The Steel Guitar Forum

I think it is important to play both ways. Practice with & without picks. Joe Wright told me it's a good idea to learn to play both ways.

Sometimes, picks sound better because they're crisp & other times, the mellow sound of flesh can't be beat.

I'll admit, I get some pretty sweet tone with my bare fingers...especially with my recently acquired LaGarritt...nice & classic sounding!!!

i've been fingerpicking and playing classical guitar since i was 10, bass with 4 fingers and thumb since i was 25, and it's been a very long time since then.

yes, fingerpicks give a more percussive edge to the initial hit... but i've got tons of tone in my fingertips, developed over decades... and sound is not my problem.

putting in the hours practicing makes way more difference.

that's my opinion, but then nobody's hiring me to play steel for them either!

bruce

I played a bit to much bebop jazz on someone else's upright bass a few weeks back.
The blisters ALMOST went away, but came back... DRAT!

So the last steel gig or so I have had no choice,
but to use ONLY picks.
otherwise the strings would stick to my fingers
and likely break... Some pretty good size finger canyons.

I use the very, very narrow Propiks, set slightly at an angle,
so it is pretty close to my fingers in the extention,
like having long fingernails. I really don't like the picking tip
being a long way out, just enough to let the finger clear the string above it.

I can't say I had more control of the chords,
especially not the blocking of big chords.
but at least I wasn't getting strings stuck and yanked hard.

Brian,
For a long time I played with my nails and avoided using fingerpicks. My nails are super hard and rarely break, and I found I could block really well using my nails. However I later discovered that I wasn't getting-

a)the bright tone I was looking for.
b)the speed I wanted.

I had always found picks to be slightly uncomfortable, but now I am used to them, and I now have a better tone, I can still block, and I can now play faster. I use a blue herco thumbpick, and national (p2)picks. You owe it to yourself to try to play using picks. In the long run you'll be glad you changed over....trust me. By the way, you can still use your fingers or nails as well, but it's best to know how to play with picks and how to play without them. For country music picks are a must but for other forms of music you might prefer the mellower tone you get without picks. Also don't be afraid to use your thumb and three fingers to get four note voicings. There are a ton of great four note chords that alot of people aren't even aware of since they only use two fingerpicks and a thumbpick.

John Cox in Bryan Texas,Is that the same Tommy Howard who also plays drums?I'm about to start teaching my good friend,and fine lap steel player Don Walker.he just got a GFI SD-10 Ultra and doesn't use picks,he was wondering if that would be a problem?I told him that I didn't think so... playing steel without finger picks feels funny to me but I don't why if shouldn't work.

I zipped down to Bobbe Seymours shop back in the 80's on my ol Yamaha XS-1100 motorcycle, I watched him pick some of that Chet style and don't recall not seeing any picks, has he always picked without picks or is this something that has just came over him?? He sure is a great player thats for sure, picks or no picks.

Ernie Pollock
http://www.hereintown.net/~shobud75/stock.htm

I just started playing a month ago and couldn't stand using the picks at first. Once I got down the art of finger picking at the weird angle though I started wearing the picks and I'm more comfortable with them now.

Took me a few tries to get a good bend on them too, and keep them from digging into the cuticle.

When I put them on I like aiming the tips at an angle, towards my ring and pinky fingers. This seems to keep them from hitting the other strings.

Once you get them set up just to your liking they feel like an extension of your fingers.

.
Some of these guys don't know you are supposed to use picks.

I play without finger picks except when Basil's around.

I observed a "no-picks" player on the Jerry Lewis Telethon backing Jo Dee Messina. I believe he was playing a Carter D-10. (Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but it appeared to be the same guy who once worked with Charley Robison.)

I never could get used to finger picks on the banjo (my apologies to b0b). I feel as if i am detached from the instrument. Same for guitar. I use fingers and flat pick on both standard tuning and slide tunings. Fingers only on lap and pedal steel. I don't seem to have any problems with my fingers taking the punishment. I don't use my nails because they are to thin. They break off and then snag the strings.

24 odd years of classical guitar hackery have made me wary of finger picks. But lately I've started to use 'em solely for the sound, even though they slow me down and they're not terrible comfortable. I use these:

http://www.guptillmusic.com/propik/fingertone.html

I also don't use a pick on my third finger, which has helped me with the transition.[/url]

While I didn't use picks when this thread started,I do now. I spent about 15 minutes a day just picking grips and scales for a few weeks, and after one POOR rehearsal that kicked my butt, I haven't looked back. I find it faster, cleaner, and clearer.

I grew up listening to Chet and Merle, so I've played with a thumbpick since I was 6 or 7, but I have never been able to use fingerpicks. I play guitar, banjo, mandolin, dobro, lap steel, and now pedal steel and while I use fingerpicks on the dobro because of the heavier guage strings, I haven't been able to get used to using them on the steel. I play with my nails, not the fleshy part, and I get a pretty good tone (or so my wife tells me). I play with all my fingers, and not just the first two. I encourage anyone who can to play with picks. I still try them them often, but I just can't get used to them after all these years. I have been using Fred Kelly's picks for years, and he just gave me a demo set of his new fingerpicks that will be out in a month or so. The set he gave me is too small for my fingers but I like them alot. They don't fit like normal fingerpicks, so you guys be on the lookout for them. They might just be the ticket for those who still play with those nakid fingers.

Since over 30 years ago, I developed a four bare finger technique.I use a thumbpick. -- faster technique, better chord structures--endless possibilities! Hear sample: www.steelguitarbyhughjeffreys.com

Better tone without picks if you do it right. I wore them for 45 years, but never again, and now wish I never would have started using them.
Should have listened to Chet when he said to forgettum" (still use a thumb pick)
Bobbe

No picks here either. I use my nails or the fat part of the finger. Find myself picking with 4 fingers and a thumb from time to time without thinking about it.....

Hi bobbe. Got this from you.

On the 12-string guitar, playing without fingerpicks means that the ball of your finger hits both strings. If you use fingerpicks you accentuate the first string that the pick meets, which in the case of the thumbpick is the octave string. For this reason I always reverse the main and octave strings on any 12-string guitar I play, and play without picks. The same thing applies to the lute and cittern.

But I've found that the mandolin never sounds right without a flat pick.

In each case, I'm assuming you're fingerpicking, of course. If I'm playing rhythm or lead guitar I use a flat pick.

The other question is whether anyone plays the steel guitar with a flat pick. When I've asked this question before I've had people say that they do, but they use finger picks too. My question really is whether anyone plays steel guitar using a flat pick the way players like Doc Watson do.

I have seen Joe Wright play without picks several times...usually when he is not actually doing a show and is just messing around.

Alan F. Brookes wrote:The other question is whether anyone plays the steel guitar with a flat pick. When I've asked this question before I've had people say that they do, but they use finger picks too. My question really is whether anyone plays steel guitar using a flat pick the way players like Doc Watson do.

I use a flat pick and 3 fingers. I tried working with the fingerpicks, but recently went back to flatpick and fingers after seeing Junior Brown using this method.

it might feel good at the time, but not using protection has it's consequences!!