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Topic: Finger Pick question |
Vincent Martini
From:
Shingle Springs, California, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2003 12:08 pm |
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Being a beginner at the Pedal Steel... it is going to take me ahwile to get used to finger picks.. and thumb pick.
I use a finger picking style ALOT when I play my guitar.... but, I never use PICKS.
Is this going to take alot of time getting used to?
When I go out and get picks..... is there anything I need to consider? Do any of you have any suggestions?
Again.. thanks for all your imput..... I know my questions are very remedial.... but, I am at step one!
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Bill Moore
From:
Manchester, Michigan
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Posted 29 Jul 2003 12:35 pm
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Vencent, one of the nice features of this forum is search function. Look up the page, under the gray box that says "add a reply". On the search page, try typing in "finger picks", in the pedal steel forum/archive. This one has been asked before, so you will find many past topics on finger picks. Or, you could just buy some of Jeff Newman's picks. 
Good luck.
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Bill Moore...
my steel guitar web page
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2003 12:36 pm
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You have to use picks!!!!! Or the next time you play somebody will start throwing rocks at you!
Uff-Da! |
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Steven Welborn
From:
Ojai,CA USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2003 2:11 pm
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| If you can put a little regular time into Joe Wrights secret of the wright hand course you'll get there much quicker. Wish I'd begun that course back when... |
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Dr. Hugh Jeffreys
From:
Southaven, MS, USA
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Bob Metzger
From:
Waltham (Boston), MA, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2003 3:38 pm
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aaahhh....
The Tools Of Ignorance! |
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Vincent Martini
From:
Shingle Springs, California, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2003 3:58 pm
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Thanks for the advice on the FAQs.... I haven't really tooled around this site yet.... just have TONS of questions!
Well...... I may just not use FINGER picks.... the thumb pick seems comfortable... and useful... the finger picks kind of get in the way.
I already checked out Joe Wright's site... very good stuff.
Thanks again all. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 29 Jul 2003 4:23 pm
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Vincent, the only srious drawback I can see to playing without picks is that it might limit your speed. I have seen several steelers play without finger picks, but I haven't seen anyone play really fast stuff on pedal steel without them.
On the other hand...I have seen flamenco guitarists do some incredibly fast stuff, but the string spacing is much greater on a 6-string guitar. Perhaps some day...we will all be amazed by a 6-string pedal steel player! |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 30 Jul 2003 1:35 am
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Vincent, welcome to this very strage world we live in..
Playing with picks is obviously more common than without. Is one right and the other wrong ? Who knows,
I play Steel with picks, always did, I play my Tele'(and Bass)without any picks and pick off my fingertips, have been for 25 years.. for me it's a tone and attack thing. The Tele' is very defined in tone with fresh strings and finger pickin'. I feel the Steel is very defined in tone with picks..go figure...who knows, maybe I made that up..
Buddy uses picks..they can't be that bad..
Jimmy Messina ( Poco, Loggins and Messina) plays Tele' without picks..he was my earliest influence for tone on this instrument.many more followed.
As you can tell, many of us up here , even after 25 years are still trying to figure out if we should play Steel with picks or without !
I would say use picks on the Steel, stick with it, like everything else on this Instrument it will come with practice.
good luck on your journey
tp
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Greg Vincent
From:
Folsom, CA USA
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Posted 30 Jul 2003 7:29 am
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Vincent,
Finger picks feel bizarre at first. That's just a fact. But it's worth sticking with them.
I fell in love with the sound of the steel guitar that I heard on records & radio. All those sounds were made by players wearing finger picks. That answered the picks / no picks question for me. -GV |
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John Kavanagh
From:
Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada * R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Jul 2003 11:13 am
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| oops [This message was edited by John Kavanagh on 30 July 2003 at 12:15 PM.] |
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John Kavanagh
From:
Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada * R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Jul 2003 11:14 am
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The other thing is, bare fingers sound great at home - you can control attack better, get all kinds of muting effects, it's prettier to most ears, and so on.
But, on stage you really want the extra bite in the sound that fingerpicks give you. It's not volume (you can always turn the amp up), it's the actual quality of sound and its place in the tonal mix. Once the band is playing, all those subtleties become less important than being heard in the mix, and that's so much easier with picks.
I've started half-a-dozen gigs without fingerpicks, and always wound up putting them on after two tunes.
So they're worth getting used to. |
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Larry Robbins
From:
Fort Edward, New York
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Posted 30 Jul 2003 2:10 pm
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Well said John!!
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Sho-Bud ProII
"there's been an awful murder, down on music row!"
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Ken Fox
From:
Nashville GA USA
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Posted 1 Aug 2003 4:39 pm
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| I have played six string for over 30 years with a thumb pick and fingers only. I have fought steel picks for 20 years on steel guitar and always ended up taking them off. I agree, the tone is far better with them! I saw the picks that Billy Phelps used while I was in Dallas a few years ago. They are Ernie Ball "pinky picks" (pointed bango picks, maybe?). I have been using them for about a year and now will not play without picks! I just tried regular picks again the other night and found them much easier to use! I think the Ernie Ball picks have really helped me get used to steel picks. I find the tone of the regular picks more solid than the Ernie Ball picks. Maybe I will get used to the them after all! At any rate, Billy gets a great tone with the Ernie Ball picks. |
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Budd Kelley
From:
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
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Posted 1 Aug 2003 4:52 pm
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Vincent,
Now you have to decide how many finger picks to wear! From previous discussions, I want to wear 3 - but I can't keep the 3rd out of the way yet.
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Carter-Starter, the cutest little Peavey you ever saw, and now a BJS bar!
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Les Pierce
From:
Shreveport, LA
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Posted 1 Aug 2003 11:09 pm
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In my opinion, your fingers are the only thing finger picking a standard guitar and finger picking a pedal steel have in common. I played standard 6 string guitar for 25+ years before seriously taking up the pedal steel, and I can tell you that the technique you used on your standard guitar will not transfer over to the pedal steel. I think that when you begin to concentrate on the various "blocking" techniques, you will be glad you decided to wear the picks on your fingers. (Remember you won't have your left hand to block like you did on the 6 string). The picks will definitely aid you in obtaining an aggresive attack, and positive tone.
I agree, at first they feel completely wrong, and you will hit many a wrong string (a problem I still fight with, but it's getting better all the time), but it won't be long until you'll feel lost without them.
That's my 2 cents, anyway.
Take care,
Les |
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John De Maille
From:
On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.
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Posted 2 Aug 2003 8:41 am
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| I've played 6 string standard guitar, since I was 8 yrs old, In the late 60's, I learned to play finger style, with a thumb pick. When I first started to play the steel,I played without the metal finger picks.They were so uncomfortable, I couldn't get used to them. But, I could never get that clean, crisp sound thet the steel had. So, I practiced tirelessly until they became second nature to me. I wouldn't ever consider playing without them now. Keep trying and you will definitely get used to them, and never be without them. |
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