Fingernail in Lieu of Pick - Who's Doing It?
 

So after 30+ years of playing I've started to experiment with something on tunes that call for pick style. Rather than using a pick I put my thumb and 1st finger together as if I were holding a pick, and hit the string with the top of my fingernail. I only play pick style about 20% of the time so it's not a radical change but so far I'm really liking it.

Pros:

- Don't have to bring picks with (saves money and hassle)
- Guitarists don't mooch picks off me anymore
- No more dropped picks (this was a HUGE problem for me... for whatever reason I could just never get a good grip on the pick)
- Slightly mellower, more "organic" sound from the fingernail vs. a pick
- Easier to mute strings especially palm muting
- Easier to play with dynamics
- Effortless switching back and forth from "pick" to fingerstyle within the song as required

Cons:

- I've had to grow my fingernail on the index finger out a little longer than I would prefer for strictly fingerstyle playing. Have had to slightly adjust my fingerstyle technique to accommodate the longer nail
- The fingernail thing really only works on downstrokes. Rapid up/down picking is a problem but I really don't play any material that calls for that.

Wondering if anyone else is doing this and if you have the same impressions?

I grew out my fingernails back in the 80's when I was learning classical guitar. I loved how it sounds with my bass playing. So yeah, I play bass with my fingernails, mostly classical guitar style but I have sometimes done what you've described putting my fingers together as if I was using a pic. I've had no problem doing really rapid up/down chicken picking using this method either.

I have acrylic nails for fingerpicking guitar and have recently started playing bass and I don't mind using my nails it works for me!

I mostly use a pick, but stumbled upon this on Ebay. Maybe someone here will try it:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fingerstyle-...71170942764%26

That's my "pick technique" as I'm physically unable to even hold a pick for any great length of time. I like the pick sound, so I just fingernail it the whole way!

Fingernail in Lieu of Pick - Who's Doing It?

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I've done it for years, I know other players who do it. I think it originated back in the 60s.

I prefer a pick to the fingernail because I get more attack.

Also I use my fingers to flick out against the strings to get a funky popping sound.