Playing with only a thumbpick

Ryan Barwin · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I've been using picks for years and always felt pretty comfortable with them. Lately, the skin around my nails has been irritated and using picks makes it worse. So I was practicing yesterday without picks (just a thumbpick) and found that I had a lot more speed, and my blocking was way better. There also seems to be an advantage in using the third finger for picking...I couldn't ever play with a third fingerpick without interfering with blocking. The tone was also really nice. I think I'm going to keep playing like that.

Anyone else play with just a thumbpick?
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Pat Comeau · From: New Brunswick, Canada

Hi Ryan,
I've played without finger picks for almost 20 years and thought i was doing alright until i started playing with finger picks a few months ago, at first it was really weird and felt awkward but i'm getting a better tone and notes definiton with picks and i don't seem to miss the notes as often has i use too, like you i have more speed without picks but the notes are not as clean as with picks, i think the speed will come eventualy with picks, the tone is alot smoother with just a thump pick, maybe you should try and find other finger picks that would feel and fit better for you Smile

Pat C.
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Ryan Meals · From: Pittsburgh, PA

Ryan,

I am a new steel player in just the past month or so when I got my first S-10. I agree that the picks are a tough one, I am much more comfortable thus far with a thumbpick and using either two or three fingers. I like being able to use my ring finger with no fingerpicks on. Like many on here, I came from 6-string land and I'm already very comfortable with the fingers. I can move MUCH faster without fingerpicks, but maybe in a couple years I'll have a different stance on it once I dedicate time to the fingerpicks.
When I do have all the picks on, I can't seem to get the angle of my hand correct to have both the finger and thumb picks come off of the strings right. That is in addition to missing strings fairly often. Perhaps it's just a matter or time... but does anyone have advice on getting the angle correct to have both the thumb and finger picks to come off the strings the best?

-Ryan
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Steve Becker · From: Daytona Beach FL

try bending your picks at a right angle, so they point upward and extending your thumb.

Dave Hopping · From: Aurora, Colorado

I've tried playing without fingerpicks,and it was physically easier in the ways Ryan mentions,but it didn't really work for me tonewise.It was also chewing up my right-hand fingernails,which I leave a bit long for 6 string hybrid-picking.Just seemed easier to go back to fingerpicks(I use 3) and woodshedding my technique a little more.

Bob Vantine · From: Freeville, New York, USA

Check out Bobbe Seymour .
I always hated finger picks , then I found out he doesn't use them and I didn't feel so nervous . Shocked

Another thing is coated picks that don't cut in so bad . Confused

3rd.... I end up dropping them and somebody steps on them.....usually ME ! So being able to go bare helps . Laughing

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Gary Newcomb · From: AustinTexas, USA

Hey Ryan, I know how you feel. I played for nine years with just a thumbpick. Then a year and a half ago donned the picks. I thought I'd never go back but know I'll go both ways depending on the song or the gig. Going back and forth increases my sonic vocabulary.
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Ryan Meals · From: Pittsburgh, PA

Gary,

Ultimately I will need to be able to use both, picks and fingers. I guess I just need to figure out the right way to bend them, I'll go do a search on the forum as I realize this has to be a topic that comes up often when new players have questions.

Are there some good pictures of bent fingerpicks bent for pedal steel somewhere? A banjo player would end up bending them slightly different? and hey - why don't they just come in a couple 'pre-bend' configurations that people can buy?
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Geoff Cline · From: Southwest France

I'm a thumb pick only pedal steel guy. Came from playing guitars for a LONG time before trying pedal steel. Bobbe Seymour's tone and style convinced me that, while picks are more traditional and may provide certain benefits to players who are/become comfortable using them, they ARE NOT requisite for great tone or speed on PSG.

I'm experimenting with NO picks at all. Jeff Beck has always been an inspiration to me.

Jim Robbins · From: Ontario, Canada

Hi Ryan,
I sometimes play with just a thumbpick & sometimes have the same problem with cuticles getting sore. Flip side is, if you're playing a long time without picks your fingers get sore so now I'll switch back & forth -- when my cuticles get sore the picks come off for a while. I like thumbpick only on C6 for a fatter sound. Being able to switch gives you a broader tonal range which can be handy if you're playing all night.

I find it's a trade off in terms of technique -- picks take some getting used to but some things are much easier with picks, like playing repeated notes with the same fingers.

Never tried coated picks but I used to wrap pieces of cloth band-aid around them which padded them and kept them from slipping. I don't bother with that anymore.

I also played without any picks for a while, mainly because I was doubling on six string and hated hunting around for picks when switching on stage. But I find a thumbpick makes for a more even sound especially when doing crossovers.

Chris Buchanan · From: Macomb, IL

When I started playing only 3 years ago, I used bare fingers. After awhile, I decided to use fingerpicks because I liked the tone and attack they gave. Plus it was way easier on the fingers and nails. After a long 2 and a half years, I recently switched to an old pair of Dunlops I had (I use Nationals now) and was amazed at how much better my playing seemed to be. My point is, it may be the act of switching styles that acounts for your switch of preferences. Try the fingerpicks again, when your fingernails all shred, and I'll bet you'll see improvement with the picks.
For the record, I'm all for folks playing however they like.
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Rick Schmidt · From: Prescott AZ, USA

IMO, everyone who is serious about learning to play the steel should put in the time learning to comfortably play with finger picks. There's a certain even, punchy tone that they give that should be in every players standard bag!

That said, I think that playing with just a thumbpick opens up an entirely different approach for me. As a finger style guitar player originally, I love the directness and sensitivity that bare fingers let me have on steel guitar. At least that's the way it seems when I'm practicing my chord melody stuff at home. I seem to make noticeably fewer mistakes on the more difficult string grips. If I ever do another public jazz gig I'll definitely leave the picks at home just to see if I'm right.

Josh Yenne · From: Sonoma California

yea took me a while too.... VERY awkward at first.. but I really do think that the 'consistency' one gets between the thumb and fingers in tone and attack is the best thing about using the picks.

Brandon Wright · From: Austin, Texas, USA

with my picks on backwards cause i honestly thought thats how they were worn.

My friend that plays banjo was like...hey man thats the wrong way. I tried to put em on right but i just hated the way they felt. But after a while that string scracth sound you get from having your picks on backwards got to me and i made myself play with em on the right way.

My friends dad plays alot of double stops and chicken picking style of guitar and he told me to wear my picks for a couple days straight with out taking them off and after a while it becomes part of you. It stops feeling weird and becomes the norm.

I agree Nationals feel alot better than dunlop.

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