Originally Posted by: christopherfarrell92

Hi all,

I have just started to learn this week. I was wondering wether its better to learn to strum with your fingers or a pick. I find it way more comfortable using my fingers/thumb. Just learning simple chords at the minute.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Kind regards,

C

The pick is always a little bit of an awkward thing for people when starting out. You're holding an object between you and the strings and there an unnatural thing about it. For now.

Though I agree about learning for both, I would not suggect using fingers instead of a pick. If you use fingers to faciliate a different style of playing (ie - fingerpicking found in country or classical), then fingers are the way to go. If you are using your fingers to do the same thing as a pick, focus on getting used to a pick.

The reason is that at some point you're going to want to play something that requires a little more articulation than your fingers can do and you'll be frustrated that you cannot achieve the sound you're looking for.

It's ok for now to just use your fingers to strum but be sure that when you've got a few things down, start using a pick. Right now, you're trying to do chords and maybe doing some chord changes and if the pick makes it too hard, then ditch the pick for the time being. It can be a little bit like that thing where you rub your belly with one hand and tap your head with the other; too many things at one time. Focus on one thing for now.

Just don't get stuck with no pick.

Too contradict myself, I almost never use a pick these days. However, I've played guitar since 1982 and used a pick for decades. I'm learning to play some others styles and techniques that might be better without a pick. But that's because I can use a pick that I can also decide when I don't wish to use one.