a note to the frustrated, there is hope!

Elwood

Elwood

Blues
When playing acoustic, my experience with finger picks has been nothing but abysmal failure. Detached feeling to the strings, picks hit what I don't want, won't hit what I want, get caught and tangled in the strings, terrible!

Then I listen to how my beautiful guitars sound recorded. The guitars all sound muted and mushy, like whistling with a mouth full of potato chips.

So, two mornings ago I sit pondering this and think WTH might as well try again. I get out the same set of three picks (the very best I can't play with) I always try....wait for it....

HOTDIGGITYDAMN! Now I'm not saying I'm great at this by any means, but, Tuesday morning, after not trying for many months, I put those picks on and played! They worked!!! Now I can practice and get better. Osmosis I guess. I have been fingerpicking, but it is soooo different if you aren't used to using picks.

This has been one of my personal dead ends. It could be changing chords, learning a tough new passage, whatever the current obstacle is. In this case I was focused elsewhere and I made some progress in the background. (that's kinda how I feel about pick holding problems, when I get that frustration I try to focus on my left hand, works for me, don't really like picks that much anyway)

So, have faith, practice, and maybe - someday - it starts to smooth out.

There is hope!

ps: sure makes for loud guitars!
 
J

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
Elwood, Toby Walker gave me advice about finger picks that is working for me. Wear them all the time until they feel apart of you (well, take them off when you pick your nose or use the bathroom :rolleyes:). It didn't take me more than a day or two to get used to them. Picking the guitar becomes easier when you're not thinking about how bad they are :Beer:

Eric
 
Elwood

Elwood

Blues
That sure makes sense, thanks. Now I have to deal with my lack of focus..I bounce around between instruments and things I like to play. One "excuse" is some of my daily playing may happen early, on the quiet. Sitting with the dogs and coffee...anyway. I believe i mentioned the concept of "forced adaptation" in another thread. Time for a dose of my own medicine.
 
david moon

david moon

Attempting the Blues
I used metal finger picks when I was dabbling in Pedal steel guitar. Never really liked them for acoustic. I'll just say the metal picks give a lot of options for how tight they are on your fingers and the angle that they attack the strings just by bending them to the shape you want.
 
Ted_Zeppelin

Ted_Zeppelin

I’ll agree with you so that both of us are wrong.
Elwood said:
HOTDIGGITYDAMN! Now I'm not saying I'm great at this by any means, but, Tuesday morning, after not trying for many months, I put those picks on and played! They worked!!! Now I can practice and get better. Osmosis I guess. I have been fingerpicking, but it is soooo different if you aren't used to using picks.

So, have faith, practice, and maybe - someday - it starts to smooth out.

There is hope!

ps: sure makes for loud guitars!
Click to expand...

I agree 100% with this. Over the years, there have been many things that I really struggled with and thought that I would never be able to play. After getting away from it for a while, many times these roadblocks somehow magically come together out of the blue. I realize that it was all of that "failed" practice time that just needed time to percolate in my brain and fingers, but it still amazes me every time I go through one of these moments.

Just think of where you were at a few months ago struggling through your back surgery "have faith, practice, and maybe - someday - it starts to smooth out.". You said it all!!!
 
Elwood

Elwood

Blues
Thanks David. I tried those for the banjo, whew GET DOWN. Sounded terrible but very loud. The set I'm using now I have heated, and sanded, bent and fit. I have my index and first finger picks ID'd. I just have been so clumsy the frustration would prevent any serious progress. Thanks for the thought. I may try them out.

@Ted_Zeppelin I just saw your post above. Man, you are the example! your restrictions were more specific to playing, and your surgery, well the devil you know, I don't believe I'd like to trade. All that and you are playing your butt off now! And this year, wow, Paleo, Mitch, an I'm sure others. I know, don't say it.
I want to thank you for your concern and support (on the quiet) during the tough part of recovery. It seemed every challenge I faced, you had experienced or were dealing with, with grace and composure. The accounts you shared gave me some good "get to the next mailbox" motivation at the needed times. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
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JestMe

JestMe

Student Of The Blues
Elwood - That is really cool. What are you using for picks?

For me I tried playing weith them for 15 minutes a day. The next day 15 more minutes... suddenly the felt comfortable and I could play with them!

I was into Alaska Pics I agree you can get a lot more volume using the pics... therefore the dynamic range expands... from soft to LOUD.

Good luck I hope you continue to develop with the finger picks.
 
Elwood

Elwood

Blues
Hey Chris,

I have a Fred Kelly Speed Pick, orange one, ugly, for a thumbpick. A couple of, looks like they say "Stagg" tortoise shell looking fingerpicks. We always like to look to better equipment but in this case the problem really was the loose nut behind the wheel. I sure will check out the Alaska picks. Great name if nothing else! :)
Thanks, I'll keep working on them now!
 
J

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
Alaska pics are good, I use them sometimes. I should use them more. Be careful if you get the Fred Kelly finger picks, they seem to cut off the blood circulation so take them off frequently. At least that was my experience. I stopped using his picks and bought some Old 97 banjo picks on the advice of a bunch of people on another forum. They are very comfortable and can be worn a long time without having to readjust them. At least for me.

I just use an Ernie Ball plastic thumb pick though. When I got it I dropped it in some hot water for a couple of minutes and molded it to my thumb. Very comfortable that way.

Eric
 
JestMe

JestMe

Student Of The Blues
Elwood

I have a couple Fred Kelly thumb picks too. For me they were the best... I haven't been playing much fingerstyle lately and often had to heavy a hand when I used a thumb pick but the FK pcik I could tone my thumb down a good bit.

Keep at it. I'm really glad when I hear someone making good progress with fingerstyle and with finger picks! YAY!!!
 
JestMe

JestMe

Student Of The Blues
david moon said:
Tommy Emmanuel uses a thumb pick and no finger picks. Says he keeps a bunch of different picks in his pocket for whatever works that day.
Click to expand...

Tommy doesn't need finger picks since his finger tips are so callused and well developed from the many hours a day that he plays! He is amazing!
 
Jack

Jack

Blues Junior
david moon said:
Tommy Emmanuel uses a thumb pick and no finger picks. Says he keeps a bunch of different picks in his pocket for whatever works that day.
Click to expand...

I think we watched the same interview :) He says his thumb is a slightly different size each day so a pick that fits perfectly one day may not fit so well the next.
 
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