Also, this has nothing to do with learning guitar, except I guess that I have more appreciation now for the instrumentation that goes into acoustic numbers, but I’ve been using spotify recently to listen to albums. (Never really used it before.) Anyway, I’ve been listening to Christ Stapleton’s discography slowly, haven’t stumbled across Tennessee Whiskey as yet, but I have heard a lot about whiskey. Like, a lot. Chris Stapleton is maybe sponsored by Big Whiskey™ or something, man has found himself a liquid amber muse for life.
Also been listening to every new thing put out by Jesse Welles and am loving it. A bit poetic like Dylan, whose discography I have not listened to, actually. Should probably put that on the list.
As the sort of person who likes to buy physical media to enjoy, it’s been nice to, albeit very late, realise I can preview albums and also enjoy them, while contributing to the artist’s paycheck, before I have the money to buy the music. I did used to do that on YouTube when artists uploaded their albums on there, but ads really harsh the vibe. Also, it lets me be more choose-y with what I’m getting. Gone are the days of hearing a couple of songs and rolling the dice on whether the album would live up to the singles.
My preference for strumming is a thinner pick, I find it moves across the strings easier and so I get a better sound. I have picks of both of those sizes and don’t use them. They’re both too inflexible for my liking. I play with Dunlop 0.6mm picks. I tried 0.73 which is the next size up and prefer the 0.6mm. Maybe this reflects my limited ability as a player.
In general I think thicker picks are used by people who want to pick single notes quickly, such as in a technical metal solo where a bendy pick is not helpful. To be clear I’m not saying you can’t strum with a thick pick, I can do it, I just don’t like the feel
Hi Constance, nice to read your latest log entry!
Concerning the picks - I had the impression, they seem to be a bit on the thicker side for a beginner. To my ears the .88 sounds better, as you are strumming more decent with that one. With the thicker one you are getting caught by the strings at some points. Those thicker Tortex are quite stiff for strumming. I personally prefer the Tortex .60 as my to go pick for strumming.
I get you on the sound, which is richer with the thicker picks and is more suitable for those powerful songs like What’s up. My choice for songs that need a bit of a deeper/fuller sound are Dunlop Nylons 1,0 (black). They are less stiff than the Tortex, but they are providing a very full and decent sound where needed. I use those a lot for Neil Young stuff or more powerful songs. The .88 Nylon (grey) is also a nice pick.
Hi Constance,
I wish I could help you with this, but I find it difficult to hear this way, too much distraction from other sounds to be able to focus on the slightly thicker or softer sound of the pick…
What I personally think is that I find everything above 1mm very thick in the beginning…but on the other hand, I find everything below 1mm very thin …
I’m going to quickly practice with that bunch 0.75mm and otherwise they will go out to friends…
Thank you both for the input. I relistened to the video and I can hear the thicker pick catching on strings, although I couldn’t feel it happening at the time. I might try the dunlop ones in the thinner size. I’ve got a handful of picks I don’t use that are thinner, I bought just to hear the sound, so I might have a look at them. I realise upon hearing the video sound that the clackiness you hear when you’re playing isn’t amplified nearly as much to people not holding the guitar, even though it personally irks me to hear the plastic noise. It’s interesting though that in this case, the thicker pick sounded clackier.
@roger_holland I actually found the thicker picks were easier to use when I moved up from my grey and yellow ones, and sounded better. I have a handful of picks I got when I had my guitar set up, might go back through them and see how they sound. I think I have at least one thicker one that I didn’t like at all, sound-wise. I also have a mystery pick I just randomly ended up with, somehow.
I might jump online and get one of those big bags of a bunch of picks and try them all out. Given that the thinner pick sounded better in this case, maybe the composition of the plastic is as important as the thickness. Both were nylon I think, but the green one feels softer and therefore more secure in the hand.
Maybe the thing to do is have a pile of picks and take one randomly without looking and also trying not to look at your strumming hand as you play and try to assess what feels and sounds right. Certainly I’ve got my own bias that gives my light grey Dunlops a head start on everything else!
As for the sound I guess it depends on circumstances, if you’re only playing for your own enjoyment then whether the sound of the pick is irritating or not is important. That equation changes if you’re playing for an audience or a recording
Claire @ConstanceClaire
Plenty of advice from others, all I would say is that whenever Justin is strumming in a lesson or song he is inevitably using an orange tortex which is 0.6, there must be a good reason for that.
Michael
Just watched this video lesson for Helpless by Neil Young
after seeing it recommended in somebody else’s thread at some point, I think recommendations for someone doing an AVOYP. Anyway, I’ve heard the CAGED system mentioned a bunch of times but unless my memory was really bad when it was expanded upon, this is the first time I’ve really known what it meant, outside of ‘names for specific chord grips’. This song lesson explained the CAGED system just as a part of it, demonstrated it, and I feel like my eyes have been opened. A real a-ha moment.
Anyway, it does make me want to muck around with the capo when I’m learning songs, now that I know how I can quickly adapt a tune using the CAGED system, and how that is useful for embellishments etc, but it does mean I need to develop the grip strength of Thor because the capo I’ve bought has too-tiny levers for the amount of force needed to open it right up. The thing’s a missile if I lose my grip for half a second! I have big hands and my left hand now has like, muscle near the thumb from practicing barre chords, so I dunno what iron-man this capo was designed for…
My pride will be injured going into the music store asking for a capo I can operate safely
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I busted out my handful of picks and tried them all out for the C G Am chord progression for What’s Up the other day, my favourite is still the tortex flow green .88 one, but the orange .6 tortex dunlop one is also nice, and I have a blank mystery pick that I suspect falls between the two, probably a .73 or something, which is also pretty nice and not too clacky.
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Sat in the audience for the latest open mic, it was phenomenal! I swear I lucked into sitting in on the best one yet. My day is dozy now because I rolled out of bed at 4:25 to tune in, but I feel strangely energized because of it. Very inspired. Can’t wait to be up to dipping my toe at some point!
Hi CC. I’ve just stumbled across your LL although I did comment on your first AVoYP ‘Anchor’ a month or two ago.
This is a fun read and your progress videos with the chat to yourself and cups of tea/coffee are very entertaining. You’ve come a long way in a short time and the progress videos really highlight your improvement.
Anyone who feels they are not progressing with guitar and has not recorded themselves should use you as an example of how recording yourself proves that all the time and practise is worth the effort. Well done.
The progress videos have honestly been a real boon to me. I tend to forget good moments and wins and instead my brain hones in on failures etc, so it’s actually helped keep me motivated to learn. Knowing you’re progressing doesn’t quite feel as real as actually seeing it in ‘real time’.
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