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  • Fingers instead of pick?

    Posted by thanson on June 23, 2021 at 9:02 am

    I just joined TAC and am working through the 30 Days to Play course. In The Blues Shuffle, I find it easier to use my right-hand fingers to pluck the strings than to use a pick. Is that all right, or should I keep working at using the pick?

    Also, in the same exercise, I find it easier to use my left hand’s little finger instead of my index finger to press down on the fourth fret. Again, is that ok, or should I keep trying to use the index finger. Thanks for any direction.

    Bill_Brown replied 3 years, 7 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • Loraine

    Member
    June 23, 2021 at 10:22 am

    First, welcome to TAC @thanson . Hope you enjoy the site and have lots of fun while learning!

    No one can necessarily tell you to do what comes easiest, but I offer the following. The lessons are teaching foundational skills, and my thoughts are that I would want to learn the correct foundation to build upon. Similar to building a house. You want a strong foundation before you build the structure. The structure would be made of the highest quality material, so that it doesn’t crumble. Moral of this story is that I suggest building a strong foundation based on how the material is taight, and then build your skills upon that.

  • thanson

    Member
    June 23, 2021 at 10:47 am

    Thanks very much, Loraine. That’s good, sound advice, and I shall follow it!

    Best,

    Tim

  • Bill_Brown

    Member
    June 23, 2021 at 11:50 am

    Hi @thanson , welcome to TAC – I believe you made a great choice in coming to this site to continue your guitar journey. When I hear someone say they want to use their fingers instead of a pick, then I know I’m addressing some who has experience playing a particular style of guitar. I want to second what @Loraine is saying. You should try to do the lesson as presented, because it is about learning fundamental skills for the different styles of guitar playing. You will have plenty of opportunity to work on finger style skills elsewhere in the courses. Learning techniques of different playing styles helps build a more well rounded guitar player😎 That being said, if you want to try playing something finger style that is clearly meant to be played with a pick, more power to you – but you will have to use a pick at some point in your journey, so why not start now?

    As for using the pinkie on the 4th fret, NO. You should be using the ring finger on the 4th fret. Each finger is used on a designated fret – in this case, index on fret 2, middle on fret 3, ring on fret 4 and pinkie on fret 5. I know that you’re scratching your head and saying that I’m only fretting (playing) strings on 2 frets (2nd & 4th frets) so what’s the difference! You’re building muscle memory, so if you don’t do it properly now, it’ll come back later to bite you. When you do the “Blues Boogie”, you’ll definitely get the opportunity to use all your fingers covering a 4 fret stretch, and you’ll put that muscle memory to good use👍

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