Fingerstyle Picks


acoustic guitar finger picks


Blues Guitar Lessons Tips - Picking Acoustic
Guitar Using Bare Fingers Or Finger Picks



By far the very first question you need to ask when starting blues guitar lessons is 'what kind of sound do I want to make?'

The answer definitely affects the choice between bare fingers or finger picks.

First of all, all guitar picks act like a natural amplifier and also gives a cleaner, sharper sound. The tips of fingerstyle picks are a lot narrower than the tips of the fingers, unless you use false nylon nails which can be glued to your own finger nails.

This technique was preferred by the legendary picker, Chet Atkins. The use of a thumb pick made of plastic or nylon is quite common for finger style guitarists, and many use picks for their fingers as well.

Plastic fingerstyle guitar picks have a different shape to the stainless steel , which are stronger, and can also be bent to closely follow the profile of the end of the finger.

This makes that the contact point is almost the same as when playing with the bare finger tip. The great plus for wearing picks is that you play hard and not get blisters or hard patches on your finger tips, which is a great benefit when playing in public with no amplifier, or out doors in the street, for example..

Which guitarists use finger picks?

Some players, like Merle Travis and Tommy Emmanuel, wear a plastic thumb pick but use bare fingers.

Actually, Travis used one finger only, as did a lot of the old legendary blues players.

Acoustic blues guitar lessons need to teach the styles common to both ways of playing - this is the way to make the real sound of old blues guitar.

Some guitar lessons just show one picking style, which tends to limit the style of music you can perform.


How To Wear and Use Finger Picks

Many fingerstyle guitar players wear a plastic thumb-pick and a stainless steel pick on one or two fingers. I have see guitarists wearing 3 steel finger picks, but it doesn't seem to help the sound at all.

A blues guitar expert like Reverend Gary Davis used one steel pick on his finger only, and his sound was incredibly complex.

How To Wear A Plastic Thumb Pick To Play Guitar
You often find many strange ways of wearing steel finger picks, and maybe it depends heavily on the style of music being played.

For blues guitar picking, I prefer the arrangement shown opposite.

The brackets can be bent until they hold the finger really snugly, and the tips can be bent over so that they cover up the ball of the finger end, approximating the contact point between finger and string if you were using bare fingers.

These guys really save the fingers when playing for long periods of time - it's important to know how to wear finger
The image opposite shows the correct way to wear a thumb pick when playing guitar in the fingerpicking style.

In this case, it looks a bit too loose. It's best if it grips the thumb, so that it doesn't turn around and change the angle of attack.

Of course, if it's too tight, your thumb will turn purple!

Best Guitar Finger Picks

There are many brands and types of picks, and I generally choose the ones that have been in the game for a long time, such as Dunlop. It isn't just the style, but thickness, flexibility and durability all come in to play. It's important that the picks slide off the strings with just the right amount of spring, and that they stand up to some hard use.

There;s nothing worse that having a thumb pick break on you when you're in the middle of a song!

Dunlop Guitar Picks - Fingerstyle acoustic
The steel Dunlop fingerstyle pick shown is perfect for the acoustic blues guitar style.

They can be purchased in different material thicknesses to suit both your playing and also the sound you want to produce.

It's important to play around with the tip angle to make sure it doesn't make a horrible scraping noise on the edges of the pick.

The image opposite shows both Dunlop thumb and finger picks. Always remember that the best guitar finger picks are the ones that work for you and your style.

I have tried plastic (nylon) finger picks, but I find them difficult to use and maintain accuracy. Generally, I use this type of tortoiseshell thumb pick, with one steel pick on my forefinger.

Many people (Tommy Emmanuel, for one) us a thumb pick and bare fingers, but I find this unbalancing and spoils my sound.

Stainless Steel Dunlop Finger Pick

Finger Picks For Acoustic Guitar

A guitar is a guitar is a guitar, whether it's electric or acoustic. If you want to use picks, then the same technique will work for either.

However, keep in mind that the touch needed to play fingerstyle acoustic guitar is heavier than for electric, so perhaps lighter picks would be an advantage. I generally use finger picks for some songs, and bare fingers for others, such as gentle ballads or quiet blues songs. They each have their pros and cons, and in the final analysis, it's up to you to experiment to find out want helps you to create exactly the sound you want. Finger picks for acoustic guitar can also be used on electric - just be careful with your touch.

We can get into the mindset of needing exactly the right picks to play, or exactly the right fingernail length, or exactly the right hardness on the ends of our bare picking fingers, but this isn't so. You can learn to fingerpick the music you love, whatever you wear on your fingers, and adapt as you need. The right finger picks are just icing on the cake.

Have fun, Jim Bruce

Author: Jim Bruce 
Date: 2014-07-17
Category: Music