Hey! How you doing?
Justin here today!
We're going to be talking about strumming without a pick.
It's something I get asked about a whole lot.
It's kind of a big subject, really, for most beginners
I think they tend to turn to it because they can't use a pick.
And I don't think that's the, kind of, the right option.
If you're struggling to use a pick,
I think you want to try using a very thin pick
and struggle with it a little bit longer
Because I think for real beginners,
it's a bit easier and better in the long term
to be able to strum with a pick.
However,
when I strum on the guitar,
more than fifty percent of the time
I choose to strum without a pick.
Now,
there's a lot more options
when you choose to strum without a pick
as well as any of the ways that you do it.
When you strum with a pick,
most people tend to hold the pick the same way,
they move the arm the same way.
There's kind of a lot more,
it's not limited,
but there seems to be one way that works
for most people most of the time.
Whereas, when you take that away,
and you're using your hand,
there's a lot more options as to
how you angle your fingers on the strings,
the way you use your thumb, or your finger,
or a combination of those things.
How much you move your arm,
how much you move your thumb,
or your fingers independently of the arm.
There's a lot more options,
and I think that's one of the reasons why I kind of prefer it,
because you can get a lot more tone variations,
there's a bit more to think about.
So,
this video is for beginners
to explore playing without a pick.
If you don't want to play without a pick for whatever reason.
And for more intermediate and advanced
guitar players to get some ideas
on ways of exploring
playing without a pick.
So it's going to be multiple levels here,
and, hopefully, beginners will find it kind of interesting,
and give you, hopefully,
the right idea of finding a way
that works well for you.
Because I think that's one of the key things here
is finding the way that works best for you.
So, I'm going to start by talking about using your thumb.
Now, when you're strumming with your thumb,
if you just strum down with your thumb,
you get the, kind of, the fleshy part of the thumb, quite obviously.
Right? It's quite a round sound
compared if I use a pick.
It's kind of louder and a bit brighter.
So if I use my thumb,
it's little bit rounder,
a little bit fuller,
The brightness is sometimes good
when you're recording,
but not all the time.
So I don't think that's necessarily an advantage
it's just a bit different.
When you do an up strum,
if you're just going to use your thumb,
there's a couple of things,
couple of options and things that you need to be aware of.
Depending on how you angle your hands,
so if you keep your thumb, kind of
the palm flat with the guitar
when you use your thumb,
it can kind of hook up under the strings,
and get caught and get a little bit uncomfortable.
So it's worth realising,
that when you strum up,
you want the thumb to be a little bit
more kind of facing
It needs to be at an angle where it's not hooking.
So you need to explore a bit how that works
and how that feels
with your thumb
so that it's not hooking under the strings.
So the angle of your thumb isn't going to cause it to get trapped
and go all kind of weird
when you're strumming up with your thumb.
So, that's the first thing, is just to think about it
Now, generally,
I think rather than the thumb, kind of, pointing up like that
it wants to be, kind of, that way a little bit
for the up strum
Okay? Just a little bit.
Doesn't have to be a lot.
So, that's the first thing to think about
is just be aware when you're strumming with your thumb,
how is it angled against the strings
and is it going to hook in,
is either the bit of the flesh
where it meets the nail can hook in.
Or the whole angle of the thumb
could, kind of, throw you in.
I mean you shouldn't be like that.
You want to keep your wrist
nice and close to the strings
I think for the thumb thing.
But again, there's some different options I'll talk about in a second.
And so,
that's the first thing just to be aware of is
trying to find a way that it doesn't hook in to the strings.
Now,
because you've got a nail on the top of your thumb,
it's possible to get a fleshy sound,
on the down,
and a nail-y sound on the up.
Which is obviously what I just did.
Flesh, (inaudible)...
Now, that feels a little bit weird for me like that
I'm having to consciously, kind of,
drag my nail on the strings.
I find that if I keep my hand a little flatter,
that I can still get the fleshy part
it's, kind of, this little
the fleshy part underneath my thumb.
That's doing the strum, not the nail, like that.
The fleshy part.
Generally, you probably don't want the up strum to be played
and the down strums to be muted, like this
Just sounds a little bit kind of wonky
to my ear, well, I think to most people probably
So, if you're going to strum with just your thumb,
I recommend just mainly working on that fleshy part.
And trying to get it so that it's even like that.
See, there's not really a big accent there on the up strums
With the nail, I can do it
But it sounds a bit...
Makes it sound a little bit wonky
so I'd recommend just thinking about the flesh.
Now, when it comes to the motion of the arm there
Just keeping all your fingers
kind of nice and open, and relaxed
you can move your whole arm
just like you would if you were
doing strumming with a (?).
But you could also
there are some guides (guys?) that,
kind of, put their fingers on the actual guitar
and just strum with the thumb motion itself.
Now,
neither of those ones are particularly more valid
than the other one.
It's just what feels comfortable for you
There's no way that you should
feel one way is superior
other than what's working for the song
and what's working for the person playing.
