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Topic: picks........finger picks vs flatpickin |
Carroll Hale
From: EastTexas, USA
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Posted 8 Sep 2008 9:45 am
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coming from a long line and history of flatpickin I have only been playing a reso for a year of so...it is much easier for me to do fast pickin using a reg flat pick..than the thumb and finger picks...I use the thumb and finger picks on most of the slower songs and especially when I really need to play 2 or more strings at a time..... but, for just plain fast songs.....I prefer the single flat pick
any one else have any thoughts or opinions on this..
just curious on how the rest of ya do it...
thanks,
ch |
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Ian
From: San Francisco, CA
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Posted 8 Sep 2008 11:08 am
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Caroll,
I used to play guitar with a flat pick years ago. I found getting used to fingerpicks initially difficult when I switched to dobro. However, I've grown so used to them that I couldn't imagine ever going back (I do use a flat pick for lap steel occasionally). You will be able to play much faster - eventually - once you acquire some basic skills. I highly recommend Michael Witcher's Resonator Guitar: Tunes, Techniques & Practice Skills - it's a great book.
In addition to playing faster (I feel that speed is a mere side effect of proficiency) 2 finger picks and a thumb pick will enable you to play in a much more dynamic manner - imagine playing the piano with only one finger.
As for the pro's, I believe Tut Taylor played with a flat pick. There may be others but the concensus is that finger and thumb picks is the way to go; most dobro tablature reflects this.
Best of luck,
Ian |
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Carroll Hale
From: EastTexas, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2008 9:46 am
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thanks for the comments.....been off dodging hurricanes..........keeping an eye on IKE now..
trying to force myself to use the thumb/finger picks more as I practice...getting better the more I play...still use the flat pick when I really need to do some fast pickin...
have a great day...hope we can avoid IKE>...
later,
ch |
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John Bushouse
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Posted 10 Sep 2008 10:30 am
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I saw Joe Diamond's grandson (whose name I can't recall) playing steel with Cyril Pahinui a few years ago. He played with a flatpick and fingerpicks on his middle and ring finger - a hybrid style like country pickers use. You might give it a try, Carroll. |
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Jon Nygren
From: Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2008 12:31 pm
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John Bushouse wrote: |
I saw Joe Diamond's grandson (whose name I can't recall) playing steel with Cyril Pahinui a few years ago. He played with a flatpick and fingerpicks on his middle and ring finger - a hybrid style like country pickers use. You might give it a try, Carroll. |
Thats what I do. I do a lot of hybrid picking on regular guitar, so I learned steel this way with a flatpick, fingerpicks on middle and ring. |
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Chuck Mahoney
From: New Jersey, USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2008 6:10 pm
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i could not get used to playing with thumb/fingerpicks at all - Now I just use my bare fingers. I prefer to be able to feel the strings when I play. (I use a flatpick when I play standard guitar) I had an email exchange with Doug MacLeod about this, and he said "do what's comfortable". So that's what I do  |
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Gary Boyett
From: Colorado/ Lives in Arizona
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Posted 14 Sep 2008 6:51 pm
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Here is a clip of Dick Meis playing with a flat pick, and two finger picks.
Dick Meis
There are quite a few videos of Dick playing pedal and non-pedal.
I would say he has it down pretty well. When I asked him about it he just said when he started he didn't know any better. Now it's too late. |
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Rob Anderlik
From: Chicago, IL
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Posted 15 Sep 2008 3:55 am
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Just about any technique is a starting point; to quote Jimmy Heffernan: "there are lots of ways to around the barn."
Just thinking out loud, but it seems to me that certain techniques - especially banjo type rolls and right hand blocking/pick blocking, lend themselves to playing with a thumbpick and fingerpicks or in a fingerstyle right hand position using your thumb for downstrokes and your fingers for upstrokes.
With that said, Tut Taylor plays with a flatpick. Seems to work for him!
Regards,
Rob Anderlik |
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Bill Leff
From: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 15 Sep 2008 12:04 pm
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I play with thumbpick and 2 fingerpicks and play mostly with a flatpick on guitar.
One thing I can't do very well with the thumbpick and fingerpicks is fast strumming (or "framming" as the Sacred Steelers call it). The backward strokes don't work well.
Any tips on this highly appreciated! |
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Rob Anderlik
From: Chicago, IL
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Posted 18 Sep 2008 3:04 am
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Rob Anderlik wrote: |
Just about any technique is a starting point; to quote Jimmy Heffernan: "there are lots of ways around the barn."
Just thinking out loud, but it seems to me that certain techniques - especially banjo type rolls and right hand blocking/pick blocking, lend themselves to playing with a thumbpick and fingerpicks or in a fingerstyle right hand position using your thumb for downstrokes and your fingers for upstrokes.
With that said, Tut Taylor plays with a flatpick. Seems to work for him!
Regards,
Rob Anderlik |
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Peter Jacobs
From: Northern Virginia
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Posted 18 Sep 2008 6:32 am
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I just saw Kasey Chambers (Australian music superstar and ironically, an "Americana"-music goddess) last night. Her dad, Bill, is a multi-instrumentalist who played reso and lap steel much of the night (plus mando and electric guitar).
He used a Stevens bar and a flat pick and got great tone and his playing was awesome -- very emotional, appropriate and spot on. He translated his guitar technique to steel perfectly. He did some country, C6-sounding stuff, and you'd never have known he wasn't fingerpicking . He had great volume pedal technique, too.
Peter _________________ Peter
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www.splinterville.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@splinterville6278/videos |
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Carroll Hale
From: EastTexas, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2008 11:10 am
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Carroll Hale wrote: |
thanks for the comments.....been off dodging hurricanes..........keeping an eye on IKE now..
trying to force myself to use the thumb/finger picks more as I practice...getting better the more I play...still use the flat pick when I really need to do some fast pickin...
have a great day...hope we can avoid IKE>...
later,
ch |
well...we did not avoid IKE...but we did come out better than most folks here in se tex....ended up evac to hammond la....are back in texas now....no power at beaumont home.....staying at farm house in jasper cty.....have power..food..water...and a cool place to lay my head...we are so blessed and happy to be here.....God bless all those folks in the houston/galveston areas ..still w/o power..etc..
hopefully, someday we can have some sort of normalcy back in our lives......to all of ya..have a great..safe day.....wind and rain free..
ch |
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