Hey & welcome to GT!

Originally Posted by: cap B

My goal is to learn playing country and folk -music, mainly I would like to learn fingerpicking. I will only play on acoustic guitar.[/quote]

It's great that you have a clearly defined goal. Your best path is to work through the Guitar Fundamentals 1 & 2 courses for a review & to make sure you've got the best foundation. Then start working on learning songs that fit your favorite genre along with the Country Style courses.

Originally Posted by: cap B

So my question is: Should I start over and relearn in that way instead, or is my way ok and I can stick with it and still take the courses?

[p]You can still take the courses & stick with your way of playing. Most acoustic guitar playing works that way (thumb on bass strings, other fingers on higher strings). But, there will always be slight differences. I think you'll be fine overall.

However, consider that when a certain technique, skill or idea requires that you adjust, it's always a graet idea to learn a new way to do things. In the end it's valuable to have more tools available to you.

[quote=cap B]

I also wonder about playing with a pick. As I never felt comfortable with it I never used one. Would it be wise to skip it all together and just strum and pick with my fingers instead?

I encourage you to at least try working with a pick. It's not necessary to master it, or do every pick based lesson. You can certainly adjust most of the lessons to do with your fingers instead of a pick. But again, if you have more tools & techniques available to you, then your playing has more musical options.

Hope this helps! Please ask more if necessary. Best of success & have fun!