strumming without a pick?

fivesevenoh · #1 10-21-2003, 02:54 PM

do most players strum with or without a pick?

is it possible to strum really fast with your fingers? play triplets and stuff?

Joe Turski · #2 10-21-2003, 04:35 PM

Very possible! Takes some practice to achive. I use my index, middle and ring finger like picks, with downward and upward stokes. If you can get all three working properly, speed can be blistering fast. If all fingers are not in sync it will sound really sloppy.

You can strum with fingernails or with the tips of the fingers.
Use any way possible to get the sound your looking for. And if your not sure what sound your looking for, experiment with different parts of your hands, try things you wouldn't normaly.

fivesevenoh · #3 10-21-2003, 06:03 PM

thanks.

I use my index finger and my thumb pressed together.

ClarkW · #4 10-22-2003, 02:17 PM

Vic Wooten's super-speed slap/pop style incorporates using the thumb a bit like a pick. He strikes at an angle across the strings rather than straight up and down. Then when he pulls his thumb back, he sort of plucks the same string back again with it.

Occasionally, since I keep my fingernails quite short and I have pretty firm callouses on my right index and ring finger, I'll use the firm part of the tip of my right index finger as a pick, sort of raking it back and forth across a string. I use that mostly for a tremolo effect, or at the train wreck at the end of a song when we're sustaining a note while the drummer goes nuts.

Christopher · #5 10-22-2003, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fivesevenoh
do most players strum with or without a pick?

is it possible to strum really fast with your fingers? play triplets and stuff?

Alex Sklarevski demonstrates this well on his venerated "Slap Bass" video. You can do very complex things with a combination of right hand strumming/rasegueados and left hand muting.

kirbywrx · #6 10-23-2003, 04:49 AM

if its a quick strum, ill use the 'one hand clapping technique'. Its on a simpsons episode, you just open and close your hand fast. Other than that i use the same technique the other guys have been describing, its the same as using a pick, just without it there..