playing acoustic guitar with a thumb instead of a pick

Nola

Nola

Well-known member
hey everyone how do you feel about strumming chords using the fleshy part of the thumb instead of a pick?

it kind of kills the attack and is mellow. is this bad? i'd be interested to hear opinions and the pros and cons for playing that way, and also the pros and cons with regard to recording it, too.
 
I don't know about pros and cons. For me, the only question would be "does that style of playing suit the song?"
 
That style is all a bit campfire for me. It can make a nice warm tone though - would suit really minimalist music.
 
I know a guy who thumb-plays acoustic, only uses a pick for electric work. It sounds more muted (and the strumming is never intricate), but he really struggles when he's playing a lead line with his thumb.
 
I know some people who use a thumb pick. I can't play that way, I have to use a standard soft pick. As a carry over from learning bass, if you pluck with your fingers on a stringed instrument, there will be a slower attack on the sound. If you use some sort of pick (fingernails are a type of pick), you will get a faster attack on the strings. The two different approaches has a very noticeable difference.

What is best, as stated above, what works for you and your sound.
 
I usually reach for a pick, but I've used my thumb on a recording or two when the arrangement calls for a softer attack. It really just depends on the song and how you want the guitar to sit in the mix.
 
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mjbphotos said:
I know a guy who thumb-plays acoustic, only uses a pick for electric work. It sounds more muted (and the strumming is never intricate), but he really struggles when he's playing a lead line with his thumb.
Click to expand...

I'll flip it around; Plucking/picking with thumb or fingers is time honored. It's a totally way more complex and percussive than a pick, and makes for some of the coolest of tone and players on electric. Ill' pick that way for special effect- either inst, but always go pick + the rest of me fingers :)

For strumming? Eh, 'what ever works.
 
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Many players have played using the thumb rather than a pic.
One well known player was Toy Caldwell from the Marshall Tucker band. Remember "Can't you see?" He played with his thumb all the time. That was on electric, but I imagine the playing style was the same on acoustic.
A lot of old blues players played that way.

I would imagine if you are asking the question you may not be adept with the technique.
So just practice and go with what works to get the sound you hear in your head.

But to be proficient with the thumb WILL take some practice.
Most who are good at it have been playing that way for a long time.
 
What would be the next step up from just sing a thumb, would it be a very light gauge pick?
I like feeling the strings on my hand using the thumb but i agree with mbj what i notice most is the strum is muted and not intricate that's the only thing that bugs me.

What gauge do most people use? i only have medium and heavy picks and they're hard to strum with so i used the thumb. is it unusually to use a medium or heavy pick to strum? should i get a light?
 
Thumb-only for most songs would sound awkward. You can't really upstroke with your thumb. If I don't use a pick, I use my fingers AS IF there were a pick there. But I include the rest of the fingers as well. More of a flick that includes the middle, ring, and pinky on the strumming hand. I don't see how anyone could play with only their thumb... however, pick or not just depends on the style of the song.
 
pick-wise, I play everything with a heavy pick. just my preference. electric or acoustic. You can play light with a heavy pick - it's in the finger tension. Play too heavy with a light pick and you may break a string
 
I don't think a light pick -or any weight, is an answer. For the overtones, 'multi- tones of a finger (thumb or otherwise) would be pick, plus getting the 1st finger and thumb involved in the release of the string. See; the anywhere from squeal'-to-quack' quawk' qwaw' multi-release tones there. :D

I couldn't handle the lack of constancy of not having the pick.
 
Nola said:
What would be the next step up from just sing a thumb, would it be a very light gauge pick?
Click to expand...

There is no 'step up' from using a thumb. Using a thumb, using a pick, using fingers . . . they are all techniques. Each technique allows you to create different sounds, and you use (or learn) them if they give you the sound that you want.
 
Nola said:
What would be the next step up from just sing a thumb, would it be a very light gauge pick?
I like feeling the strings on my hand using the thumb but i agree with mbj what i notice most is the strum is muted and not intricate that's the only thing that bugs me.

What gauge do most people use? i only have medium and heavy picks and they're hard to strum with so i used the thumb. is it unusually to use a medium or heavy pick to strum? should i get a light?
Click to expand...

I have only used heavy (Fender) picks for the last 40 years, moved up from lights to mediums quickly before that. Lights give more of a 'clicky sound' when playing an acoustic (if you're recording with a mic) and will mute the tone a little as they bend more and stay in contact with the string longer. Strumming with a heavy pick is just a matter of practice. I do understand you may be having issues, many players that are fairly new (i.e. less than 5 years of playing experience) struggle to do anything more than a straight up-and-down strum with a heavy pick.
 
mjbphotos said:
...struggle to do anything more than a straight up-and-down strum with a heavy pick.
Click to expand...

yeah, you'll learn to ease the tension in your fingers/wrist when it's necessary (not you MJB). After 24 years of playing, I now constantly twirl the pick around, like flip it, between chords or while tracking and waiting for the next segment. My fingers will get bored otherwise...ha. It's more like a tic than anything. I find myself doing it a lot.
 
Watching youtube, I came across another player that plays with his thumb.
Derek Trucks, who in addition to his own band plays with the Allman Brothers.

He uses not only his thumb, but all fingers.
 
i guess i asked 'cause i find the pick so abrasive sounding when recording. so i began to just use my thumb.
 
Your hand is a versatile, powerful tool. Learning to use it to it's full potential will do nothing but benefit you as a player.
:D
 
I've found that all techniques bring a different sound so that's how I use them. Heavy pick has a sound as does a thinner pick. Thumb and fingers vs thumb pick, different sound. It took me years to figure out that the "chicken pickin' " Tele sound was right hand technique, not a Tele.
 
Nola said:
i guess i asked 'cause i find the pick so abrasive sounding when recording. so i began to just use my thumb.
Click to expand...

Abrasive.. as in abrasive?
;)
There's that clicky stuff you get from light picks.
But then there's the not crisp let off of a pick not parallel with the string. It starts to release with a bit grind'
'Prolly gets worse as the pick gets worn.
 
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