Does anyone play with fingers only?

Mike OMalley · From: Virginia, USA

I play a lot of fingerstyle jazz and brazilian guitar. I use fingers only--no fingerpicks, no fussy fingernail tending. It's great for jazz.

I have't tried fingerpicks/thumbpicks in thirty years. I tried, hated them, and that was that.

Now I'm loving lap steel, but noticing everybody plays with fingerpicks. And while I feel like I can get a decent tone with my fingerptips, I notice I tend to lose the highest string a little. Learning to compensate for that would probably be easier than learning to use fingerpicks

How common is it to play a lap steel with naked fingers?

Rick Barnhart · From: Arizona, USA

Mike, I think most use finger picks...I do. If you're getting the tone and feel you like, though, I don't see a need to change what you're doing.
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Erik Alderink · From: Ann Arbor Michigan, USA

Mike, I usually use a thumbpick, but not always. No finger picks most of the time. Although I can and do use them on occasion, I have never had anyone notice or complain when I do not wear them. If you don't want or need them, then don't use them. You will play the instrument more, and enjoy it more if you don't let the fussy little details weigh too heavily on you...

John Dahms · From: Perkasie, Pennsylvania, USA

By the book it is proper technique to use fingerpicks.
I rarely use fingerpicks myself. Even on Dobro or National acoustics. I have always felt I had better control and speed with just "the meat on the strings."
The attack of fingers vs picks is different and tone is different, not so plinky and mechanical in my opinion. That's how I get my sound.
Isn't that what we are doing? Creating? I get to choose my brushes to paint my pictures.
Remember Merle Travis wrapped his thumb around the neck and used it to play bass notes when that was not proper technique and nobody can fault his playing.
Another point about playing without picks is that I can use back-strokes with my fingers and thumb that would send picks across the room if you tried it.
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Pat Agius · From: France

mike, i was like you when i first started to play lap steel, i played with fingers too but i found i could not produce the same consistent tone and volume accross all the strings. so i bought fingerpicks, felt really awkward at first but after a while, you get used to it and now i can't imagine playing without them and most importantly i get a much more consistent tone.

but everybody's different so my advice would be, try them for a little while and see if you can get used to them and then decide which sound you prefer, with or without picks.
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Noah Miller · From: Rocky Hill, CT

I use bare fingers, on electric or acoustic steel. I prefer the sound and I prefer the control I have over dynamics and string balance. Plus, when I pick, I don't actually move my fingers in such a way that picks would work; they just get pushed to the side by the strings.

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

For most of the history of steel guitar playing, fingerpicks were a given. Finger picks can give you a more articulate sound, more volume, clearer harmonics and aid in speed. Playing bare fingered can give you better feel for the instrument and more capability for muting and blocking.

Today, almost all pedal steel players and most lap steel players use fingerpicks. You'd be hard pressed to find a Dobro player who plays without them except when playing at home. With the quality of amplification today, many Weissenborn players and some lap steelers opt to go sans picks.

I spent a long time getting used to fingerpicks but now play without them most of the time. I find it gives me more freedom on the instrument but there is definitely a trade off as the notes are not as clearly articulated,and you lose some of the speed and attack you get with picks. So when the music calls for them, I put them back on. I'd recommend you try it both ways. And sometimes, I even use a flat pick. Check out format Doug Beaumier's cool version of The Lonely Bull played with a flatpick.
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Larry Carlson · From: My Computer

Stephen Abruzzo · From: Philly, PA

Thumbpick and bare fingers for me.

Mike Neer · From: NJ

My suggestion for anyone wanting to try finger picks, but having a hard time, is to get yourself some lighter gauge picks, such .013 or .015, and shape them to fit your fingers perfectly. In time, you won't even know that they're on your fingers, but you will notice when they're not.
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Mike OMalley · From: Virginia, USA

Michael James · From: La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA

I don't use finger picks at all. I play with two different techniques. Hybrid with a standard pick and fingers and open hand where I use all five of my fingers.
To me finger pick would limit me a lot unless I used five of them and I'm not willing to bother with it.
If you don't use finger picks you will develop some very sturdy calluses on your picking hand and your tone will have some bite to it. If you also grow some short fingernails you can get an even better attack if want it.
Finger picks are not for me. Do what works for you.
mj

Stephen Cowell · From: Round Rock, Texas, USA

+1 for no picks at all... I developed a five-finger technique on armpit guitar and just couldn't part with it for steel. There are things you can do that others can't... four- or five-finger chop chords, for one. You lose speed, but you gain feel and accuracy. Go for it.
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Mike Neer · From: NJ

Even with picks on, it is still totally feasible to play with the bare fingers, too.

I've tried several different types of picks in order to be able to pull off some unusual techniques, including mizrabs and Alaska picks. The mizrabs are cool, but I have figured out other ways to pull off the techniques without having to change my picks.
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Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

Whatever works best for you is whatever works best for you. If you prefer the sound of bare fingers, go for it.

