Bear, I'm sure that you'll agree that ONLY IN SOME MUSIC there is a clear distinction between the arrangements that can ONLY be played by fingerpicking and those that can also be played by mechanical pick ... example "dust in the wind" or "stairway to heaven" are unavoidably fingerpicking, while a whole lot of other tunes, ex. neil young's "heart of gold" and others are up to the player.
So, in most tunes, it ends up going to the "Ham Factor"... gotta make enough noise with your guitar (whatever way you choose to hit your strings) and/or fill it in with your golden voice!
Strumming vs Fingerpicking
Hmmm... Some interesting answers here. My personal favorite is to play Chord Melody and be done with it. the song is instantly known and everyone can sing it because they hear the melody. the most difficult part is learning to play that strum very accurately.
I am primarily a finger picker. I think this is because I don't sing and very rarely play with other people. Just strumming chords becomes boring quite quickly.
Finger picking and picking out the melody seems the way to go for me.
Like tovo said the strumming camp fire songs are much better with a group of people
Finger picking and picking out the melody seems the way to go for me.
Like tovo said the strumming camp fire songs are much better with a group of people
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neverfoundthetime
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Hmmmm, interesting how we put things in boxes (who posted that video about men thinking in boxes?). It never occurred to me to oppose picking and strumming. Maybe Golf is the best metaphor: you need a set of clubs to play the course. You ain't going nowhere with your putter off the T and your wedge ain't going to help on the green unless you turn it around! You're a better player when you have more clubs in your bag you can use.
I'm never thinking of playing the guitar. I'm always thinking of playing the song. It's all an excuse to allow me to sing, so I've never considered myself a guitarist. I realise now that that is a box I've kept my playing inside...isn't quite true.
So, the idea of strumming OR picking is inside a box that's not helpful Tony. There is no reason your strumming is going to get worse when you pick (or was it the other way around?). If you spent some time strumming again , it will be good again (probably quite quickly). Anything done to improve your skills is just adding another club to your sett. I love these guys who play the whole guitar (like they want to get their money's worth out of it): up the fretboard, thumping on the body, slapping the strings..... that's the way to do it (money for nothing and, as Bear mentioned, chicks for free!):
I'm never thinking of playing the guitar. I'm always thinking of playing the song. It's all an excuse to allow me to sing, so I've never considered myself a guitarist. I realise now that that is a box I've kept my playing inside...isn't quite true.
So, the idea of strumming OR picking is inside a box that's not helpful Tony. There is no reason your strumming is going to get worse when you pick (or was it the other way around?). If you spent some time strumming again , it will be good again (probably quite quickly). Anything done to improve your skills is just adding another club to your sett. I love these guys who play the whole guitar (like they want to get their money's worth out of it): up the fretboard, thumping on the body, slapping the strings..... that's the way to do it (money for nothing and, as Bear mentioned, chicks for free!):
Interesting topic. I just delved into fingerpicking a few weeks ago and am working on my first song. One thing that I've noticed is that in learning fingerpicking (House of the Rising Sun) my right hand is getting all my attention......without really realizing, I think it's forced my chord changes become more of "second nature" type of thing. I've been pleasantly surprised at how I've been able to hit chords cleanly without looking at the neck.
cosmicmechanic wrote:
CM- I think that's generally true and even songs that beg for fingerpicking can still be strummed. They just may not sound as good as as the original but no one is going to confuse me with any of the artists I mentioned! LOL! BTW- I think Jimmy plays Stairway with a pick! It's hard to see but check out this vid. :cheer:
Bear, I'm sure that you'll agree that ONLY IN SOME MUSIC there is a clear distinction between the arrangements that can ONLY be played by fingerpicking and those that can also be played by mechanical pick ... example "dust in the wind" or "stairway to heaven" are unavoidably fingerpicking, while a whole lot of other tunes, ex. neil young's "heart of gold" and others are up to the player.
So, in most tunes, it ends up going to the "Ham Factor"... gotta make enough noise with your guitar (whatever way you choose to hit your strings) and/or fill it in with your golden voice!
CM- I think that's generally true and even songs that beg for fingerpicking can still be strummed. They just may not sound as good as as the original but no one is going to confuse me with any of the artists I mentioned! LOL! BTW- I think Jimmy plays Stairway with a pick! It's hard to see but check out this vid. :cheer:
I can certainly identify with a few of the previous posters. Learned the chords strumming with my thumb - then went on to fingerpicking as that was how I wanted to be able to play - although I did keep up with the thumb strumming (wouldn't want anone to hear me). When I eventually started trying to strum with a pick (plectrum!) it was awful. Took me a long time to get to where it wasn't awful, but it can still be pretty bad sometimes.
They are certainly separate skills and require individual practice but I cant see any reason why we shouldn't become accomplished at both. One may always be better than the other - but that's the same as with any other skill. To use a previous analogy, if we play golf and are good drivers - it doesn't necessarily make us bad putters.
For me, playing alone at home as many others do, the decision of fingerpicking v strumming depends more on my mood than the song.
r
They are certainly separate skills and require individual practice but I cant see any reason why we shouldn't become accomplished at both. One may always be better than the other - but that's the same as with any other skill. To use a previous analogy, if we play golf and are good drivers - it doesn't necessarily make us bad putters.
For me, playing alone at home as many others do, the decision of fingerpicking v strumming depends more on my mood than the song.
r
I started out as a straight strummer, then I became a picker with a pick. And now I have added fingerpicking. Since learning better fingerpicking technique I find I play a lot of things that way now.
As I've said many times on this forum before I play to accompany my singing and it is still easier to strum and sing as opposed to fingerpicking and sing. However, I am getting better at it.
I also feel it is important to do both.
Ric
As I've said many times on this forum before I play to accompany my singing and it is still easier to strum and sing as opposed to fingerpicking and sing. However, I am getting better at it.
I also feel it is important to do both.
Ric
Wow my heart is warmed (along with everything else as it's about 104 degrees here today!) at all of these great replies.
Chris I get your point. I guess I am putting each skill in a box but to use your golf analogy, players separate each element of that frustrating game, i.e. "put them each in a box" for the sake of working on them in practice. It's only when they play a round that they use all the skills combined. In golf, I agree that it's bad to concentrate on one at the expense of others, and that's why there are heaps of dudes at driving ranges smashing the long ball trying to emulate Tiger who can't do anything but...smash the long ball and card 110 when they play.
But guitar? Ideally I think you can play it all, but for the sake of discussion I would argue that you can play very enjoyably with just one style. As I said in the original post, I think a combo is probably best, makes you much more versatile, and I find as you said that with a little work my strumming returns to decent levels quite quickly.
I was going to get to other responses but wrote more about golf than I intended!
Chris I get your point. I guess I am putting each skill in a box but to use your golf analogy, players separate each element of that frustrating game, i.e. "put them each in a box" for the sake of working on them in practice. It's only when they play a round that they use all the skills combined. In golf, I agree that it's bad to concentrate on one at the expense of others, and that's why there are heaps of dudes at driving ranges smashing the long ball trying to emulate Tiger who can't do anything but...smash the long ball and card 110 when they play.
But guitar? Ideally I think you can play it all, but for the sake of discussion I would argue that you can play very enjoyably with just one style. As I said in the original post, I think a combo is probably best, makes you much more versatile, and I find as you said that with a little work my strumming returns to decent levels quite quickly.
I was going to get to other responses but wrote more about golf than I intended!