Was Learning To Use a Thumb Pick Difficult For You?

[Mike McLenison]

It's getting better. Love the louder bass response, but still a bit uncomfortable. What say you?

[29er]

Not so much the pick but the whole finger style technique. It comes together with enough practice. My struggle was the lack of coordination in my non dominant right hand since I'm a lefty who plays right handed guitars.

[Gcunplugged]

Yes, some folks say they acclimated to it in a matter of days or weeks. It took me 3 months before I felt like I consistently played better with it than without it.

But I’m happy that I did, and by the way, don’t hesitate to customize your thumb pick. Seems like the consensus here is that most do, primarily to shorten the blade.

Hope that helps,
Gary

[The Bard Rocks]

It must be hard for me as I only use one on the autoharp, unless I ruin a nail. There's been plenty of times I wished I used them more often so they felt better to me (including fingerpicks as well).

Listening to folks use a thumb pick without fingerpicks, it always intrigues me that their playing does not sound overly bass-loud. Using picks is a quick and easy way to get greater volume.

[Ken Carr]

I am so accustomed to using a thumbpick that I am bound to it. I cannot hardly play fingerstyle without it. If I try to fingerpick without a thumbpick, my thumb accuracy is way diminished. You will get used to it.

[J-Doug]

After 35 years of playing guitar and 20 years of fingerpicking I decided to learn how to use fingerpicks while learning slide on my newly acquired National. Shockingly It only took about a week to get used to the fingerpicks.

[bsman]

Originally Posted by 29er

Not so much the pick but the whole finger style technique. It comes together with enough practice. My struggle was the lack of coordination in my non dominant right hand since I'm a lefty who plays right handed guitars.

That is me, too. My fingerpicking consists solely of thumb and forefinger

[whvick]

Originally Posted by 29er

Not so much the pick but the whole finger style technique. It comes together with enough practice. My struggle was the lack of coordination in my non dominant right hand since I'm a lefty who plays right handed guitars.

We decided to have my lefty grandson try to learn righty so he could play 95% of the guitars out there. I hesitated to do that and almost bought him a lefty, but he has learned a lot in two years and has about 20 students he is teaching basic guitar.
He is still struggling some with finger picking.
I am amazed at lefty’s who can play righty. When I flip my guitar over it is such an alien feel.
My hat Is off to you guys.

[whvick]

I sort of started classical, and just cannot get the thumb and fingerpicks to work. So I grow my thumbnail and call it a thumb pick. Works for me[emoji6]

[Mike McLenison]

Originally Posted by whvick

I sort of started classical, and just cannot get the thumb and fingerpicks to work. So I grow my thumbnail and call it a thumb pick. Works for me[emoji6]

Can relate.

[Acousticado]

Yes, it has been, so I’ve never taken to it. In my 44 years of playing as an intermediate player, I’ve been a barefinger picker (up to using all fingers)/strummer. I’ve tried to use a thumb pick a few times and have never gotten the hang of it which in part may have something to do with not having tried to shape it in a way that I have no idea what shape would work for me. There’s an upstroke/downstroke approach that seems to elude me as well. I will try again and have chatted with some players here who do it well.

That said, if I ever do become comfortable with one, I still like the “meaty”, softer tone of a bare thumb and don’t want to be tethered to picks in general because I like the intimacy of using most/all of my picking thumb/fingers and don’t ever want to be caught in a situation where I have the opportunity to play someone else’s guitar when I didn’t expect it and the quality of my playing is dependent on a pick when I don’t happen to have one on me. I very much like the feeling of a “naked”, all finger approach and the ability to do it on any guitar, at any time.

I WILL try a thumb pick again at some point, hopefully to stick with it to have it as an option.

[JayBee1404]

Took about a week to ‘get comfortable’, and about the same for finger-picks. One of the good things about using a thumb-pick is that it puts the hand in a good position with the thumb parallel to the strings in two planes.

Like others here, I’m so well accustomed to playing with picks after almost thirty years that I find playing with bare thumb and fingers extremely clumsy and inaccurate in comparison.

[NotveryGood]

I never could get on with a thumb pick, so I learned the "hybrid" style of picking with a regular pick and three fingers. It does make it easier to revert to strumming mid song too.

[Michael Watts]

I tried it for a week or so in my teens. Absolutely hated it. Helpful for speed but that was never really my thing.

That said, many of the players I admire wear one.

[EZYPIKINS]

I used one when in Highschool. Can't remember how long it took to get used to it. It was the 70's. Don't remember allot about that time in my life. I tried to go back to it last year. As my current situation has me playing acoustic solo gigs. I tried it for about two weeks and couldn't get used to it. Been playing my fingers too long I guess.