Is it a good idea to decide between finger- and flatpicking?

[MattBlue]

Hey guys,

till now I was always playing both, finger- and flatpicking. I feel a bit more confident when playing with my fingers, I just do less mistakes. With the pick I sometimes hit the wrong strings or stuff like that.
Right now I often use a pick for busking, because it is simply louder. There are some songs in my repertoire which I used to play fingerstyle and now I learned to play them with a pick, for example Needle and the damage done by Neil Young or Here comes the sun by George Harrison. It is possible for me to play those songs with the same feeling, with a pick or with fingers it doesn`t really matter.
But here comes the thing: I want to improve my playing, I am really serious about playing guitar and I want to become a really good player.
Ofcourse we all have a limited amount of free time we can use on playing guitar. So I think it´s maybe a good idea to concentrate only on one thing, finger- OR flatpicking. To reach a perfect technique at BOTH seems to be hard to me... I guess a lifetime is not enough I mean, there ARE players who were great at both styles, just think about Doc Watson, may he rest in peace...
But I am not Doc... you get what I mean What do you think about it?

[SFCRetired]

I would concentrate on what you love. I have wandered around for many years and realized just the past couple of years I prefer Flat Picking. But I can't tell from your post if you use fingers versus a flat pick, or you play finger style.

The only way to get over hitting other strings is to play with a pick, and you will still hit the wrong string once in a while. Sometimes when I hit a wrong string it turns out to be the right string, if you know what I mean. John Prine described his playing style as a mistake. He made mistakes when playing and those mistakes turned into his signature style/sound.

[TBman]

If you have time to practice both, go for. There's plenty of times that I wish I kept up my flatpicking skills.

[JonPR]

I use a pick for strumming, and fingers for - er - fingerpicking.

I don't play many songs where I have to switch mid-song, so it's rarely an issue.

Of course I can play chords fingerstyle, but strumming with fingers (or thumb) just doesn't cut it, IMO. Also, if I strum with fingernails it quickly wears them down at the corners and then they chip or break, or I just have to cut them right back (and grow them out again) to get the shape back.

Hybrid picking would be the answer to the issue to switching techniques during a song, but I never got on with that, it seemed crazy to tie up one finger just to hold a pick. At the same time, strumming with a thumbpick is awkward. (I'm well aware that practice is the answer to both these problems.... )

[macmanmatty]

Originally Posted by JonPR

At the same time, strumming with a thumbpick is awkward. (I'm well aware that practice is the answer to both these problems.... )

Thumbpicks can only strum down they cannot strum up, Well at least not very long until they break in two and somtimes go flying off.

[dkstott]

An instructor suggested many years ago that I should make a decision on which style was my passion and to pursue it.

I decided that I really like playing fingerstyle more than using a pick. I haven't carried a guitar pick with me in years. I use my right thumb at gatherings when strumming.

No regrets here

Originally Posted by SFCRetired

I would concentrate on what you love. I have wandered around for many years and realized just the past couple of years I prefer Flat Picking. But I can't tell from your post if you use fingers versus a flat pick, or you play finger style.

The only way to get over hitting other strings is to play with a pick, and you will still hit the wrong string once in a while. Sometimes when I hit a wrong string it turns out to be the right string, if you know what I mean. John Prine described his playing style as a mistake. He made mistakes when playing and those mistakes turned into his signature style/sound.

[Bikewer]

I started out from almost day one working on both, and maintained good fluency with both for a long time (I've been playing since the 70s).

However in the last couple of years I've concentrated on fingerstyle jazz and this leaves me very little time to maintain my flatpicking chops. I haven't had the steel-string out of it's case but a couple of times.

[Toby Walker]

To reach, as you say, perfect technique with both anyone would have to devote a huge amount of time, which you indicated is not realistic.

Yet, do you really need to be a perfectionist in both styles? For the music you've said that you're playing I would say that you certainly can become proficient enough to do both without having to become an 'expert' an either one of them.

Bite the bullet, do some practical woodshedding and I think you'll be a happier and more proficient player.

[jseth]

Heck, if you love music that employs both finger picking / fingerstyle and flat picking, then play both styles!

My take on the subject is this: I am NEVER going to be "done" with learning any particular style and employing it in my playing, so I may as well do all the styles that I enjoy and love!

I taught myself how to fingerpick back in the early 60's (with a lot of pointers from friends and other players)... culminating with learning rudimentary Travis picking later in the 60's. I used a thumbpick when fingerpicking, never could use any sort of picks on my finger tips, so I used my nails.

As I began performing in the late 60's, I would always take a flat pick as well as that thumbpick, and I'd switch back and forth as needed by the songs. By the mid-late 70's, I grew really tired of having to switch back and forth, plau I'd usually drop on pick or the other and have to scramble for it... or even forget the thumbpick from time to time...

So I decided to learn how to use a flat pick for that thumbpick, holding the flat pick between thumb and forefinger and using the remaining fingernails for picking. At first, I was pretty klutzy with it and could not come close to my proficiency with a thumbpick, but after a while I got the hang of it pretty well.

I've employed that method ever since, and now I can do songs like Davey Graham's "Angie" without a hitch. I love being able to use my fingers to grab note-clusters for my jazzier playing and various inversions; helps me to play a bit more "pianisticly". Also really nice to have the facility to employ strumming in some of those fingerpicked songs, too.

In the past decade, I've heard my style referred to as "hybrid" picking, which I suppose is an apt nomenclature... but no one called it anything when I first began using it. It was just a way to make the music I wanted to make on the guitar!

Try it! It's not THAT hard to get the hang of...

[JonHBone]

I play fingerstyle and flatpicking. I enjoy both. I'm much better at fingerpicking than flatpicking but I'm trying to get better at the latter so it does get more of my attention lately. personally, I'd rather have fun in the way that is fun for me regardless if I end up as great at either. if I have to be a jack of all trades but a master of none...well that's just how it is. maybe i'll be great at one...but I feel like I've been playing for a while (maybe around 17 years???) where I feel like I have realistic expectations with what I can accomplish with the time I've got outside of work etc. it would seriously bum me out if I felt like I couldn't do one for the sake of being lots better at the other since like I said...I enjoy both.

[colchar]

If you prefer one method over another I say go for it.

I have never been very comfortable with a pick but persevered. Health issues (arthritis everywhere, including my picking hand wrist) causes me pain when playing with a pick which has led me to concentrate more on playing with my fingers (just picking with fingers - thumb for downstrokes and index finger for upstrokes). When doing that I not only feel more comfortable, but more free if that makes sense. I am a lot less tense when playing with my fingers as my never being completely comfortable with a pick seems to lead to tension when I use one.

I pick almost exactly like Vince Gill does starting at the 1:20 mark in the video below. If it is good enough for Vince then it is more than good enough for a bedroom hack like me!






The guy in the video below plays in a similar manner (starting about 0:15 into the video). Unlike him, however, I never put my thumb and first finger together as if holding a pick. When strumming I either use my thumb for both up and down strokes or, more often, use the thumb for downstrokes and my index finger for upstrokes. And I don't wank on the whammy bar the way he does (pretty easy to avoid when none of your guitars have a whammy bar ):