Fledgling Fingerpicker

[TBman]

Originally Posted by raysachs

You guys are too kind. I guess one of the few right decisions I made was to start using picks on my thumb and fingers as I was first learning to fingerpick. Because the whole experience felt so foreign, it didn't seem any easier or harder playing with or without fingerpicks - it was freaking impossible either way! So my perception was that it's just as easy to learn with them. And as many folks as I've heard say 'I learned with bare fingers and never got the feel for playing with picks', I never heard the opposite, that someone had learned with picks and could never get the feel for playing with bare fingers. So I learned with 'em and once I got to a point of just a little bit of facility with the easier parts of the thing, it seemed I was equally comfortable with them or without them. So, YAY, small victories.

Barry, I'm absolutely enthralled by some of your Celtic stuff. I even just ordered Jim Tozier's "Celtic Guitar Solos". I'm sure most of those pieces will be waaaaay beyond me, but a couple of them SOUND like they might be simple enough for me to take on. I maybe totally disabused of that notion when I try to learn them, but I gotta try. That's such pretty music, and so far outside of my very very very small wheelhouse... Getting even a tiny bit proficient at one or two of those couldn't help but make me better all around...

-Ray

Thanks Ray! You're going to love the book.

[islandguitar]

Ray, sounds good and , more importantly, looks like you're having a ball working through all this! Nice!
I too use the Pro Pik Fingertones and have found them to be "my answer" to what I'm needing (zero nails....nada!). I started on finger picks in the 60's and have always used them...back then you needed the volume which fed into a mic for the guitar....very little amp usage. Spent years with Nationals, and then various other picks before landing on these. I needed less "pick noise' and the others just gave out too much, or my technique wouldn't adapt. I've stayed with the Pro Piks for lots of years now. Make sure you get a back up set, they do tend to "wander"! LOL!
As you get more used to the picks and search for your tone, remember that you can turn these picks slightly on your finger to bring your finger and pick surface more fully flush to the strings. Listening carefully to your recorded sound will help bring you any changes you might want to make. As an example, I have the pick on my index finger turned a fair amount toward me, while the pick on my middle finger is straight on. It's a matter of what technique you use for the best sound you can achieve.
Good luck with the progress!
Fred

[Vaillant75]

Great work, it's shaping up nicely! There is a solid rhythmic foundation that is really key for the way ahead. Onwards and upwards!

If I may, I would consider working on reducing the amplitude of the finger movement. It might come in the way of accuracy and speed for more intricate pieces.

Cheers,

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by TBman

Thanks Ray! You're going to love the book.

I hope I do. I've never tried anything even remotely like that type of music or that tuning. But at least a couple of the pieces don't sound too complicated, so I'm HOPING I'll be able to learn them. If not, it's worth a try anyway - anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger (current pandemic aside).

-Ray

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by islandguitar

Ray, sounds good and , more importantly, looks like you're having a ball working through all this! Nice!
I too use the Pro Pik Fingertones and have found them to be "my answer" to what I'm needing (zero nails....nada!). I started on finger picks in the 60's and have always used them...back then you needed the volume which fed into a mic for the guitar....very little amp usage. Spent years with Nationals, and then various other picks before landing on these. I needed less "pick noise' and the others just gave out too much, or my technique wouldn't adapt. I've stayed with the Pro Piks for lots of years now. Make sure you get a back up set, they do tend to "wander"! LOL!
As you get more used to the picks and search for your tone, remember that you can turn these picks slightly on your finger to bring your finger and pick surface more fully flush to the strings. Listening carefully to your recorded sound will help bring you any changes you might want to make. As an example, I have the pick on my index finger turned a fair amount toward me, while the pick on my middle finger is straight on. It's a matter of what technique you use for the best sound you can achieve.
Good luck with the progress!
Fred

Thanks Fred. I've never had long nails and don't want 'em - I do too many other things with my hands besides play guitar and anything beyond very short nails just feel really weird to me. I've mostly used these fingertone picks, but I've also experimented with ProPiks "Fast Pick Brass", which is angled in such a way that you put it on straight but the business end of the pick is turned a bit toward the inside of your finger so that even if you're coming at the string from a bit of an angle, it hits it pretty close to head on. I like that and I like the slightly mellower sound of the brass picks, but ultimately I just like the open finger design more it seems - I've tried a couple others but I seem to come right back to these. I do turn them slightly inside and it seems to work ok.

At this point, I'm still new enough to this type of playing that I'm a lot more focussed on the actual physical/mental challenge of PLAYING rather than worrying too much about tone. If I play it well, it sounds good enough to me. And if I don't, slightly better tone isn't gonna save me!

-Ray

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Vaillant75

Great work, it's shaping up nicely! There is a solid rhythmic foundation that is really key for the way ahead. Onwards and upwards!

If I may, I would consider working on reducing the amplitude of the finger movement. It might come in the way of accuracy and speed for more intricate pieces.

Cheers,

By amplitude, you just mean get more economical with the movement - LESS movement? I'll take a look at that. I've never really had any speed in any of my playing (acoustic or electric), but it would probably be nice to be more precise, more accurate. I was assuming that would come with time - it already has to some degree. But I'll try and focus on it a bit and see what that does.

Thanks!

-Ray

[TBman]

Originally Posted by raysachs

I hope I do. I've never tried anything even remotely like that type of music or that tuning. But at least a couple of the pieces don't sound too complicated, so I'm HOPING I'll be able to learn them. If not, it's worth a try anyway - anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger (current pandemic aside).

-Ray

Ray,

I was sitting here working from home and when I finished for the day I said, what the heck, let's pull out Jim's book to see what else is in there and I found a tune I never tried out before, Captain O'Kane. So I'm working on it now. Great book. I've had mine for about 15 years and every time I pull it out it entertains me for hours.

[Wrighty]

Good job Ray, fingerpicking is a journey...