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Is using a hand held pick essential?
Hi all. I first picked up a guitar 50 years ago. It was a classical. I grew bored with the simple repetitive instruction. After that I’d pick up an acoustic guitar once every six months.
After ignoring the instrument for decades I changed to an acoustic (also decades ago.)
I tossed the pick and used finger and thumbs to strum, etc.
I’d enjoyed but learned nothing on my own
My question/issue is: I’ve never enjoyed playing with a pick. I prefer strumming or picking with my thumb of fingers. It seems more interesting and accurate though I lack volume, which I don’t miss.
What are the advantages of playing with a hand held pick besides volume?
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2 Replies
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Hi Val!
Picks are definitely not essential, however I think the greatest benefit to being able to use a pick is versatility. Some styles like flatpicking and chickin picking (hybrid picking) can only be accomplished with a pick. Also, you will find you can get a totally different tone and much more volume with a pick – which may be handy especially when playing with others when you might need more volume to support a singer, etc.
That said, my husband prefers not to use a pick and he still sounds good (in my opinion). There are some out there who are fingerstyle guitarists who never use a pick and play beautifully, and who can adjust their volume through their pickup/amp.
Ultimately it comes down to personal preference, but if you can do at least the basics with a pick it will make you more versatile to say the least.
Hope that helps 😊
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Hi Val, I believe you’ve posted this same question a couple of times, and there were some great replies previously. Please refer back to the original post.
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