Ditch the pick?

Anyone here ditch the pick and play only with fingers?

I've been playing with a hybrid approach for many years as I've always found it useful for things like pianistic chords such as those often used by Eric Johnson. That eventually grew into other use cases like arpeggios and single note licks, especially when crossing strings.

For about the last year I've been trying to use the pick less and less.

Watching Jeff Beck play live is inspiring and I know years back Richie Kotzen also stopped using a pick, too.

Of course, I just watched an Andy Wood video where he's blazing chromatic lines with alternate picking :)
This has been a dream of mine ever since I watched Chris Buck on YouTube work his guitar with and without a pick. Jeff Beck has always been an inspiration for unpicked playing. There are many more fingerstyle acoustic players who made the switch to electric, and kept with the fingerstyle.

The best I've personally been able to do is hybrid pick, with pick and fingers. Gotta find a decent fingerstyle book or watch some Tommy Emmanuel/Joe Robinson instructional videos for greater insight...
 
I would also add that playing fingerstyle vs pick puts you in a different creative mindset for soloing/improv; it can be a creative boost.

Not sure I would ever advocate "ditching" the pick, but maybe just limiting its use. There are situations which are better suited for both. Joe Bonamassa is a great example. He can play fingerstyle and pocket the pick in the crook of his thumb then whip it out for a blazing fast solo, tuck it away, and continue on. Pretty amazing.
 
Love playing with fingers but more in a hybrid sense with a pick. I'll switch back and forth. It's such a different attack and sound. I love it but just another way to coax out different sounds from the guitar. I wouldn't want to do it all the time.
 
Definitely haven't ditched the pick, but I keep hybrid picking lead lines more and more, especially for certain string skips and getting single percussive notes mid-run. I keep my right hand nails a little longer (not full on classical style, but longer) so I can hybrid with the nail if I want to skip around but not really sound/feel a lot different than the pick, or I'll dig the pad of the finger under the string and pull it harder to get more of a "pop" sound.

I suppose that maybe isn't all that unique, but I didn't even notice it creeping in... until I did and now I can't stop :).
 
I would also add that playing fingerstyle vs pick puts you in a different creative mindset for soloing/improv; it can be a creative boost.

Not sure I would ever advocate "ditching" the pick, but maybe just limiting its use. There are situations which are better suited for both. Joe Bonamassa is a great example. He can play fingerstyle and pocket the pick in the crook of his thumb then whip it out for a blazing fast solo, tuck it away, and continue on. Pretty amazing.
Lari Basilio is a master at this also. The transition from pick to fingers is, well, seamless.

I learned to play guitar as a finger picker-Taylor, Croce, etc, etc, for many, many years beore I even touched an electric. So I do use my fingers a lot with my Strats and Teles now. But I don't think I will EVER ditch the pick.
Just too many things I do need the pick, for me anyway. so I do both, depends on the song.

Speaking of Matteo Mancuso, whose videos I posted a while back, I have never seen anyone play with his fingers like he does. I mean for the things he plays, which is anything pretty much. Unique I think. So fluid.
 
This has been a dream of mine ever since I watched Chris Buck on YouTube work his guitar with and without a pick. Jeff Beck has always been an inspiration for unpicked playing. There are many more fingerstyle acoustic players who made the switch to electric, and kept with the fingerstyle.

The best I've personally been able to do is hybrid pick, with pick and fingers. Gotta find a decent fingerstyle book or watch some Tommy Emmanuel/Joe Robinson instructional videos for greater insight...
Tommy Emmanuel has some great FREE videos on youtube about this. but, he, and also, Joe Robinson really aren't doing what Unix guy is talking about. They are finger picking (how I learned long ago) using an alternating bass ala Chet Atkins , etc. Different I think.
Although they both can play all types of music incredibly well of course!
 
Ouch! That looks sore….
I was teaching a neighbor to play Stormy Monday and the next day he texted me a picture of the blisters on his fingers. So now I teach him little bits he doesn’t play enough. :)

I used to play with a drummer who would break out in the worst blisters at gigs. It
was also a confession that he didn't play enough to work up some callouses.

Can you pass me some tape, please???!!! :)
 
This. guy has it right. His name is Liam McLoughlin, he's from Scotland, and I met him in DC a few years ago when he was touring as Sithu Aye's second and he's an absolute animal. Here he is using every thechnique in the book in the same tune:



Next up is Roopam Garg, also a phenomenal player using hybrid tapping/finger style/picking techniques all at once to get the intended effect.



Do whatever you want or whatever you can imagine.
 
Tommy Emmanuel has some great FREE videos on youtube about this. but, he, and also, Joe Robinson really aren't doing what Unix guy is talking about. They are finger picking (how I learned long ago) using an alternating bass ala Chet Atkins , etc. Different I think.
Although they both can play all types of music incredibly well of course!
I think that's what I'd need to learn if it were fingerpicking, the walking bass line style...that might free up the remaining 3 fingers (if I were using my thumb and forefinger for bass) to play melody while the bass line shifts during the course of the song.

FTR, I did locate my Tommy Emmanuel Truefire video and IIRC, I remember viewing my Joe Robinson video in my collection as well...it may take me quite a while to even begin to get things to work, but I guess if I'd like to hang with the open-mic house band, that may be my next project.
 
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That same friend is an over the road truck driver. He ended up buying a pair of those Boss Waza headphones cuz he can't lug an amp with him. He says they are perfect for his situation.... probably be great for yours as well.

I have the Waza phones. Still use them a lot. Modeling is nowhere near what Fractal is doing but totally wireless and huge sounding. Definitely a good travel option. I can walk around my house while playing.
 
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