Ive been playing for a couple of moths and i prefer to pick notes with my thumb but can only play chords with a pick. This causes problems when I play songs that have picking notes and chords because i end up choosing between the too. Can anyone help me?
If you're playing with your thumb to pick notes, you'll want to use one of two techniques for chords:
Either you 'pluck' the chord - using the thumb on the bass note, and the index, middle, and ring fingers for the upper notes (if the chord has more than four notes, your index finger and/or thumb will keep going to strike more than one string)...
or you'll use the backs of your nails to strum - the nails on the fingers on the downstroke, the nail of your thumb on the upstroke.
In theory, you'll end up being faster using a pick, so you might want to keep practicing that - but there are great guitarists who don't use picks who develop plenty of speed on chords (Paco de Lucia, Wes Montgomery, etc.)
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Another technique that I use is using the back of my index finger nail as a 'pick' to strum. What I simply do is pretend I'm holding a pick and strum away.
I find doing this helpful for songs in which you want to add-lib on chords.
You could try some tumb picks.
http://www.music123.com/Dunlop-Thumb-Pick-12-Pack-i95707.music
-Metaellihead
must be hard, thumb pickin
Learn to do both. I use both ways in the course of a song, as picking with a thumb is softer.
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