Finger picking with an electric guitar

[julius2790]

Hi everyone!

I've decided to challenge myself for this next year and learn to play the electric with my fingers. I'm trying to see if I can get some of that Wilko Johnson vibe mixed with maybe some Travis picking and then use the trem for some subtle flourishes on some ideas I'm working on. There are so many subtleties of tone available it seems.

It's hard! I feel like I'm sitting in a classroom naked trying to play this guitar without a pick. I was wondering if any of you had any advice as far as toughening up the fingers or maybe using finger picks? I work in health care and can't grow nails..plus I always thought their was something creepy about men with long nails on one hand. Do I NEED nails to get the technique down or will the fingers just eventually toughen to allow me to play without them?

[Embenny]

Don't use fingerpicks.

I work in healthcare and I also trained in the RCM method of classical guitar for many years. Fingerstyle is very much my main "thing" (6/12-string).

It takes VERY little nail to get a nice tone - and many play with zero nail. Your fingers will toughen up. I play Kottke-style 12-string fingerstyle and still keep my nails short enough for work. You can absolutely make it work on electric.

I do use a thumbpick often, more on acoustic than electric, because I like the change in angle that it provides, but for classical and electric, I typically don't. Fred Kelly Slick Picks are my choice for that - not the giant thumbpicks that are just a triangle with a strap, or the too-long Dunlop-style ones.

TLDR: you don't need nails, and even if you choose a hybrid finger/nail strike technique, you don't need much nail at all.

[julius2790]

Thanks. Yes in watching a few youtube videos I see folks playing without the nails and they obviously make it work! Jesus it's like playing again for the first time but will be worth it. Plus I can take what I apply with the JM and use it with the bass VI.

[marqueemoon]

All of my playing at home is without a pick. Nails are not needed. I've experimented with thumb picks, but meh. I bet that would work better with flatwounds though.

I play a few songs fingerstyle. This song is fingers with a Strat.

https://thelaughinggroup.bandcamp.com/track/plans

Switching back and forth in a live set can be tough tonally and levels-wise. It's a work in progress.

[julius2790]

All of my playing at home is without a pick. Nails are not needed. I've experimented with thumb picks, but meh. I bet that would work better with flatwounds though.

I play a few songs fingerstyle. This song is fingers with a Strat.

https://thelaughinggroup.bandcamp.com/track/plans

Switching back and forth in a live set can be tough tonally and levels-wise. It's a work in progress.

Wow, Marqueemoon. That's fantastic! Yep that's in the neighborhood of what I'm hoping to get into. What a great sound you've got going. I'm going to have to make this happen.

I was thinking about flatwounds, too. I don't do a lot of string bending so that might be a good experiment. They sound great and are fun to play on my 12-string electric. I bought a good harmonic trem pedal over the past year and then got a vibrato pedal and was playing around with them both and...WHAM! I realized I NEEDED to learn finger style to push that sound further.

Thanks for sharing your tune. It's really good!

[Shadoweclipse13]

I've often thought it would be handy to have that trick in your arsenal. If you're on stage and lose a pick, you can just keep going.

I can't say much about actual technique, but if watch Andy Martin (formerly PGS, now Reverb). He doesn't EVER play with a pick. Sometimes he uses a "C" grip like plucking, sometimes the same hand shape as if you were holding a pick (index finger as pick I believe), and sometimes plucks the strings like a bass player would pluck strings with a single finger. Sometimes he'll do them within a few seconds of each other.

[julius2790]

I've often thought it would be handy to have that trick in your arsenal. If you're on stage and lose a pick, you can just keep going.

I can't say much about actual technique, but if watch Andy Martin (formerly PGS, now Reverb). He doesn't EVER play with a pick. Sometimes he uses a "C" grip like plucking, sometimes the same hand shape as if you were holding a pick (index finger as pick I believe), and sometimes plucks the strings like a bass player would pluck strings with a single finger. Sometimes he'll do them within a few seconds of each other.

Right. I was watching a demo of the "clawhammer" technique and then went to a video of Wilko playing the tele. There's just so much to be done with the fingers if I can get it down. There's a songwriter named Shannon Wright who plays a JM with her fingers and she does a wide variety of things in one song. There really seems to be a whole world of possibilities. But I've just about ripped half the nail off these past two days trying to learn. I don't think I can do Townsend without the pick!!

[bacca51]

I just transitioned from playing mostly with a pick to only with my fingers for a new band i'm in. We do a lot of bossa stuff, and I need that extra precision and rhythm. I don't use any nails. I like the flexibility, something I do quick jazz strums with my thumb so times I use the tops of my nails. Play around with it.

edit: I always feel like one of the only forum members that actually uses a jazzmaster for jazz, others... speak up!

[Bergerri]

Mark Knopfler finger picks all his great songs. It’s what gives him that unique sound that made Dire Straits famous. There is a video on YouTube where he explains how he first learned the technique.....interesting watch. Fingerpicking can give a whole new dimension to the electric sound.

[MechaBulletBill]

I always feel like one of the only forum members that actually uses a jazzmaster for jazz, others... speak up!

My 60s soul/r&b band does a couple of tunes that might count as acid jazz. I favour the attack of a plectrum for punchy Cropper-style rhythm but when playing warmer jazzy parts (maj7 triad with a 9th above - whatever that chord is) the softer attack of thumb+finger is useful.