I use a thumb pick.....just like to 'feel' the guitar I guess

Just to clarify,I actually do want to learn how to use a pick. I think it would make me a more rounded player. I think I will always be predominately a fingerstyle player (I have to many weird chord positions I use that will not work with a pick). I am finding that using a pick is harder than one might think, at least from a fingerpickers prospective.

lammataohc · May 8, 2009

I couldn't use a pick either for years until I decided to learn how to play the mandolin. I didn't really learn how to play the mandolin well but I got use to using a pick and I love it. You get more dynamic and snap!

ballcorner · May 8, 2009

Just keep at it every day until the pick starts to feel natural. You haven't been playing with a pick, so your finger style ability is far ahead of your picking skill - you will have to be patient with yourself until it seems easier.

Look on the bright side - picking is much easier than finger picking - so you have the hard part covered already.

When you practice with the pick, don't get to the point of frustration. Twenty minutes here and ten minutes there eventually adds up to an hour.

You'll make it.

jgwoods · May 8, 2009

Well if it was easy everyone would be doing it- it would be like Guitar Hero.

I've been working at it for a long time, also playing mandolin which helped a lot.

My favorite excersise to gain pick control is to do tremelo scales- pick the note down up down up DUDUDUDU at a speed you can control, then go up the scale doing each note 8 times, add speed as you gain control. It will get you hitting the string with the right amount of pick.

AustinNoName · May 8, 2009

I'm glad someone else has trouble with a pick. I am a strummer as some of you may know. I can strum pretty well (I think) with my thumb and forefinger, but knew I'd have to take on a pick at some stage. I began by holding it with my thumb and TWO fingers, I suppose almost like a pen. Completely the wrong way for me (I assume one person's technique may not suit another), and no wonder I couldn't get to grips with it. I have now managed to sort it out I think, so as ballcorner has said, it fits naturally - I'm still working on it, its not perfect but certainly the excerises mentioned are good advice. DUDUDUDUDUDU With scales is spot on IMHO.

For me, if i make my forefinger and thumb into a relaxed ring, the plectrum "sits" on top of the forefinger there (effectively the side) and my thumb. The pressure on the the thumb varies a little depending ont he song/attack, and often my other three fingers are out, verging on straight. other times they curl around too.

Also, you may want to start with a thin, or nylon pick initially. Using a heavier pick for me, is more difficult to control - certainly at the beginning. I generally use the Gibson Medium picks now, or Jim Dunlop M's.

Sorry for the pretty rubbish description of my personal technique. I'm not for a minute suggesting there is a right/wrong way to hold it, just this is my way (I've been sitting in the office, getting some strange looks as I air strum a phantom guitar to see how my fingers lie!) A photo would be much easier I guess!

albertjohn · May 8, 2009

Look on the bright side - picking is much easier than finger picking - so you have the hard part covered already.

Very true. I'm a novice fingerpicker and expert nail biter. I do grow them long on the right hand but do sometimes bite them and always seem to break them often. Puts me off persisting with the technique.

You can get all sorts of different textures with a pick. I'd say use the heaviest pick you can. It will allow you more control and flexibilty. I use Gibson or Fender Heavy.

TWilson · May 8, 2009

I used to finger pick 100% of the time but started fooling around with strumming. I found that putting on a tune and trying to emulate whoever's playing helps get you into a good upstroke, downstroke rhythem. From there you start to "feel" it much better and can create some nice rhythems of your own. I don't do lead-type stuff per se as I was always too lazy to learn scales. I wish I had though. Seems like I'd be pretty good at it after 40+ years. It was all about playing and singing in the "old days" and not the practice regimen of actually learning theory, etc. I'm an old dog trying to learn new tricks now and it's still fun! Get an Emmylou Harris cd, she's a great strummer. Start there and get a good feel for that then move into the lead type stuff. It's all good!

Hoss · May 8, 2009

I could never get the hang of a pick. Try it out every year or so and quit -frustrated- after a few sessions.

Finally, one day, I just told myself that if any 14 year old shredder can use a flatpick, I have to be able to use one as well. And I started with some basic excercises- the same that JGW referred to- from 0 to 5th fret on each string. With a Metronome.

I also had a dance gig upcoming soon after I had started daily workout with the flatpick. And I told myself that I would only use the flatpick for that gig.

What got me over the hump was refusing to let myself quit, and a few minutes of simple excercises every day. AFter 6 months, I'm no Doc Watson, but at least today I can use one for playing rhythm and simple breaks . You can do it.

EdgarHF · May 8, 2009

I could never get the hang of a pick. Try it out every year or so and quit -frustrated- after a few sessions.

That is pretty much my story and I am determined this time to learn. My frustation right before starting this thread was running the 32 bar exercise over and over again with my metronome set to forty I am still making mistakes everytime. This is after spending 3 hours over three days on that exercise alone. I am going to go at it again in a few minutes. This exercise is a single line run between the 0 and 4 fret. The instructions say start slow and build up speed. Here I am with the beat stuck at forty, at forty I should be able to tie my shoe laces between beats.

ninety1vee · May 8, 2009

hey man, george thouroughgood don't use no pick, and he's bada55

Gilliangirl · May 8, 2009

I used to play exclusively with my fingers/thumb. I hated using the pick, and tried and tried but kept getting frustrated then I'd give up. What finally got me used to it was finding a pick that felt secure in my fingers. I found these picks called Cat Tongue Brain Pics. They are absolutely amazing..... they have a no-slip grip, and I credit those with getting me to finally use a pick permanently. I no longer use that brand (I use a .60 Tortex, holding it lengthwise now) but I can't play WITHOUT a pick now. Once you get used to the pick, you'll appreciate how they contribute to accuracy on the strings, as well as tone.

My advice is to find a pick that feels secure in your hand, then just persevere. The other thing that helped me was using double-sided tape on picks, which also helped the darn thing feel secure in my hand.

If you really want to master it, you can do it!

maninblack · May 8, 2009

I can only use a pick. I feel useless without one.

TheLiveSoundGuy · May 8, 2009

Same here. I can't make my fingers work for finger picking to save my life. I can however flat pick like nobody's business!

I envy you guys with you finger style. It always seemed to me it was more artistic, and heartfelt.

Jayla · May 8, 2009

FWIW my challenge was the opposite: I started with a pick and had to work at playing fingerstyle, which was difficult at first. But, as with everything -- practice, practice, practice, and it becomes easier.

Plad · May 8, 2009

I started out playing (British) blues on electric some forty years ago. Pretty soon though, mostly inspired by James Taylor and a fantastic book with tabs of his songs, I went unplugged and played fingerstyle almost exclusively. I have taken up electric again, this time fingerstyle, but when I play lead lines I hold an imaginary pick and hit the string with the nail on my 1st finger acting as a pick. Works like a charm, a little hard on the nail if I get too carried away!