The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm a crusty old bass player and acoustic 6 string finger picker, but still a rank beginner on the PSG. My right hand pickin' fingers are well calloused and I find that just using a thumb pick and no finger picks on my steel gives me much better control of my tone without the un-wanted scratchy effect of the picks.
I've noticed even Bobbe Seymour on some of his videos plays without finger picks.
Is this considered acceptable or should I force myself to get comfortable with the picks if I ever want to be serious about playing this instrument ?

I say play how you want. There is no law.

What Brian said...If it feels good/sounds good, do it. Getting a new set of finger picks to fit, and feel right is the most aggravating thing about playing PSG
BF

Pedal steels usually have the strings pretty close together, and picks can make it easier to pick one string while letting the others ring. Also, you can pick harder and get more sustain with picks. And they give a twangier tone. Those are some of the reasons most pedal steelers use finger picks. But as you pointed out, there are some great pedal steelers such as Bobbe Seymour who use their bare fingers. Dr Hugh Jeffries gets some beautiful and complex jazz tones using his bare fingers.

i say do both - with & without

better to know how to play w: fingerpicks & not know how to play without them
than to play without fingerpicks & not know how to play with them

I have had quite a few students with the same issue. Classical guitar players in particular. My advise is to do whats comfortable at first and see how it goes. If they stick with it and practice they put on the finger picks after they know the instrument a bit. The picks won't be such a problem once you get down the road a little.

The first problem new guys usually have is that they put the picks on backwards.

You'll have a softer tone. The traditional country pedal steel sound requires metal finger picks. If you don't need to get that sound, you can use bare fingers of course.

Personally, I don't have the discipline to keep my nails in shape.

Maybe I should frequent E's Nails - it's nearby:

I learned to use finger picks on steel but did not like the sound I got with them on six string guitar, although they sound fine when others use them. If you have to double on guitar and steel it would be nice to use just a thumb pick and bare fingers. Just my opinion, of course.

Do both, but start with fingers, i.e. no picks. If you don't use your nails on guitar, then your tone on steel with be softer, but by no means bad, just different. If you use nails, the tone will be about 80% of what metal picks give you.

For finger picks, I highly recommend the ProPik fingertone picks.

There are some licks I need finger picks for, there are others where the picks are just in the way.

David Doggett wrote:Pedal steels usually have the strings pretty close together, and picks can make it easier to pick one string while letting the others ring.

I know that this is not true for me (the picks make close spaced strings easier to play bit,) and I suspect it's not true for anyone with classical guitar training, but I gots no figures to back it up

David Doggett wrote:Also, you can pick harder and get more sustain with picks.

Again, if you use your nails, this is really not true in my experience, though I will admit I tend to play with a heavier hand when using picks. Not as much subtly is involved for me with picks compared to bare fingers.

David Doggett wrote:And they give a twangier tone.

Now this I agree with 100%!

I'd suggest that you get some Jeff Newman picks, and some of his beginners courses. Learning proper technique from the start will save you a lot of wasted time. Jeffran.com
Just my opinion, but proven by many, many steel players. Good luck.

There is no right or wrong way to do anything. My preference is using a thumb pick that looks like its made out of horned rim glasses material (old ones). And use old "National" finger picks. Yes the ones from the late 50's, and 60's. Still have some that do not have the USA stamped on them. Sound great, even on my 5-string.

That's funny, I was just thinking the same thing just the other day...
When I first started playing, sometime around 2006, I couldn't stand finger picks! I ended up packing my guitar up for a year after I broke a knee lever bracket (E-F, which I still haven't replaced... kinda forced me to try bar slants!)
I pulled it back out again recently and started playing again, this time with much more dedication and determination... some real fervor! A few visits down to Portland to visit my dad and watch some of his shows with steel players like Harley James, Larry Behm, Dave Graff, Lynn Stafford sit in with his band really sparked my interest back up!
Anyway...
I still had a hard time with finger picks and I decided that I would just wear them... Around the house, at school, all day, everyday!
I know it seems weird and it might not work depending on your job, but just wearing them around the house on a Saturday really helped it to feel a bit more natural. It's kinda weird feeling at first and then I found myself typing away on internet forums just as natural-like as anything!
I use them all the time now and it's really no problem, except that I find myself kinda tweaking the pick side to side depending on how I'm practicing my blocking at the time and how it affects my attack and all this stuff I'm still learning!
You'll get used to them, believe me!

Thanks for the encouragement guys, all great replies . . it's true the metal picks, if you fuss a bit with the fit . . and DON'T put them on backwards !
do sound great . . it's the traditional steel tone were all fond off, bright clean and sparkly. I guess old habits are hard to break and it's only natural to take the short cut if it seems to work . . but I'm going to keep trying to work the picks into my practice. It's nice to know that I'm not out of line by playin' bare fingered . .
and bOb . . my wife spends enough time and money in the local nail salon for all of us

I play the six string with fingers only. I have never played with picks as I mostly play fingerstyle. I started years ago in a band playing bass with fingers and can't get used to picks.
I tried growing fingernails but the only one that was strong is my thumb. So I heard on another forum about some players getting fingernails put on. I thought it was shall we say strange but not being one to wimp out on a challenge I tried it 3 times. The first girl put on nails that were fantastic. They were incredibly strong and lasted quite awhile. They never fell off or wore out, they simply grew out but boy did it hurt getting them put on. She had to grind down the originals to the point where they were almost gone. That hurt. I think she was in charge of one of those prisoner camps where they practice torture... or maybe I reminded her of her "ex".
The second and third girls did a pathetic job. They were useless and didn't last. The fingernails that is.
However with the PSG I learned with picks and that was that, although I can understand the interest in playing "naked".

I forgot to mention.
After the "surgery" my playing improved enormously. Every aspect from ease of playing, to tone, to attack accuracy, to volume, you name it, improved and unless you really looked you wouldn't notice the "implants", because they weren't that much bigger, just thicker and slightly proud of my fingers and boy were they tough!
Any guitar player cuts fingers to the quick on the fretboard side anyways which can look unusual.
I didn't get it done again because the first girl was very hard to get an appointment with and I only visited town occasionally.

I hope everyone's aware that metal fingerpicks must be bent to match the contour of your fingers. Most of them don't work right out of the box. I use needle nose pliers to shape them.

b0b wrote:I hope everyone's aware that metal fingerpicks must be bent to match the contour of your fingers. Most of them don't work right out of the box. I use needle nose pliers to shape them.

Hey, what about posting some close up pictures of how people wear their fingerpicks? I have had a hard time finding out about that. Both sides of the fingers that is. Do you bend the "ears" around the nail? And where is the tip of the pick? I have found it hard to see in detail from the videos I have.

BTW For 6-sting playing I also tried the trick with glue on ladies' nails about 30 years ago. The store assistants really gave me a weird look when I went to buy them. Don't think they believed I was going to use them for guitar playing.