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McCartney playing finger style?!

#6
Sir Paul has probably experimented with most methods. My observation is he uses a method of putting his thumb and index finger together (looking like he is holding a pick) and using his finger nails. I have only come across a couple people using this method. They are basically self taught. My guess is Paul is largely self taught.
 
#10
Sounds like what I do sometimes, that is how I get a faux pick sound. Also largely self taught.


James Judson said:
Sir Paul has probably experimented with most methods. My observation is he uses a method of putting his thumb and index finger together (looking like he is holding a pick) and using his finger nails. I have only come across a couple people using this method. They are basically self taught. My guess is Paul is largely self taught.
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#11
In concert, McCartney plays entirely with a pick and changes picks when he goes from guitar to bass -- i imagine he uses bigger/heavier picks for bass. He has played with his fingers, as some videos attest, and in his brief instructional vid posted for "It's A Fine Line," he used his thumb -- not slapping, obviously. Simply, he does whatever he feels fits the song. In outtakes from the "Get Back" sessions, you'll her him struggling to play a different version of "One After 909" without a pick. It's a simple straight 8ths line, but he apparently is so uncomfortable that he can't keep up with his fingers. Someone asks if he has a plectrum, and he replies that he left it in the truck. It's somehow comforting to know that even Beatles sometimes carry only one pick.
 
#12
mccartneyman said:
In outtakes from the "Get Back" sessions, you'll her him struggling to play a different version of "One After 909" without a pick. It's a simple straight 8ths line, but he apparently is so uncomfortable that he can't keep up with his fingers. Someone asks if he has a plectrum, and he replies that he left it in the truck. It's somehow comforting to know that even Beatles sometimes carry only one pick.
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That actually is an outtake from 1964, when the song was first considered for recording. They discarded it until it was revived as a joke during the Let It Be sessions.

McCartney was more comfortable with a pick because he was never trained in bass. He went straight from guitar to bass so he simply did what he was used to.

He did learn how to play finger style, but always preferred the pick.
 
#13
I actually saw this program last night and I specifically watched his finger during. He played three different ways, a traditional two finger approach, a pick and one where he was hitting the strings with his thumb as if he had a pick. It seemed like most of them he was doing the latter two.
 
#16
Alvaro Martín Gómez A.;10146650 said:
The 1963 BBC program "The Mersey Sound" features McCartney playing his Hofner fingerstyle (mostly with his thumb):



Maybe it's the same footage you saw on TV.
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Nope - that wasn't it. In this video he seems to be playing more with a thumb. The video in "On Record" is primarily in studio - either recording or rehearsing - which were often one and the same to the Fab 4. The show gives a great 'behind the scenes' look at many of their albums.
 
#18
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