mixing strumming & finger picking

Pretty much anything by Richard Thompson. I think he's got about 8 fingers on his right hand though.:D
 
Lots of blues players use this switch back and forth picking style, often changing from picks to fingers and thumb.
 
I do but that's no good on here cos I aint got any videos on the web.
I was classicly trained in my teens then I joined a band and the fingerstyle method and the plectrum method just sort of merged.
 
zeke and pat said:
I do but that's no good on here cos I aint got any videos on the web.
I was classicly trained in my teens then I joined a band and the fingerstyle method and the plectrum method just sort of merged.
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Everybody has there own way of getting it out. Check out Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery, Lenny Breau and Charlie Hunter.. Even though it isn't rock it will give you a really good idea of what can be done without a pick.
 
I learned on a classical guitar myself, so I mix the style, and it's not really hard (in fact, I usually get my finger-picking stuff from the chords of a song and then just pick out the notes, you can figure out alot of songs like this if you just pay attention to their picking pattern and extra notes more than I care to do).

Fingerpicking is way more fun to me than just doing constant pick playing (I generally dislike using picks at all).

Alot of Bob Dylan stuff where he's finger-picking through most of it ends with just a big strum of the final chord. You might want to look up flat-picking, which is a style that utilizes a pick grasped with the thumb and forefinger and the ring and pinky to pick out notes.
 
Yeah someone mentioned blues.

Check out Robert Johnson's "Crossroad Blues" or "Last Fair Deal." A lot of the old Delta players like him would switch off constantly.

Also, Paul Simon would probably be a good one to check out. I think "American Tune" may have that technique.

And then, of course, there's ..... "Stairway to Heaven" :)
 
Zarathustra said:
Fingerpicking is way more fun to me than just doing constant pick playing (I generally dislike using picks at all).
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Picks....arghhhh!!! ....I was just never able to get comfortable using them. I don't even use them for straight out strumming. I'd rather use my nails... index finger nail on the down strokes and thumb nail on the upstrokes.

But what you said reminded me of something I'd pretty much forgotten. When I was recording my cd, there were some tracks that the engineer (who has since become a great friend) wanted me to use a pick on to get some better attack on strummed sections. Because I'm not used to playing with one, there were a lot of takes using various thicknesses and I was having some issues getting a consistant attack and whatnot.

During some of the back and forth talking, I'd sometimes put the pick down until we settled whatever we were talking about, then we'd be ready to record and it seemed I was always having trouble finding the pick again. After this happened a dozen or so times, with me causing a lot of wasted time looking for the pick I'd just put down a minute ago, the frustration was clearly evident in the engineer's voice when he asked, "Come on Jim, where'd you put the pick?" My reply was, "I don't know where I put the pick because I rarely put one anywhere."

Something about my reply struck him as funny and he put it on an electronic post-it on his Mac desktop. Because of issues on both our ends, the cd took about 6 months to complete. At some point when we were near the end and working on mixes, I noticed the quote on the desktop and all of a sudden I heard a great opening line for a song in head... "I don't know where to look for you, 'cause I rarely look for you anywhere." The song practically wrote itself after that. It'll likely be on my next cd.

So yeah, I can't stand picks, but picks gave me one good song so I'm willing to let them live on the same planet with me.
 
Something about my reply struck him as funny and he put it on an electronic post-it on his Mac desktop. Because of issues on both our ends, the cd took about 6 months to complete. At some point when we were near the end and working on mixes, I noticed the quote on the desktop and all of a sudden I heard a great opening line for a song in head... "I don't know where to look for you, 'cause I rarely look for you anywhere." The song practically wrote itself after that. It'll likely be on my next cd.
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That is a really cool line! and an interesting story! I can see a plethora of possibilities for a song just from that line! very clever. I'd like to hear it, and see wher you go with it!

I'm a back and forth player, myself. sometimes i use a pick, and sometimes i don't. I started out 15 years ago playing bass, learned a bunch of funk grooves(octave pops and whatnot) and after a few years, transferred everything i had to the guitar. so not using a pick was comfortable. I swing either way, though.

I'm not quite sure, but I think srv hardly ever used a pick.
 
Coughmist said:
I'm not quite sure, but I think srv hardly ever used a pick.
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That's some good company to be in.

I think people who use a pick all the time must, simply out of habit, have one place that they always put it. I don't think there's anything in any part of my life that I always put in the same place. I really need to develop some good habits. :(
 
I have a pick holder that goes on the mic that holds about 10 or so picks. also, (and I would not suggest this) I usually keep a couple of pics between the guitar and the pickguard on my strat.
 
While not fingerpicking per se, Jethro Tull have many, many songs based around strumming and alternately melody picking using a pick... :cool:
 
OMFG......................David, you're still around :D............AND you mentioned my fave band.

Mate, shoot me a PM sometime and let me know what's been happening.


Chris :cool:
 
I agree that Richard Thompson is the best example of someone who holds a flat pick between his thumb and index fingers and fingerpicks with his other three fingers. Personally, I hate doing that; if I'm at a gig and I'mgoing to fingerpick I put on a thumb pick and use that to strum if I want to strum.
 
I'm a dedicated picker.

Recently, though, I've found that hammering with fingers makes a good sound on bass, but since I still need a pick to do the fast stuff, I've taken a keen interest in thumb-picks.:cool:

I can hammer and slap and pull all I want, and when the need arises, go to picking for the fast guitarist-type parts. And the pick stays at my thumb all the time.
Needed to heat and bend the tip slightly though. ..with a lighter...
Damn things catch fire like Hell!!!...:D

To be even a little on topic.. try them thumbpics on a guitar?..
 
LI_Slim said:
I agree that Richard Thompson is the best example of someone who holds a flat pick between his thumb and index fingers and fingerpicks with his other three fingers. Personally, I hate doing that; if I'm at a gig and I'mgoing to fingerpick I put on a thumb pick and use that to strum if I want to strum.
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This technique, commonly called "hybrid picking," is something I use quite often actually. It's essential for getting that snappy country sound, and it's very versatile too. You'll hear people like Scotty Moore doing that stuff with Elvis, George Harrison, and all the way down to John Fogerty on tunes like "Bad Moon Rising."
 
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