Do you fingerpick?

If so, do you use flesh, your grown-out nails, fake nails? How about those picks that fit on the fingers like the old blues guys did, before one had to be so manly like the modern guys who don't use them? Frankly, it pisses me off that I am expected to fingerpick with flesh like John Mayer and Sam Beam. WTF? The blues guys in the old days used "finger picks" whatever you call them that fit on the fingers. Now none of the modern guys do that.

I can't figure out finger picking w/ steel strings. I either am too quiet or I grab too much of the string and practically rip it out of the nut. I also don't like the idea of having long fingernails on my right hand as I go about the rest of my life. Yet many of the songs I love and want to learn how to play are fingerpicked. I try to play them with precise plectrum picking, which is good practice, but I know I'm not really doing it the right way.

I learned finger picking in the classical (PIMA) style. Never grew out my nails for it; can get by pretty well with my finger tips though.



I believe those are banjo picks, still available. I could never get anything going with those....

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I know what you mean about being either too light or too plucky.
But you'll find that middle soon enough.
Also, different types of strings will respond differently.
While Boomers may be full sounding they sound a tad muddled,
Fender Super-bullets tend to be brighter and a little cleaner.

I just opted for finger picking (mostly thumb, index, middle) because I was too impatient to hold a pick.
Most of the stuff I like to play is just way all over the place,
so between melodies, I'll strum with the side of my thumb.
I tried with my fingernails a few times, but inconsistent length at any given time was too frustrating to deal with.

So yeah, I just stay with the bare nubs on steel strings.

I use my finger tips (flesh).
Never could get used to those picks which you slide over your fingertips. Different position to and distance from the strings.

Long finger nails are for women!

All it takes is practice, whether with or without picks. I prefer my finger tips because I'm pretty sure that it hardly will happen that I forget them at home!
I like the softer sound as well.

Balance between the single picking notes (hard, soft, hard, very hard, very soft) comes with practicing and growing experience.

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I use my own fingernails for the most of my playing. Very rarely I have to use a pick (for very fast playing )
Still , I can play reasonably fast with my nails. I guess the reason is , that I've played very much fingerpicking on an acoustic steel stringed guitar during the years.
I've tried those banjo/dobro - picks for fingers , but I did never find any of them comfortable to wear . Though they could give usable results in playing.
From time to time , I can find it embarrassing to have long fingernails ( in my youth it was with a certain pride... kinda proved I was seriously into playing )
Here it is important to grind the nails - they don't need to be that long to be playable
If they get too long , they look too feminine

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A-man

I just use the bare fingers these days. I like the metal banjo picks but I got tired of putting on five of them each time I play.

I'll swear by Alaska Piks.

I use the plastic picks. Haven't tried the brass.

The downside. They're expensive. Getting them to fit comfortably takes a little trial and error, they need to be filed slightly to get them smooth, and you still have to have some fingernail to get them to function properly. Worst of all I've not found a single music store that carries them so I have to buy online.

The upside. They work great - for flat picking or finger style. I can flat pick faster with these things than with a regular pick! And my finger picking is much clearer and louder. Even though you need finger nails they don't have to be maintained - just long enough to overlap the plastic a small amount.

Highly recommended.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

These look like they might actually be comfortable and functional.I prefer bare fingers but when you want that extra little bite, these look quite nice compared to other fingerpicks I have seen or used.Thanks for sharing those....might give em a try!
.

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I use the fleshy tip of my fingers when I play fingerstyle. I mostly play with a pick anyway, so for me it's not worth the hassle of growng my fingernails out.

Seems like the majority of classical players do use their nails for a brighter attack -- if I were to explore this style more in depth I might consider growing them out.

I am working on classical guitar recently and I have found that nails are very useful. They are a pain to maintain but they really help me to get the speed, tone and volume I want from my nylon string. I don't use my fingernails on steel strings.

I agree with asgeirman, fingernails don't have to be long to be useful. I can just see the fingernail over the top of my finger when looking from the palm (about 1-2 mm long).

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Another vote for short nails... gives you the option to quiet things down using fingertips and brightning things up getting the nails to 'grab" a little extra volume.
I still have the fingerpicks I bought in the '70's... couldn't "feel" the strings. And that mile-long thumb pick, no thanks.

I keep my right hand nails just a tiny bit longer than the left hand. You'd never notice a difference.

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I would not waste time trying to finger pick with nails on steel strings. Use the flesh of your finger, use a pick of some sort, or get a nylon string classical guitar if you must learn to use your nails. Try practicing for a few hours with steel strings and finger nails and you will get the idea. Sure, for a note every once in a while it's ok but for actual finger picking style, not good.

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For me it depends. For fingerstyle blues I prefer flesh (just like zombies do!), but when I play classical the fingernails help me get the speed and tone I need for the genre. I've tried banjo picks, but to me they just feel clumsy so I never learned to use them. Flesh does hurt on steel strings for a little while, but then you develop callouses just like the ones on your left hand.

Here are a couple of songs I recorded that are fingerstyle blues. I cut my nails so that it's just flesh, for some reason I like the tone and dynamics of it for blues. The first one is "Midnight Crossing" and the other is "Meridian". I also fingerpick when playing slide, no fingernails or picks. And yes, this is a shameless plug to drum up support for myself in the Play Crossroads competition.

http://www.playcrossroads.com/u/texasguitarslinger

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it's combination of both: flesh and nails.

cheers

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When I was studying classical guitar I used the Jack Cecchini method and the Richard Pick method of finger picking. Of the two I preferred the Richard Pick method.

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