I personally prefer the sound of picks, but that's how I grew up playing. My few attempts at bare finger playing didn't sound as good to me.
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Charlie McDonald · From: out of the blue

I like the direct feel of the strings on my fingers, fingernails just long enough.
Old bass player; like Mark Knopfler; and trying out a thumb pick.

Mike OMalley · From: Virginia, USA

Well we are facing a huge storm in DC so I thought "perfect time to check out fingerpicks. " Before the snow hit I went to the local shop (Action music in Falls church, great place) and said "school me on fingerpicks." The owner gave me the rundown, set me up with some picks, and I brought them home, put them on and...

UGH Who EVER thought these were a good idea? They are just as horrible as I remember them being back in the days of phones with long cords. Ugh! Take them off!!! They hurt, they slip around, they destroy any sense of touch, they mess up my hand position and heel damping, you can't mute. Just UGH.

Took a breath, played for a while, put them back on...UGH THESE ARE HORRIBLE!!!! This is an awful experience!

My hat is off to anyone who can play with these gadawful things on their fingers, I salute you sir or madam! I think this is one trick this old dog won't be learning. The fingerpicks are headed for the circular file.

Thank goodness there are many many ways to make music

Fred Kinbom · From: Berlin, Germany, via Stockholm, Sweden.

I use "plain fingers". Feels more natural to me, and suits the sounds I like to make with the lap steel.

I think whatever works for you is good.
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Keith Glendinning · From: United Kingdom

I'm in the "plain finger" camp too. I do occasionally use picks and can manage OK with them, even if I find them uncomfortable. My main reason for not using them is that I use my thumb and 3 or 4 fingers when I play. If I had to wear picks on all fingers I'd be like Freddie Scissor Hands!!!
Keith.

Keith Glendinning · From: United Kingdom

Oops,
That should have read Edward Scissor Hands. Same problem though!!!
Another plus for "plain fingers", your strings will last longer.
Keith.

Mike OMalley · From: Virginia, USA

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Why limit yourself to either/or?

Depending on the instrument I am playing at any given time, or the music that I'm trying to play, I use bare fingers, thumbpick only (a plastic one), flatpick only, plastic thumbpick and plastic fingerpicks, or the more conventional combination of plastic thumbpick and metal fingerpicks.

If you always play just by yourself, it probably won't matter. But especially in any acoustic situation playing with other instruments, if you don't use picks you likely won't be heard by anyone, including yourself.

On my acoustic steels in any multi-instrument situation, I almost always use plastic picks, mainly for the increased volume they project. On electric instruments, I prefer to use metal fingerpicks and let the amp do the heavy lifting.

You won't become comfortable with fingerpicks overnight; it takes time. The most important aspect of acclimating to picks is the adjustment it'll take to make them comfortable. This is a continuous process that involves plenty of experimentation and constant tweaking until you eventually find an acceptable compromise that suits you. Doubt that you learned to play your instrument in just a matter of hours or days; same thing applies when getting accustomed to playing with fingerpicks. Don't give up just yet.

A very good starting point when shaping your picks would be this photo of the right hand of Buddy Emmons:

Dom Franco · From: Beaverton, OR, 97007

I often play without picks, especially when writing out tablature and typing chords on song sheets.

I find the right note/chord on my steel and then write or type.

And sometimes when doubling on telecaster at church I will play without fingerpicks.

But when I perform solo, I need the volume and dynamics that picks provide. Additionally as someone mentioned above. Palm Harmonics would be difficult or nearly impossible without picks.

I use harmonics a lot...

Dom
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Noah Miller · From: Rocky Hill, CT

Mike Neer · From: NJ

A few observations, and this is not to be judgmental, but I think that they are things to consider.

Players who play with fingers, or pickless, tend to pursue more of a personal expression, almost like fingerstyle guitarists in folk music. One player I know who plays pickless is Don Rooke. His playing is unique and he has his own composition style which I think reflects this. Same with Fredrik Kinbom.

Players who are striving for a steel guitar sound that borrows from pedal steel or even more traditional non-pedal or Hawaiian steel sounds really are best served by using picks. Not only is it a tonal consideration, but also many of the different types of picking patterns rely on a lighter touch and a certain type of attack that is difficult without picks.

Steve Cunningham plays with a flatpick and fingers and gets outstanding results; Bill Hatcher uses Alaska picks, which are similar to using fingernails. Raphael McGregor plays pickless, too.

I like to play without picks sometimes, but I don't think there is anything I can do without picks that I can't do with them. I can't say the same of the opposite, though. But I have been playing for about 15 years now with picks. I took me about a year to get used to them, and early on I was playing a National tricone acoustically with a group, which would have been impossible for me without picks. I used heavy picks at the time, too. When I switched back to electric, I went with lighter gauge.

I used to think I couldn't grab the strings and get that funky kind of snap like you can get with bare fingers, but it is something that can be developed with picks, especially lighter ones. I'm talking about that Jerry Reed kind of thing, if you know what I mean.

Yes, there is absolutely nothing wrong with playing without picks, and if in playing situations with others it still works for you, than you should continue with what makes you feel and sound best. But for me, there is nothing like a perfectly fitted set of picks.
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