two quick basic questions?

[jipp]

Hi, any tips on getting a dropped pick out of the body of a acoustic?
also, any link to some very basic finger picking with the simple open chords(cow boy chords) i have to s tart some where.

also, id like to use a pick with my other fingers plucking the strings, basic.
so i can practice both method so i develop synchronizing with my right fingers, and my left hand. ( i sure do like the parlor size guitar, i bet a all mahogany one with out that evil V neck would rock. i know i like all mahogany guitars )

thank you guys, i know you are all laughing at such simple questions. but this 3/4 grestch is my first acoustic. im finding it is also helping on the electric side.
so i see it as a win/win for me. thank you for taking the time to read this, and any tips, links, advice ( books names/dvd's are welcome too. however, my 200.00 hobby money is done for the month. im a crippled on disability, so the book will be a birthday gift to my self next month, ill 38, sigh. got my first fake knee at 26. laughs ill never forget it. like i had a kid or something. 2004, july 5th 9am. and the 7th day hurt as bad as my original accident. or i think it did. i try to forget what the pain was like crawling for two days with a compound fracture.. but sometimes my dreams do not allow. being self aware is a trip. some times i think wild animals have it made, or at least till we kill off there environment etc. anyhow the books,dvd etc is because i do not think ill be able to find a teacher around me, two take 2 lessons a month. all i could afford. so ill just keep marching on, and enjoying every minute i have the guitar in my hand. truly is amazing invention, one of the better one man has come up with if i may say so)
second one would be internet, id already given up on life if i had nothing to do but sit in a chair 24/7. well that is the days i can get out of bed. laughs.
stay healthy my friends, id hate for anyone to go through what i do day to day. so ill do it for you guys. and you guys keep on rocking out...
maybe ill find another 5.00 guitar on my way home from the doctors on the 20th err i mean guitar stand, laughs. we can dream cant we. :)
chris

p.s
the small body size makes it so i can fiddle around on them days i have a hard time to get out of bed so i think ill get a 3/4 electric too.

[Martin R]

Turn it upside down and shake it.

As for finger picking, long time ago I read that your thumb takes three bass strings, index finger on the G, middle finger on B and ring for the E. I would just do first position appregios and such while watching baseball or killing time.

I got pretty good at it until a compressed disk in my back made several fingers go numb. Now it's all flat picking.

[jipp]

cant sleep, figure id check. yeah i did the salt shaker thing. thought maybe there was a slicker way.

sounds like ill practice your method. thank you so much for the reply. cant sleep now, so may as well turn on a old kong-fu movie, and give it a go.
you rock.

i hope your back is healed up. and not giving you any issues. i tried one of them spinal pain implants so i could get off the heavy narcotics.. the ones that go for 80.00 a pill. and the pharmacist treat you like the biggest loser/drug addict yet, no nothing of my accident/health. anyhow, i do not recommend mend this device to anyone regardless. all it did was screw my back up. but when you in pain you will try anything.. plus i hate pharmacist (if you are one of the cool ones and will go out of way to help, err i mean do you job, you rock). rant over. kong-fu finger practice.
hope everyone else is in dream land.. i guess ill take a pain killer as i do not see my self getting back to sleep tonight. peace out.

chris.

[Donelson]

The worst is a lost flatpick in an f-hole archtop. Whole lotta shakin' goin' on to get that pick out!

I had a bad fracture of several bones in my left wrist & forearm, in 2006. Unlike Steve Morse (!), it took me about three years to get back to even 75% playing ability. I played mostly piano during that time, as I could play with my RH & just fill in basic stuff with the LH. Now almost six years later, I'm back to where I was before guitar-wise! Good luck.

[P Thought]

I don't have much advice about the pick, but I know it's a wonderful zen moment when it finally comes out!

[andrewsadlon]

I like to try to center the pick on the backside of the body directly under the sound hole, and then quickly flip the guitar over and watch the pick fall onto the strings. Im quite meticulous when it comes to pick-getting-out

[Carlsson]

Originally Posted by andrewsadlon

I like to try to center the pick on the backside of the body directly under the sound hole, and then quickly flip the guitar over and watch the pick fall onto the strings. Im quite meticulous when it comes to pick-getting-out

^ This. Or... gather enough picks in there and you get some cool percussion thing going...

[Vladimir]

Originally Posted by P Thought

I don't have much advice about the pick, but I know it's a wonderful zen moment when it finally comes out!

that's usually one minute before it falls back in again

[Chiogtr4x]

Originally Posted by Vladimir

that's usually one minute before it falls back in again

Just keep (and keep adding...) the picks inside the guitar, and in about a year you can have a tambourine to accompany the guitar!

[jefrs]

Tip guitar up until you see the pick. Insert thin nozzle of vacuum cleaner.
Suck out the pick and the other accumulated detritus.

[jefrs]

Second question = hybrid picking.


I just threw the pick away, use all five fingers, grow nails.

[telleutelleme]

Pick extraction is a cost of playing. Gum or tape on a chop stick. Of course you could end up with two things in there, one of them sticky.

I learned Travis picking and Carter picking from either a Mel Bay book or Finger Picking for Dummies. Alternating bass down first and just get the other three moving, some pattern usually takes hold. I anchor with the pinky so don't use it. Lots of couch time.

[czgibson]

Getting the pick out of an acoustic:

Use a pencil with an eraser on the end to hold the pick directly below the soundhole against the wood. Turn the whole thing upside down and release the pick.

Fingerpicking:

Check out Justin Sandercoe's website for loads of lessons on all kinds of things, including fingerstyle.

http://www.justinguitar.com/en/FO-000-Folk.php

[jipp]

thank you for all the kind advice. got a good laugh. its good to know im not the only one who has done this. thank you for the link. cz,

aww, thats hybrid picking. cool to know. i would throw the pick away, but i just want to be more verstile is all. pluss i havea bucket of picks that i got for a couple of bucks when the local music store closed. hate to have them turn to turtle dust.

yeah, the jazz guitar, man that one wold be a pain i bet. vacuum cleaner, i do not have a small enough tip i think ( the shop vac would probably suck the back in half, laughs ). ill try the pencil, and other methods. or just add more. get the flamenco/Brazilian type of thing going on. laughs.
you guys rock.

chris.

on a good note, i did get 2 hours of sleep. so it was not all bad, was odd waking up with my little green grestch guitar cradle in my arms like a baby tho (maybe explains the dream with the women in the shower, shrugs.. darn them pain meds ). i think im on a long road to some dark and evil place all mothers fear. laughs.

chris.

[jefrs]

Fyi - I saw a Yamaha 6-string ukulele the other week, rather cheap with hard case. And like all things Yamaha, it played rather well. Baritone-uke size I think it was, like a small guitar but with that gentle ukulele voice. Kicking myself for not getting it now.
http://www.dawsons.co.uk/yamaha-gl1-guitalele-ukulele
Did I mention it was cheap?

[rangercaster]

get an Orbit pick and it can't fall into the guitar ... you can also flip it out of the way when you fingerpick and then back again ... you can't drop on the floor either ... genius !!!

[jwsamuel]

Check out this video with Richard Thompson. He explains how he uses a pick and fingers at the same time.

Richard Thompson

Jim