And I think this is where it gets into slightly more complicated
for beginners because I think for a beginner, it's a bit easier
to know what's right.
And when you're using your pick, as I said this,
there tends to be more than one way to do it.
So, there's the right way of doing it, mostly,
of course it's not quite that black and white
But there's mostly the right way to do it.
And then ways that are maybe not so good.
But with this fingers thing,
there's a few more options
and, therefore, it can get a little bit more complicated
and beginners might feel a little bit "Well, I'm not sure I'm doing it right"
And the test, I guess, to see if you're doing it right for you
is if it feels nice to you.
If it sounds nice.
Cause that's the two most important things
It needs to sound nice to you and to other people.
And it wants to feel nice and comfortable and relaxed.
You don't want it to feel all complicated and difficult
That's not the point.
It should feel comfortable.
So, you need to explore a little bit
First of all, the angle of your thumb
how you going to play,
whether you want it to be all fleshy or fleshy and nail,
unlikely you're going to want that,
but you might do.
And then think about whether you want to try and keep
the whole arm moving.
Or whether you just want to think about using your thumb
Or a mixture.
So maybe your arm moves a little bit,
and your thumb's moving as well.
It's not one or the other.
There's combinations here that you can explore
And you don't feel-
You shouldn't feel like you have to do one or the other.
Okay? So that would be playing with the thumb.
It's one my favourite, personally,
I like playing with the thumb a lot
particularly with the fleshy thing
if I'm doing a little ballad or something
that's just a bit mellower.
And it feels- I like the feeling
of the strings on the flesh of my fingers as well.
I just - I like that. It's nice.
Strumming with a pick, of course,
is something I do a lot as well
and there's definitely advantages to that
the crispness and brightness
and particularly if you're playing with a band,
it can be a big advantage,
but there's lots of other advantages
with the fingers thing as well
which we're going to get into now.
So,
that's talking about the thumb on its own.
Now the other option is
quite a common one
is using your first finger on its own.
Now, if you're going to strum with your first finger,
if you strum down,
you're most likely to get this
use the nail part of your first finger.
And then on the up pick,
you tend to use the fleshy part of the finger,
So you get: Nail. Flesh. Nail. Flesh.
Now,
it's kind of more musical
to have the nail on the 1, 2, 3, and the 4
and the fleshy part on the end
So, that would be normally,
1 and, 2 and, 3 and, 4 and
if you were strumming on every beat
Now, if you're going to do that,
you're going to find with the up strumming
again, you need to be aware of
the position so that your finger
doesn't, kind of, hook into the strings, right?
So, it needs to be, kind of, pointing up
So, down, and then up
it's going to be pointing at the ground
for the up stroke
and then you're going to curl your finger
a little bit for the down
If I try and slow it right down
Now this approach, doing it like this with my first finger like this
I'm not tending to make a big motion with my arm
I can do it.
We'll talk about another option for that in a sec,
But the finger strumming sort of thing
is very much, kind of, up and down
And it's nail on the way down,
and finger on the way up.
Now,
if you don't want that
difference in dynamic
between the nail and finger
you can also use the flesh of your first finger
So this way you're keeping your hand a lot flatter
Instead of it this way
Up and down this way
You think a bit more that way
Now this is very soft and delicate
so I would only ever use this as a kind of a
a ballad-y kind of thing
it's lost all of top (?), it's not very bright
It's soft, it's hard to get, like, a big dynamic range
like the range between how loud and how soft you can be
But it's quite nice and delicate as well
so, there might be times where that kind of thing
Yeah, see, I still want to occasionally
I want to be hitting the nail
to get a little bit more crunchy
But, definitely, there have been occasions
where I've been using, mainly,
the little fleshy, using the finger
the pointy thing.
Now, the other option that's very common for just playing with fingers
is to hold your finger together like
you're holding a pick.
So, you're actually pretending
you're holding a pick
but the pick becomes your first finger
Okay? So, that way is quite a nice one,
again, for beginners if you're playing
or you've dropped your pick
You're used to the technique
you should practice a little bit
Just putting your fingers together like you're holding a pick.
Now, straight away, I'm more into moving my arm
like I would when I'm playing with a pick
Okay? So pivoting from the elbow,
trying to move the whole forearm up and down together
Okay? So, it's much more...
it feels like more of a strum
if I go into just holding my first finger
and my thumb together like this
It's not actually any different
to just using your first finger
because you're not using your thumb.
But there's something about gripping it together
it makes it a little bit more solid,
it gives it a little bit more volume.
Again, the things that you want to be aware of
is just, particularly,
for the up strum,
making sure you're not hooking into the string.
So, that'll just be experimenting
with the angle of your first finger.
You don't want it pointing, kind of, up into the strings
you want it, like, pointing directly in
or even a little bit, kind of,
your first finger pointing slightly towards the ground,
to avoid getting that kind of- getting hooked up there
So,
all of these things are all a little bit different
there's not a right or a wrong
You can use your thumb by itself,
you can use the thumb and then a bit of the nail on the up strum
Or just the flesh of the thumb
You can use just your first finger,
you can have it going up and down like that
You can strum your whole hand,
and use the fleshy pad of the first finger
You can hold your thumb and your first finger together
But there's even more options than that, right?
