I began guitar lessons at the age of thirteen (back in the 60s) and my teenaged teacher had me learning Travis picking after only three weeks. Perhaps, both of use being Army Brats, he wanted to get me started in case one of our dads got orders to move at a moment's notice. Anyway, I never looked back and have been a fingerstylist ever since. I've always picked with my nails (acrylic now that the natural ones have weakened), and even use my index finger's nail, backed by my thumb, as a flat pick on the few tunes I play that call for it.
I've tried using a thumb pick but this old dog hasn't been able to adapt to that new trick. Perhaps that's due to the loss of feel through the skin coupled with the striking location shifting back from the thumb's tip. If I could find a short-tipped forward-sitting thumb pick that wouldn't fly off, I'd give it another go.
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