Poll: How many of you play without a pick?

I use a pick almost always, but I play a lot of arpeggios, and sometimes it's just easier to fingerpick. I never learned any particular technique, just futz around with my thumb and index/middle.

 

It depends. I’m a mixture of no pick, and a weird self taught hybrid style of fingers and flat pick.

 

I used a flat pick for 25 years, but always struggled with dropping and losing them. The last 7 years or so I've been strictly thumb for bass strings and index finger for upstroke or strumming. I really only use those 2 fingers with occasional use of the middle finger. I love playing triads and double stops and that Luther Perkins boom chicka style and the thumb and index approach works really well for me.

 

I play the bridge pickup on my electric guitars with a Daddario Cortex 1mm flat pick. The flat pick gives me the attack I want for the 6 songs I play that way. Finger style just doesn't cut it. I play everything else with bare fingers. Skin, not nails. I thumb strum and play jazz with my thumb. I accompany myself on vocals in a variety of finger styles. I play solos off chords using double and triple stops usually with the lower note in the stop sounded with my thumb. Otherwise, I pick mostly with three fingers, thumb, ring, and index. Backing vocals with chords, I usually play the lower notes as ascending arpeggios with descending higher notes, including passing notes, played with my long fingers. I rarely alternate the 1 and 5 of my chords Travis style.

Its funny that the songs I play with a pick are some of the country songs I learned before learning finger style. I try everything I want to learn with a pick and finger style to find what works but everything now seems to work better for me finger style. My brain just takes me to the finger style I need to play the song. The single exception to the rule is blues jamming. I learned to do that so long ago that I'm more comfortable with a pick, unless I slip off the blues scale onto the Dorian scale. Then I can only find my notes finger style. I think as I get older my once plastic brain is becoming hard wired.

 

I generally play fingers and fingernails... however, for chunky stuff, power chords and/or single note lead or melody passages I keep an assortment of picks duct taped and accessible to pull off ahead of any of that.

 

It really depends upon what I want to do. I play finger style, with a pick, both.

 

Nothing in the poll for me. I play with my fingers sometimes and sometimes I play with a pick. Depends on what I'm playing/doing. I do not hybrid pick.

 

I alternate, keeping the pick in the palm of my hand when I strum.

 

I used to play exclusively without a pick but I started using them again about ten years ago. If I didn't have one I could play our entire set lest without.

 

It was not a conscious decision but somehow this is what I've ended up with for pick storage during fingerpicking/strumming interludes.

 

I usually use a "thumb pick" and nails but will do "bare thumb and nails only" when I am trying to be quiet (ss amp just above threshold of being heard) not to disturb she who watches TV. While on this subject last week I started playing my blue baja tele without a pick set to both pickups in parallel and out of phase. This turned out nice as the out of phase sharpens what is lost by not using a pick. Never used the switch much before and will be doing further exploration of the out of phase settings.

 

Depends of the song of course, I can play pick or no pick, but who cares, I play awful anyway

 

1-5.

 

I use fingers only on bass, or on guitar when my pick goes flying into the black hole of why didn't I buy one of those stick on pick dispensers the last time I was at GC.

 

Hybrid is the most difficult style to master. I'm on year 5 and almost there one thing for sure it makes banjo playing enjoyable.

 

I'm kind of there too... although it's mostly pick.

I tried to go no-pick after watching Jeff Beck play, but I really seem to prefer using a pick most of the time... although I also appreciate the things you can do with more fingers in play and no pick to hold on to.

 

I think I ticked seven boxes......but after steel fingerpicks, most alternatives seem attainable.

 

Sometimes, I pick up a guitar to play for 20 or 30 seconds, and just use my index finger nail like a pick. It would just take too long to actually have to pick up a pick and put it back down to play for that short a period.

 

I typically play electric with a flatpick and hybrid (flatpick and fingers) when I need to. That option was not available in the poll.
I typically play acoustic with fingers and occasionally a flatpick.