So, that's just the starting point.
Another really, really common one
is to use your thumb on the bass note
So, usually on beat one and beat three
and then use your first finger for doing a little down and up strum
So, you have this
1, 2 and, 3 and, 4 1, 2 and, 3 and, 4
So, thumb
Down - Up with the first finger
Thumb Up - Down
Thumb Down - Up
With the first finger,
Thumb - Up Down - with the first finger
1, 2 and, 3 and, 4 1, 2 and, 3 and, 4
For example, there's lots of different patterns
that you can use but this is just one
There's infinite number of patterns that you can get into
if you start exploring that as an option
But, that again, is a really, really
common, kind of, starting point
the idea of having the bass note
with a nice, round, fleshy thumb sound
And then that down strum with the first finger
where you're using the pick.
You know
it's called, "Playing on the back beat"
which is the beat two and four
when the accent is a little bit this
2, 3 and, 4 1, 2 and, 3 and, 4
It's emulating the snare drum from a drummer
so you get that
Doo. Ga! Doo, doo, ga!
Doo, doo, 2, 3 and, 4!
1, 2
So having that 1, 2, 3 and, 4
1, 2, 3 and, 4
It's a really, really nice little option
something that, again, you don't have to
you would likely pick a little harder on beats two and four
if you were playing with a pick
But if you're playing with your fingers,
you think about ways of dealing with that.
So, you're using the thumb on the one and three
and the down hit with
the first finger on beats two and four
it's quite a nice little option.
Now,
last thing I want to talk about
is the mixing of all of that together
And that's probably one of the things that I like most about playing
with fingers as opposed to a pick
is being able to mix up the strumming part
with the finger styling part.
You know one of my favourite
guitar players in the world is Neil Young
and he's an expert at doing that.
The way he combines little melody elements
within the strumming.
It's kind of like strumming and fingerstyle
and you can get a bit percussive
and all of that sort of stuff all at the same time.
It's not for beginners.
I wouldn't recommend beginners go jump into trying to do this
because it's way more complicated
But just to give you a kind of a taste of what's going on
The idea would be along the lines
of what I was talking about before
where you have this bass note playing on beat one and three,
little strum
in between
So you get into, kind of,
the bit where you can, kind of,
do fingerstyle within the strumming,
and keep the strumming going at the same time
That's the longer term goal, I think
if you're going to pursue the fingerstyling
you know, finger strumming
is to be able to incorporate those things
if you feel you need to.
Now, more is not always better
sometimes it's better just to keep
the strumming real simple.
It depends on what the song needs,
not what you fancy doing.
Okay? That's a really important thing to
realize is that you should be playing for the song.
Not just for you to show off
what techniques that you've got.
So, always, kind of bear that in mind.
What's the song that you're playing,
how does it feel good,
Is it a ballad? Is it a high tempo thing?
How should it feel?
What's the best way to deliver a particular piece?
So,
to summarize, for beginners,
I would recommend if you don't
want to use a pick for whatever reason,
you get into using your thumb.
The fleshy part of your thumb
and just getting into using a little bit of arm motion
A little bit of thumb.
Try and get used to making sure that
the thumb doesn't catch on anything.
So, just thinking about the angle
just take it slowly and see if you can
notice if something is going wrong
if you're getting a
one of the strums is too loud
or you're getting a bit of nail
or it's just poking out funny
or for whatever reason it doesn't feel right
try and become
an observer of yourself.
Rather than trying to concentrate on getting it right.
Try and watch yourself do it
as an impartial observer
just out of curiosity
and then, kind of, try to make the mistake.
Because then if you're watching like that as an observer
and you do make the mistake you got a good chance of
figuring out what went wrong.
And if you can figure out what's gone wrong,
you got a way of fixing it.
But remember that with this fingerstyle thing
there's not so many rules
I don't really get into this idea
that there's one way to do it
and it's the right way
and this guy says that you should this
and another guys says you should do that.
I really don't think that's right for fingerstyle
I've seen a lot of different, amazing artists and amazing musicians
play all kinds of different ways
and I think that's a good thing.
To be able to explore and find your own way, your own path
in the musical journey.
Because that's where you'll find, your self.
And your most enjoyment, and your expression.
Now, that's getting a bit arty-farty
for beginners, you just want to learn to strum, right?
So, if you're that guy, keep it simple.
If you're a more advanced guitar player
try exploring all of these different options
try exploring different fingers
different ways of doing it, of course
we're not getting into the full-on,
you know, percussive fingerstyle options
because when we get into that
there's like a hundred thousand
different ways of doing it.
But this should give, kind of,
beginners to intermediate guitar players
a taste of the different things
that they might want to explore
if they don't want to use a pick.
I really hope you found this lesson very helpful.
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I'll see you for plenty more very soon.
You take care of yourselves!
Thanks! Bye-bye.