AGF - home of fingerstyle or pickers?

[jklotz]

I put 50/50 because I hybrid pick almost everything, so I guess you could say I do both at the same time.

[grayback]

I mostly flat pick. My teacher is a classical player by training, so he's been helping me learn hybrid and fingerpicking. I guess I'm a bad influence as he tells me he plays with a pick much more now.

[jazzereh]

I'm 50/50 since some tunes work best with flat pick and some only fingers.

[nightchef]

Thanks Emil for creating the poll--this is interesting. I had a general sense that AGF was a fingerpicker-predominant community, but it's even more so than I expected.

When I'm playing a steel-string acoustic, I use a pick probably 90% of the time. I do also dabble in classical on a nylon-string, so that's fingers of course, but it's a relatively small chunk of my playing.

I also play a lot of electric (100% pick) and bass -- on the latter, I began as strictly a pick player and have gradually come around to maybe 70% fingers.

[Mark Stone]

Fingers. One of my best friends, bluegrass legend Michael "Brother Rat" McFarland, told me (in around 1971) that "Picks are bondage!" so I learned to use just fingers. Nevertheless, when I'm playing the lead acoustic in the church band, sometimes I use a flatpick because I need some speed and the aggressive, percussive sound. But 99% of the time? Flesh.

[aeisen93]

50/50 for me

[Emil]

Originally Posted by nightchef

Thanks Emil for creating the poll--this is interesting. I had a general sense that AGF was a fingerpicker-predominant community, but it's even more so than I expected.

When I'm playing a steel-string acoustic, I use a pick probably 90% of the time. I do also dabble in classical on a nylon-string, so that's fingers of course, but it's a relatively small chunk of my playing.

I also play a lot of electric (100% pick) and bass -- on the latter, I began as strictly a pick player and have gradually come around to maybe 70% fingers.

Well your gutfeeling was better than mine. My guess was at least 70% pickers but im still putting my trust to the land in the west.
We can still turn this around

But it sure is interesting and it even more so to understand how the outcome relates to ”the real world”.

[KevinH]

Kottke was my guitar hero when I was young, which got me interested in fingerpicking. I thought I'd get that down then learn to flat pick (the hubris of the young). The fingerpicking hole is so deep I've never got around to the flat pick.

[zmf]

If you "flatpick" with a fingernail, does that count as flatpicking?

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by Emil

Well your gutfeeling was better than mine. My guess was at least 70% pickers but im still putting my trust to the land in the west.
We can still turn this around

But it sure is interesting and it even more so to understand how the outcome relates to ”the real world”.

I think the results probably represent the split here between couch players and working musicians. If you mostly play for yourself at home fingerpicking offers more gratification. Strumming alone is kind of one dimensional. If you’re a working musician you have to be able to strum/flatpick an accompaniment, but you also have to be able to play with your fingers when the piece calls for it. I bet most of the flatpick only crowd play more with others either in informal jams or playing out with a group of friends. Just a guess though.

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by zmf

If you "flatpick" with a fingernail, does that count as flatpicking?

Oof! My fingers hurt just thinking about that.

[Saxonbowman]

I’ve been trying to learn jazz for a couple of years so I use a flat pick for that. I picked up a nice acoustic a few months ago then decided to learn to finger pick, which has always been a someday goal. So, the answer is both though the exact percentage varies.

[gretsch4me]

Flesh only. I found over the decades that as my fingerstyle improved I can get better tones out of my acoustics. Occasionally I'll try a variety of flat picks with different thicknesses just to see what I'm missing. Nothing but disappointment I'm afraid. Quite honestly, I think my guitars sound much, much worse using a flat pick. Or to put it bluntly, if I want to make a $4K acoustic sound like a cheap POS by using a flat pick, I'd be better off buying a cheap POS to begin with. YMMV

[Emil]

Originally Posted by davidbeinct

I think the results probably represent the split here between couch players and working musicians. If you mostly play for yourself at home fingerpicking offers more gratification. Strumming alone is kind of one dimensional. If you’re a working musician you have to be able to strum/flatpick an accompaniment, but you also have to be able to play with your fingers when the piece calls for it. I bet most of the flatpick only crowd play more with others either in informal jams or playing out with a group of friends. Just a guess though.

That’s a valid point.

[Goat Mick]

I'm a pick guy.