On guitar and bass I just naturally want to use my fingers and not a pick. Granted, it might be because I’ve never really taken the time to be comfortable with one. But there’s something else, the pick seems so definite and mechanical from both a physical and aural perspective. Obviously considering how many people use this tool this aspect is considered as an asset.
Having said that, at this point I feel that it puts an unnecessary mechanical barrier between me and the instrument. Also I can see how can be a way to play faster but I’m not really interested in speed.
I need to know more about how classical guitar and flamenco players use their left hand.
There’s a great Spanish guitar player named Javier Pereira.
I saw him accompany Mariola Membrives who is this astounding singer who uses the conventions of Flamenco as a point from which to explore.
Pereira uses many left hand techniques from all the disciplines.
For the moment I’m going to focus on playing without a pick.
Me too. When I started out with guitar (not much over a year ago) I used a pick & pretty much expected to stay that way. When I started the IFR Chord Melody Workshop it happened to be about a month after I’d got a bass on which I was using fingers (as it’s ‘the usual thing’). Whilst I’m sure it’s possible to do the Chord Melody stuff with a pick, I decided to give finger picking a try.
I’m now a total convert. In addition to the flexibility & multi-string pluck opportunities I seem to prefer the tone (& range of tones) it provides.
Musical tastes vary of course, but a finger picker I admire is Justin Johnson. He’s much inspired by ‘roots’ & early Blues musicians & it shows in his playing. My favourite pieces by him are where he does solo arrangements of songs, using a range of techniques to provide the melody, harmony and rhythm, something that maps well onto the IFR ‘bass, choir & singer’ analogy for chord melody on guitar.
Edit to add: If you happen to search for Justin (he has many videos on youtube) you may land on one where he’s using a thumb pick. That’s not a fundamental part of his style, just something he uses on occasion if he wishes to give the bass line a bit more bite.
Indeed.
Have you seen ‘Alaska Piks’ https://alaskapik.com/ too? They look to be an interesting alternative to ‘cultivating’ perfect finger nails? I guess different things suit different people, but as you say so many possible paths!