-
Finger picking with a pick?
I’m in the middle of Fast Car, and on the picking exercises Monday and Tuesday, I was having issues with a developing blister on my middle picking finger, plucking the B string. So I ordered banjo style finger picks from Amazon, but they will only fit my little finger. What gives! They don’t give a size; are they only made for children? I will send them back, but what do I do in the meantime, or ever, if they don’t make adult size finger picks? My thumb and index don’t seem to have a problem. I also haven’t had this problem before in other finger picking songs. Maybe it’s because we are using a higher (thinner) string, and it’s doing a number on my finger?
I also don’t have long nails so I’m not sure if that would be any help. Suggestions?
-
7 Replies
-
@Barbara nobody has helped you yet? I am sorry, I went on Amazon and quickly found a plethora of fingerpicks so I wondered what the problem might be. I didn’t want to post the amazon link but I’ll DM it to you if you like.
-
Oh yes, there are a lot of finger picks, and the metal ones that don’t have a closed shape looked like they were adjustable. But I tried to adjust them, short of using pliers in case I wanted to send them back, but I could not budge them. So they went back.
I guess I’ll just have to tough it out until I develop a reasonable callus, as I really do want to learn some finger picking songs.
-
-
I mess around with my dobro and also Pedal steel. I have always used metal finger picks. You can use needle nose pliers to shape them however you like. I currently am using Stainless steel open design finger picks that I purchased on Amazon in2023. Just checked and they are still selling them. I bought the large size. Most old timers use national finger picks.
You can shape the plastic ones by putting them in heated water until they are pliable and then u can shape them.
Trim your finger nails fairly close to your finger and shape them to arch around the shape of you finger tips. you can probably find to some your tube instruction if you want to explore more. The way I use them is called claw hammer finger picking style. Your fingers are curled in toward your palm. It is very easy to use muting with this style of finger picking.
-
Great info, thanks @jorgemac !
-
-
When you bend/shape the 1st pick, please play a few notes with out a finger pick to see how and what part of your finger strikes the strings. The part of your finger that actually strikes the string is the part of the metal finger pick you want to strike the string first.
If you look at your hand with the palm facing up, on the right hand the thumb is on the right and the pinky is on the left. So, if you pick a note with your index finger, like I do, mostly no finger nail just the side of my finger and maybe a little nail, sometimes, the right hand side of the finger strikes the string very close to where the finger nail joins the right side of the index finger. That is where I want to make sure the metal pick strikes at a clean angle to produce a good string tone.
Put on a 1st or 2nd finger pick and pick for awhile so you can see where you have to bend and shape the metal pick. Because the picks I currently use are the metal open faced design they can be bent very easily. They usually are purchased in sets of three picks and I only use 2 finger picks and a Black Mountain thumb pick, so i have an extra finger pick that I can experiment with and learn how to make the pick bends I need when playing. As you grow used to using picks you can always make micro adjusts to your finger picks. you will learn what part of the metal pick you will need to bend to make the adjustments you want to make. Some times to get the right adjustment you may need to adjust a lower part of the metal pick to actually get the correct angle on the top side of your pick.
Pete you have worked with materials enough to know that every action you take is going to affect other parts, so keep that in mind.
If I don’t use metal finger picks for awhile I always have to make adjustments to my picks cause my string striking style might have changed slightly. l’ve had the same set for almost 3 years and they show not sign of wearing out.
-
Thanks for your replies, both of you. I believe I could have bent the metal picks I bought, but didn’t want to in case they still didn’t work for me and I needed to return them. Six and change isn’t much, but I’m retired and every buck counts.
After looking at how I actually finger pick, I realize I’m not “clawing” enough perhaps, to engage my fingernail, though I don’t generally like long nails. The pads of my fingers end up doing the work, and they get sore. On the heavier strings it doesn’t seem to be a problem. But I would just as soon not have to use a pick as I would lose the feel of the strings, which I need to develop for accuracy. I’m having a hard enough time developing accuracy with a flat pick!
-
-
I don’t use metal finger pcks a lot. For some reason my finger tips don’t get sore and I don’t develop large calluses from holding down the strings. I do use mostly the padded part of my finger when finger picking but do use my short finger nails when I dig in for more sound. I do coat my right handed finger nails with fiber glass tap and nail glue on about 3/4th of the 2 fingers I use in finger picking and have to redo it every month.
James Taylor did a video on u tube regarding finger style guitar nail care that is very helpful.
Log in to reply.