Topic: playing with finger picks

[unezrider]

hello friend,
a while back i became the proud owner of a new national nrp. now, i have always been a bare finger player but recently i purchased some finger picks to give them a try. some plastic, some metal, etc… i haven't played much with them in the past, just enough to know they make resos sound great. & i found some steel dunlop ones that feel pretty good on my fingers, & sound great with the guitar, too. but i've noticed it's been like relearning to pick again. i want to keep working on it, because i love the sound. but i was wondering from any of you who may play with finger picks, is there some advice on how to get used to them? a for instance, my thumb doesn't need to be as close to the strings anymore, & that has been hard getting used to. same with trying one of those blind blake 'double thumb' moves. i had been used to digging my thumb into the strings for that. & i also notice sometimes i take lazy angles with my fingers to pick a string. & with the finger picks on, i occasionaly miss the metal part of the pick.
i'm guessing that just sticking with it i'll get it figured out. but if any of you have any helpful ideas, it would be much appreciated 
chris

[Rivers]

Do a little bit each day, one day it just clicks.

Pick an easy picking pattern, play it slowly and build up speed. Throw in some changes.

Also, I struggled halfheartedly and lackadaisically with f/picks for years which is not the way to go. Really wanting to master the suckers is the head space you need to be in to crack it.

[Mr.OMuck]

The adjustment has everything to do with distance and angle of approach as you've already intuited. With FPs I tend to hold my hand a  bit further off the guitar and address the strings more straight on. Barefingered, I play closer to the strings at a slightly more oblique angle. obviously you'll have to find the right picks and approach for your playing. I like fred kelly speed  or slick thumbpicks and dunlop brass or ernie ball picky pick fingerpicks.
play all songs with picks and barefingered.

[Richard]

I can't play without them! I think the priority is to find what suits you, feels comfortable and does not fall off! If the plastic ones cut off the blood supply then dip them in boiling water for a few seconds and then bend to suit. Personally I use metal Dunlops on the fingers and a Propick metal\plastic for the thumb. Just do say ten minutes a day till you think you can stand more 

[dj]

with the finger picks on, i occasionally miss the metal part of the pick

I had that problem when I started playing lap steel last year.  Eventually I realized that I could move the picks around on my fingers a bit so that they struck parallel to the strings, even if my fingers weren't quite doing that.  Problem solved.

[uncle bud]

Having played with picks early on, my focus has always been more to play without them, which I do now as far as the fingers go, though usually use a thumbpick (Fred Kelly Slick Pick, I prefer the Delrins to the Polys). Lately I've been trying to play without the thumbpick as well for certain material. So my first comment would be, if you have played with bare fingers, don't ever lose that, stick with it. Second would be a tip I have not actually tried yet, that may have come up here before, but if the fingerpicks fly off your hands because they get slippery, try using some rosin. I need to give this shot myself, but like I said, hardly every play with fingerpicks.

[Mr.OMuck]

Fingerpick slipage is a serious problem for me and I've used rosin  in a block like the kind used for bows, rubbing it on my fingers with mixed success. I haven't found the powdered kind yet. At my last public appearance i actually resorted to sticking my fingers in rubber cement before putting on the picks. It kind of worked but......yulch.

[uncle bud]

Fingerpick slipage is a serious problem for me and I've used rosin  in a block like the kind used for bows, rubbing it on my fingers with mixed success. I haven't found the powdered kind yet. At my last public appearance i actually resorted to sticking my fingers in rubber cement before putting on the picks. It kind of worked but......yulch.

Anyone tried Mighty Grip? http://www.mightygrip.ca/mighty_grip.htm

[Mr.OMuck]

I'm electing you guinea pig Andrew.

[Stuart]

I remember once using the glue from a Monkey Grip bike tire repair kit forty years ago or so. It did the trick--kept them from sliding around. Comes off with acetone or nail polish remover. Who knows? Maybe it's still available.

[uncle bud]

Mighty Grip does seem to get used by drummers. I might see if my local sportsmonger has some. There are also a bunch of possible solutions over in this thread on the Banjo Hangout: http://www.banjohangout.org/topic/178307

[Mr.OMuck]

Great UB! See? Got a problem? Ask a Banjo player!

[eagle rockin daddy]

O'Muck,

Simple answer to this one, get a pair of pliers and clamp those picks onto your fingers.  If you can feel the fingers, they aren't tight enough.  They won't fly off if they are clamped hard enough to your fingers, and in the unlikely event that they do, your fingers are so numb that you won't notice until after the song is over.

Mike

[Norfolk Slim]

On the subject of learning to play with the infernal things...

I found propicks very handy.  They are almost a halfway house between proper picks and fingers, because you can still get a bit of feel with the finger if you want it.  I found that having got used to those, full picks were simpler too.

I also found that playing slide and using them for single string stuff to start with helped a lot.

I still only use them for some things.  There are songs I simply cant play whislt wearing picks- usually quick alt bass stuff. 

Oh- and John pearse thumbpicks are great.  Really snug on the thumb and a short stubby pick which you can almost use the same way as a bare thumb.

[Richard]

Mighty Grip does seem to get used by drummers.

Holy sugar UB, what sort of drummers do you know, more likely if they have to resort to that they ain't drummers, more thumpers!

Now I can really recommend that for when the metal pick starts to wear a hole in the finger (as at EBA week for example) in using some of that very fine self adhesive Scholl 'moleskin' fabric meant for sticking on the foot to counteract shoes that rub.