Is a pick reeeeeally necessary?

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Thumbpicks are better than thumbs.
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To get serious again for a (short) while - this is just the kind of reasoning I worry about. I doubt if that is are very good advice for a total beginner - and I don't mean you i particular klim. In order to get a payoff from using a pick you have to invest some time using it, just like everything else. Of course it is no problem playing with fingers in order to get the left hand straight first. But it should not eventually be a choice of whether it feels rigth immeadiately. How stupid would this look: "d'you think scales are difficult? drop them, then", "you don't feel like playing barres? - no need really", "you have a tough time changing between D and G? -well don't worry, there are plenty of songs with just one chord in it" etc...

Lars,

Not to be argumentive, but I disagree somewhat with this. Yes, if I was a guitar teacher I would teach a person scales, theory, sight-reading, chords (even the ones a player doesn't like).... all the traditional techniques.

But.....

There have been countless great guitarists who did not play like traditional players. Take the great Blues player Albert Collins for example. First, he did not use traditional tuning. He tuned his guitar to a Fm open chord tuning. He fingerpicked the electric guitar. He usually used the same basic chords, to change keys he would use a capo up and down the neck. Albert simply did not play guitar like anyone else. And this originality, along with great talent made him a standout guitarist.

I don't think anybody would call Mark Knopfler a poor guitarist because he doesn't use a pick.

So if a person only wants to play power chords, or wants to only play open chords and avoid barre chords, it's all good. That is one of the best things about guitar. Nobody can tell you how to play it, you can play it anyway you wish.

And that is a really nice thing in a world that is constantly telling you what you must do. :wink:

^ well I have to disagree again. There's only so many Mark Knopflers, Django Reinharts etc. Most likely none of them frequent GN. Most us here are averagely talented, averagely good at practicing diligently etc. If you are the best, you can probably stay away from the things you don't feel like doing. Else you have to try things even though they're difficult and unpleasant.

That's my worldview anyways :-)