Well, I went and grabbed a pack of them. After bending the arch of the thumb pick a bit so it was more comfy, I really like it. I honestly don’t know why I haven’t tried this before. my picking mostly is either too hard, or I am strumming it with my thumb. This makes transitioning between them seamless. As an added bonus, I no longer feel compelled to store the pick in my mouth, which is a pretty gross habit.
Indeed…as a right-hander, I had the same sort of curiosity as chargerrich when I first started playing guitar, a few years ago. “Fretting is harder than picking – so why do I use my off hand for fretting?” The answer, as I’ve figured out, seems to be that this observation is generally true for “beginning guitar”, but picking / strumming gets more complex as you learn more about the guitar(though this may vary somewhat depending on the type of music you play), and you’re no longer necessarily in the situation of “the off hand is doing the hard work.”
I figure the strong hand is good for muscle stuff and the off hand is good for precise stuff. When you start out on guitar, you’re strumming with your strong hand and chording with your off hand. My point is you’re generally NOT changing chords with every strum. So the strong hand is doing more work while the off hand is just holding the chord most of the time. And by the time you’re ready for more complicated stuff, you’ve already got all that good muscle memory and stuff going with chording with your off hand so why bother restringing or buying an other handed guitar to learn it all over again?
Yes, when I started out on guitar I became enamored with thumb picks. They’re good for strumming and flatpicking especially if you embellish with a brush, i.e. Pick a bass string with the thumb then brush the other strings with your fingernails (make a flicking motion, as if you’re brushing ladybug off your shirt), then pick another bass string and repeat. And thumbpicks are good for full blown fingerpicking too.
There’s one thing about fingerpicking I used to regret now and then. I taught myself from an Arlo Guthrie songbook that had the Tab for Alice’s Restaurant and I used a thumbpick and finger picks on my index and middle finger. Sure, it was ambitious, but I learned it and it sounded good. But I was never good at switching from fingerpicking to strumming or lead picking without stopping to change picks. Roger McGuinn does it all the time, why couldn’t I? Turns out McGuinn “fingerpicks” with a flat pick between his thumb and index finger and finger picks on his middle and ring fingers. So if you’re gonna learn fingerpicking, keep this in mind. It’s difficult to switch back and forth.
It seems to me that most guitarists are able to accomplish a lot by learning different strumming patterns. I’m just starting out too and am enjoying the heck out of Justin Sandercoe’s online course. Friends have gotten me to go to folky open mike nights already and I’ve met a lot of great people. Expressing yourself through a guitar is great so have fun with it!
Any recommendations on source material to start learning? Do I look for lessons on craigslist, order a DVD and book from Amazon or are there some free online links I should check out?
Here are the two things I used the most when learning to play:
- A chord book
- Other people who already knew how to play
Guitar players love to show you what they know. Lean heavy on that.
As Jack said, a good chord book is essential. Mel Bay had a great one. When I started too many years ago, I also had a Beatles songbook that had the chords and lyrics to a LOT of songs I wanted to play.
Whenever I go into guitar teacher mode, I recommend the student find a mirror to practice in front of. Not to see how cool he looks doing Pete Townsend windmills, but to see what the chords and your fingering looks like from the front. Hanging your head over to see where you’ve placed your fingers just gives you a sore neck. Tilting the guitar up to see the same forces you to turn your wrist more while you’re making the chords. And, as an added benefit, learning what chords look like from the front makes it easier to see what chords your friends or the guitarists on videos are playing.
When I am interested in learning a new song or technique, I search for it on youtube - there are typically a few folks taking a shot at trying to teach. I figure out which one seems to be a good fit for my level and needs and go from there…