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My introduction to guitar took place in the late 60s when an old, revered classical guitar instructor placed the Carcassi method book on his music stand and I finger-picked my first arpeggio. Flamenco replaced classical, then the Beatles replaced Carlos Montoya, then came high school and girls, and the guitar was promptly relegated to some dark place beneath my bed.
Decades later, my interest in playing has been reignited, but I am struggling. Pick or fingers? Muscle memory—even after a forty year absence—has me stuck in a in a method that is a strong draw, the classical/flamenco finger picking approach. There is a precedence in the Blues guitar arena for both. The Kings (Freddie and Albert) both essentially pluck with their fingers, though Freddie was not opposed to a thumb pick. There are many other exponents of fingerstyle playing, a list that includes Robbie Robertson, Bruce Cockburn, Mark Knopfler, Duane Allman, Ry Cooder, and even Jeff Beck.
The difference between these two approaches is significant in the end product, especially concerning tone. I offer you two good examples linked below.
FIRST EXAMPLE is Freddie King playing his original, “Hideaway” (1st link): followed by Stevie Ray Vaughn’s cover of the same song (2nd link).
SECOND EXAMPLE is the classic The Sky Is Crying performed by Steve Ray Vaughn (pick) and Albert King (fingers)FRIST EXAMPLE
Freddie King – Hide Away (Live)
Stevie Ray Vaughn’s version of Hideaway
SECOND EXAMPLE
Stevie Ray Vaughan, B B King, Albert King, Paul Butterfield – The Sky Is Crying
So, fellow guitar lovers, I ask, which approach is better suited for Blues guitar? Pick or fingers. Any feedback, pros and cons, would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Dave R.
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Dave, I’ll stick with fingers. I say that because I still have the image of an old blues player sit’n on his front porch somewhere in Mississippi face’n them cotton fields on a hot an humid evening letting them fingers dance upon them 6 strings.
The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete
It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete
Pete
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Hey Dave, great post. I’ve heard people argue either way but I would say if I were just getting started and I could play either way, I would chose to play with my fingers and skip the pick. Why handicap yourself with a pick when it’s really not necessary? The one argument always seems to be around speed, but take a listen to how fast Mark Knopfler can play using his 3 fingers. The other factor for me is tone – playing with flesh on the string sound so much softer and more organic than a piece of plastic. I can really control dynamics with my fingers much better than I can with a pick. That said, I’m too reliant on a pick when I play live, so I always use one 🙂
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That’s a great question, and I’ve thought about it a lot, because I never use a pick, and sometimes think I should. So it’s a rainy Sunday night and here’s some long thoughts on the topic.
Partly I don’t use a pick because of my learning curve: started playing in the early 60s as folk music guitarist with Travis-style alternate thumb picking; learned classical along the way; then blended the two into what’s now called finger-style. My long-term goal was to play melody while accompanying myself with chords.
For all of those styles, I always preferred to leave my right hand unencumbered with a pick, and take advantage of my right hand fingers. So now I’ve been playing for 50 years without a pick, and perfectly comfortable with that approach.
But my true love is playing electric blues, and almost all of my colleagues in that world use a pick. They’re amazed that I don’t use a pick. Like Brian said, I lose some speed, but speed is not my goal, and beside, for some extra speed (ie, more notes) I can always use my left hand to do extra trills and hammers and pull offs to add notes and texture. In fact, that’s become a distinctive style of my playing, lots of left hand hammers, etc., and Brian’s lessons on what I call “back rolling” have really helped to add extra notes.
But beyond that, it’s feeling and nuance and emotion that I’m going for, and I think I get more of that with my fingers than with a pick. I just love the direct contact of flesh and string, and I often hear a clicking sound when people use picks, as opposed to a softer, more “organic” sound of fingers and strings. So I “feel” more nuance and emotion through my fingers, and hopefully that carries through in how I play and the feeling I convey.
So I’m glad I never really used a pick, and feel much more comfortable with direct contact. Plus, even in blues improvising, I can occasionally throw in some little right hand multiple finger action that you could never capture with a pick.
It’s all personal preference, it depends what you want to play, what sound you’re going for, what feels comfortable. No rules, just personal preference, and for me that’s playing without a pick.
Thanks for asking.
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Thanks to all respondents for your thoughtful feedback. Terrific insights that help me put to rest what has been a difficult decision. If I might borrow from B.B. King, with a slight variation, THE PICK IS GONE.
The wonderful, heartfelt quote below, from CANADA MOOSE, made the decision easy:
‘…it’s feeling and nuance and emotion that I’m going for, and I think I get more of that with my fingers than with a pick….So I “feel” more nuance and emotion through my fingers, and hopefully that carries through in how I play and the feeling I convey…’Well said!
Lastly, both fast tempo and the ability to “attack” are two pivotal aspects of Blues that I thought might be sacrificed by players who forego the pick for fingers. I think if anyone who listens to this beautiful Buleria (as played by Justo Fernández) will agree that with 10 skilled and nimble fingers the possibilities are limitless.
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I started with fingerstyle, but when I bloodied my right hand playing to aggressively, I went with the pick. I had (have) bad right hand technique and would sometimes strum with my finger joints, forming bloody blisters. Pick solved that, as I can get the same volume with much less force.
