Finger strumming

[Emrys]

Is there anyone else that likes to put down the pick and use their fingers to strum?

I find that it takes the edge off and also I can control my strums when I want to separate my strums on the high and lower strings.

Anyone else?

 

[gush]

I simply don't have that kind of finess!!!!!!!!

 

[rugerpc]

It's weird. I can pick. I can finger pick. I can strum with a pick.

But, I'm completely inept at strumming with my fingers.

 

[watelessness]

i do it all the time. not sure where i picked it up but it comes in handy when i have no pick. i also do a lot of plucking. maybe it's from playing bass in the 80's...

 

[Emrys]

i do it all the time. not sure where i picked it up but it comes in handy when i have no pick. i also do a lot of plucking. maybe it's from playing bass in the 80's...

I hear ya

I was thinking that I was maybe doing something wrong until I saw Nils Lofgen guitar player for Bruce the Boss and he does not play with a traditional pick but he can make that guitar do anything he wants....Also,, hell I am just an old turn playing in my room so I can play any way I want to play...lol

 

[NomadMike]

I often use it for quieter sections of a song .

 

[t.shamone]

I use my fingers all the time. There is a different sound, feel and vibe you get when using your hand.
I prefer a pick for certain things and my hand/fingers for others.
That being said, if picks were banished off the Earth tomorrow, I would be in good shape.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

That being said, if picks were banished off the Earth tomorrow, I would be in good shape.

I'd be screwed... or just playing bass.

 

[shboom]

Haven't used a pick since I got heavily into Knopfler's playing. As for strumming, I actually use a lot of back-strumming using primarily my index and middle finger nails. I often miss and tear the heck out of my cuticles, but that's the price I've learned to pay. I've also developed a seriously tough callous on my thumb. I actually have no feeling on the side of my thumb now. Good thing I'm not a typist I guess.
As t,shamone stated... "There is a different sound, feel and vibe you get when using your hand"

 

[t.shamone]

I'd be screwed... or just playing bass.

Nice....I need a bassist with your sense.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Nice....I need a bassist with your sense.

Im in. No Marley tunes.

 

[jfine]

Absolutely. I do it a lot, generally with the middle finger as my index is tied up with the pick. I've never been able to tremolo-pick very fast, maybe because I'm left-handed playing right-handed, but I can do it with that middle finger. Dick Dale was my first influence on guitar, and when I need to do that double-picked surf thing, I always use the middle finger. If I have a big crescendo chordal ending to play, I'll do it with the middle finger and sometimes add in the ring finger, sort of a modified rasgueado technique. If I had it to do all over again, I might never have used a pick at all--I love what Mark Knopfler and Jeff Beck do with thumb and fingers.
That being said, when I play bass I use a pick--my index finger actually has a permanent bend at the first knuckle from 50 years of picking (guitar, not much bass.)

 

[t.shamone]

Im in. No Marley tunes.

Deal!:dancing:

 

[veinbuster]

Deal!:dancing:

There's a pairing I'd like to see.

On topic: I use my fingers quite a bit.

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

That is pretty much the only way I play. I will either arpegiate the chord, strum it, or pluck the strings at the same time. Other than that, I use my thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers to play note to note. I like the sound I get.