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12.55am
17 January 2013
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I have been learning a bit of acoustic guitar, mostly strumming. I have tried using a pick (or a plectrum) but I just hate it. I've tried and tried and it just feels so disconnected from the guitar. Is this possibly because of my inexperience, or could it just be personal preference? When I was a kid I played the ukulele fairly well, and I hated using a pick to strum then, too.
I like to use my thumb. I started this way because I would practice late at night, and it was quieter so I would not wake anyone up (basement suite-thin walls). Now I can't get used to any other way. On that note, I have considered putting a short acrylic nail just on my right thumb. Has anyone else tried this? I know Paul gets one on his index finger when he tours for playing songs like "Blackbird".
Thanks! 
"..Turn off your mind relax and float down stream... It is not dying.."
1.59am
29 December 2012
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There are quite a few guitarists who play a lot with their thumbs. Jeff Beck, for instance.
Although, I do hear quite a few really new guitarists say they prefer using their fingers or thumb because of inexperience with a pick. Personally I enjoy using a pick a lot more than my fingers, but I've also used a pick since day one.
That being said, it really doesn't matter. How long have you tried a pick? I would try it for a couple days before I decide I dislike it, but that's just me. But if you really don't like a pick, it's not going to handicap you at all. In fact, I have a lot of respect for guitarists who use their thumb for picking… I can't do it for crap!
2.06am
1 November 2012
Online
It's quite possible to strum without using a pick. The most common way I think is to hold your fingers together open hand slightly cupped and just brush your four fingernails back and forth across the strings -- or brush them all in one direction (not back and forth, just "forth").
I haven't used a pick in years. I like to fingerpick anyway, using my thumb, index finger, middle finger, and rarely also my ring finger (I grow out my nails on my right hand a little for this, but I keep my nails super short on my left hand, so they don't get in the way when I press down on the strings). Some people just use thumb and index finger to pluck and to occasionally strum. I knew a local folk musician (Francois Arambel) who only used those two because he had lost his other three fingers! -- and he could do complex stuff many people can't do with all their fingers intact.
I once thought of gluing false nails on my fingers, because my natural nails kept breaking, but I never got around to trying that.
Another tip: buy a "zither pick" -- a pick especially for zithers, they are wafer-thin, flexible, and don't feel so thick and cumbersome.
2.40am
13 March 2013
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One thing I've always hated in myself, is becoming so obsessive compulsive about every aspect of my playing. I'd recommend you do what makes you feel comfortable, happy and then….natural. it's your best shot at developing your own style and tone that maybe someday others will want to emulate instead of being just another good guitar player.
But regarding the pick, for acoustic strumming especially, you might want to be sure you are using a light to medium gauge pick. It adds a clickety rhythmic tone and less resistance to your feeling of connection. Electric….I go heavy picks even experimenting with metal, but acoustic I find is warmer and smoother to play with a more flexible pick.
2.53am
17 January 2013
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Thanks for the help everyone! I have tried quite a few kinds, from very thin to very thick and lots in between. I could probably try for longer. Each time I try to play with a pick I get frustrated after a few minutes and I'm back to the thumb.
I had acrylic nails for a few months last year. It sucks getting the strength back after taking them off, but having only one would be fine with me. They totally feel like your own nails, so it would probably work well.
PS: Welcome to the forum! 
"..Turn off your mind relax and float down stream... It is not dying.."
7.37pm
1 December 2009
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I started out using a very thin pick, and eventually developed the lazy habit of picking with my index fingernail. Actually, the pick feels better for strumming those big six-strinig chords, whereas if I'm picking out single notes or chords involving just a few strings, it's much easier to use the nail. Really, though, I'm a terrible guitarist and have only ever mastered really rudimentary things. (BTW congratulations on passing the 500 post mark! 
)
9.29pm
31 March 2008
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I never, ever use a plectrum. I've never got on with them. I strum the strings with the nail of my index finger, or (more often) fingerpick arpeggios from chords.
1.25am
17 January 2013
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vonbontee said
(BTW congratulations on passing the 500 post mark!
Thanks!
"..Turn off your mind relax and float down stream... It is not dying.."
3.07pm
10 August 2011
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Depends completely on what you're playing.
I hardly ever use a pick unless fooling around with solos. I like being able to pluck multiple strings simultaneously (Blackbird being indeed a great example).
3.44pm
3 May 2012
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I too wondered if the reason I can't get on with it was because of my newness to playing guitar. Thought maybe it was just me but clearly not…
Fellow guitar-newbe here!
3.49pm
8 November 2012
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I won an acoustic guitar at a local store and I started out this semester taking a beginning guitar class. I wasn't sure if I wanted to play left or right handed so I started out trying both. But because I have an internship where I have to carry heavy equipment, I ended up torquing my wrists and had to go to the hospital to make sure I didn't break them (luckily it was just a strain and they're much better).
I'm sure I was doing something wrong to cause that much strain on my wrists. Unfortunately a class at school wasn't the place to get the kind of personal attention I needed to make sure I was playing correctly. So for now the guitar is sitting in the corner, unplayed. 
Hoping I can pick it up again.
parlance
6.42pm
1 November 2012
Online
Some beginners may mistakenly think that finger-picking with multiple fingers (thumb, index and middle finger) demands great talent.
When I began to do it, I just picked patterns at random, trying to keep a basic tempo consistent, but otherwise not worrying about how orderly my arpeggios were. Slowly over time I got better and better.
"Travis" style is fun if you can try to learn it: Strike a bass note with your thumbnail, then strum (or pluck) any combination of strings with your other fingers, alternating with your thumb, and keep doing this while changing chords.
Another big help to me in my early guitar years was to play along with songs on records. My first record I bought the songbook for and began to try to accompany with my budding knowledge of chords was Red Rose Speedway. It was so fun the first time I was able to match the chords to the song "Little Lamb Dragonfly", for example.
7.45pm
17 January 2013
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I should buy more songbooks. I have a Paul McCartney and Beatles one, but especially with the Beatles one, most of them are pretty hard. I looked up "Two Of Us" which I can kinda play now… which I love because it's one of my favourite tunes! 
"..Turn off your mind relax and float down stream... It is not dying.."
11.07pm
1 November 2012
Online
LongHairedLady said
I should buy more songbooks. I have a Paul McCartney and Beatles one, but especially with the Beatles one, most of them are pretty hard. I looked up "Two Of Us" which I can kinda play now… which I love because it's one of my favourite tunes!
Yes, it's a great song. If you notice in the film Let It Be, Paul is strumming by brushing his fingertips across the strings (no pick involved). I was always impressed by how evenly his strumming sounds on that song, which is hard to do, because the backhanded motion coming up on each alternate strum can have a slightly different pressure -- but every stroke of his strumming sounds even and the same as every other stroke.
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