In some music styles, you can’t go without good picking (bluegrass is one good example), but I think both styles are perfectly OK for blues.
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Inzeresting views here on this subject and I have to damit tha I am a bit surprised. But anyway, I am one of those (few?) who favour the pick. By a wide margin, I may add. Some of you max disagree, but to me it feels that I can add many more variations in tone and feeling with a pick. Yes, the plastic click is disturbing, but you can work around that. Other reasons I like the pick better is the volume and the attack. Soft notes are nice, but with me leaning towards Rock music a pick is indispensable. Having said that, I am still excited about the Mark Knopfler lesson and EP120, ie hybrid picking. I think that will take me somewhat towards finger style without its disadvantages (as I see it) and expand my skills on the guitar in general. Some hybrid picking songs have a very fast tempo and I like that. Someday I hope to get near that speed.
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Pick for two reasons, Jimi and Stevie. Having said that, why choose? Hybrid picking offers some very neat sounds you can’t get with the pick, can’t beat beautiful finger style on an acoustic, the finger picking tone of a J.J. Cale is amazing and those country “chicken pickers” are among some of the fastest players around. I intend to continue working toward being as good as I can be with both.Just wish my fingernails would stop breaking.
John -
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To Charjo: you changed my mind, again.
“…why choose? …I intend to continue working toward being as good as I can be with both.”
Well said. Why not experience both styles? If I focus on one, I’ll miss the other, and I’m on this journey for giggles and to lift my spirits. So, I’ve been experiencing with a thumb pick a la Johnny Winter, and it seems almost like a middle ground between the flat pick and straight out finger picking.
Appreciate all the replies. Terrific feedback!
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I’m much at home playing finger-style , so if i have no pick, no biggy becausemuch my earlier years I played finger-style on acoustic guitars like my ovation legend and ballidear so i learned finger-style and pretty much at home on electric with just my fingers too. But to get the picking sound when needed, I like leaning towards a heavy pick (especially fast hybrid picking on both acoustic and electric. So far after many comparisons and reading what others prefer to use in that particular style/genre,I found a 1.3 mm big jazz style pick suites most the time with the exception to strumming with a very flexible (thinner) .30mm pick for say my 12 string (D12 Martin dreadnought).. you will know the difference right away comparing these two mm sizes for sure. I enjoy hybrid picking (country chicken picking etc.) ,, I definitely recommend learning to use just your thumb and all four finger (that being thumb / index middle,, but even some genres require the ring and pinky finger too! I own a fleminco (nylon stringed Yamaha CG 171-SF guitar i hardly play it because i have over a dozen other guitars and haven’t been studying any that genre of late right now I’m concentrating on beginner jazz and blues and theory..that is learning the fret board /notes chords scales and comping not reading music ..Gear so far,, my Carvin 550 and ge smith tele.. i also have a usa american strat and traditional les paul usa SG and a wasburn wi 64-dl and ovations,, also bought a parlor 70 alverez and couple more cheap priced but good sounding acoustics.. if it doesn’t sound good or play well, or i just want a better guitar,, i may sell a few..lol But for choosing a pick..Depends what type guitar /strings /genre you are playing..they are certainly cheap enough and you should start by buying an assortment pack of many sizes.. i have them all two inches from my keypad .. hope i helped answer your question but if you need more info, you can what ask the players or research what you want to learn about the picks to use.
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Strictly fingerstyle for acoustic and hybrid picking for electric. I learned Travis style picking back in the 90s and then single string droning of the Delta blues a little later. It was actually a little difficult to from multi-string alternating bass to the single note bass
My current quest is to develop the ability to palm the pick in order to play fingerstyle on electric when needed. Its not the easiest trick to perfect and its easy to see why pro players have so many picks hanging from their mic stand
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Hi David,
I use both Pick and Finger-picking. I started out learning finger style, and started using a pick much later, when a guitar-instructor asked me why I was using my fingers, and that “you must use a pick!” However, that’s not true: I much prefer finger-picking, especially when playing softer pieces. I just like the feel of finger-picking arpeggios through chords of songs.
Here is an example of some finger picking that I enjoyed doing: “Going to California” by Led Zeppelin. Basically, at the start, I alternated between D sus4, D and D sus 2, (which allowed me to pull-off and Hammer-on with the left hand while finger-picking with the right hand.) “Someone told me there’s a girl out there”: for those lines I use G and D. There’s also a passage with D Minor, A7, and A7 Sus4. So basically it’s all chord-work with finger-picking: great fun!
David, looking forward to hearing some of your finger-picking….
Cheers,
Rich F.
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Played with nothing but a pick from when I started, at 14, until my mid twenties. I started taking finger style lessons then, and grew the nails on my right hand, which I still have and which a lot of people think are weird. Right now I would say my mix is about 90% finger style and 10% with a pick. I’ve also messed around with finger picks and thumb picks. They help a lot with speed and volume, but you lose touch.
The main advantage of picks are some speed, a lot of volume, and some tonal choices. Also, the strumming is just different with a pick. The advantage of finger style is a different tonal pallet and easier to play selected voicings,especially ones that require non-adjacent strings. And of course, the ability to play two or more lines at once.
The reason I don’t use a pick much is because I never got very fast anyway, and I am just too lazy to have one around all the time. Much rather be able to just pick up the guitar and play.
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