How to Strum With and Without a Pick

In this video, we're gonna look at the techniques of strumming a guitar with and without a pick, and also look at a couple of pick options. So the pick that I'm primarily gonna be using is my Ernie Ball signature pick. We have these available just to have a recommendation that I can put my name on. The biggest complaint about a pick is that you drop it. Dropping a pick isn't the worst thing in the world, it means you weren't holding it too tight, which is a bigger sin when it comes to, Uh, holding back your guitar progress, however, there are picks available that really help that. One of them is the Dunlop Maxi Grip pick, which does have this kind of serrated surface, which just makes it a little bit easier to hold. Whatever pick you use, we're looking for a nice open sound and bright sound. Like this, we can also get that same sound by strumming with the nail of your first finger, which if I'm strumming without a pick, that's typically the technique that I use. We can get a louder sound by having all four nails in a row. And doing this Which uses a similar strumming motion, and you can of course strum with the thumb alone, but that gives a much quieter er sound and doesn't really work on any of the techniques that we're wanting to do, even strumming with the first finger. Actually does, it uses a similar strumming motion, strumming with the thumb, but the series of videos that I provide at beginner level is not encouraged. I encourage use a pick, stick with a pick for as long as you possibly can, and anytime you deviate from a pick, use your first finger to strum an acoustic guitar. When you do use a pick, I really encourage that we try and hold it between the first finger and the thumb. This puts your hand naturally on an angle so that the pick rolls across the strings and it leads to more effortless accurate playing cos wherever your thumb is, that's where the pick is ready at the correct angle. It is also really common. For acoustic guitarists, especially beginners, to hold a pick with two fingers and the thumb more like this, and this is absolutely fine, it's gonna prevent you dropping the pick more often, and if that prevents frustration when you're strumming 6 strings. Or you're picking certain easier parts, this isn't gonna hold you back at all. I held a pick like this for absolutely years, and I became a good intermediate level guitar player from holding my pick like this. How I'd really encourage all of you to at least have a go at holding a pick is having your hand like you're about to hold an ice cream cone or a microphone, 4 fingers together, have that pick on the side of the first finger. Thumb then on top. And fingers in comfortably, and that's how we hold a pick. Whether the thumb is bent or whether the thumb is more straight, just keep it comfortable, keep it somewhere in the middle and hold the pick just enough to hold it in place, which is gonna take some calibrating, you're going to drop it. It's going to drop in your guitar at some point, which is a fact. One method you can get a pick out of a guitar very quickly. Um, is by having some kind of blue tackle or something on the end of a pencil and stick it in that way, that's probably the quickest method. The one which either makes you look like a genius or a fool is doing this method where you try and get it lined up. Where'd it go? There we go, try and get it lined up beneath the sound hole and then turn it over as quickly as you can. Let's give this a go. Hey, we did it. Genuine first time tick. So there you can see, nothing terrible happens if you drop a pick or if you drop the pick inside your guitar. It's absolutely fine, there are methods to get it out. What's the biggest sin is holding your pick too hard and causing excess tension in your forearm, that is gonna hold you back. If you ever want to strum an acoustic guitar without a pick, use your first finger. And then there are strumming patterns, one I can think of is like the bum chicka strumming pattern, which is kind of a country thing. Which I might do one thumb pluck and then a downer. That is not applicable for everything, it is something we can look at later in my beginner syllabus, in the videos that I provide on the website. We'll get to that later. Please, to give yourself as many options and to sound as good as possible, use a pick, even if you find it difficult. You'll thank me later, I promise you.