New-Be ah ha moment

[Realoldguy]

Background: So I have always had trouble with cord changes. Gets worse on a fast piece. Just can't seem to get my fingers into the correct position.

Today I found the pick I usually use was broken. In looking through the picks I had I found a very thin pick. Decided to try it. Yes there is less sound but it doesn't move the guitar nearly as much as a thicker pick. The strings are in the same place all the time.

I could not believe how much easier it was to make cord changes particularly quick ones.

[saltyduck]

I can’t say I considered pick gauge affecting my fretting but that doesn’t mean it didn’t I suppose. Progress is progress and who doesn’t like that? My original progress was so slow I really doubted I had the ability to play anything beyond Doe Ray Me. I stuck with it though and without realizing it got beyond the basics. Good luck!

[LAPlayer]

Whatever works for you.

[Robin, Wales]

The thing with being a beginner at anything is that we "don't know what we don't know". Our concepts of how something work are based on very limited experiences. As we improve and gain experience or understanding and beliefs change.

I can tell you that what you believe about changing chords and pick thickness is not what you are going to belive in a year's time. Your concept of "what's real" to you today will shift - it's the natural learning process. The hardest folks to teach are those who hold onto their beliefs.


..... I doubt that many of us who have been playing a while ever think about the speed of chord changes during a song...... Because we "cheat" in order to keep everything flowing and bang on time. There are lots of ways we "cheat". Perhaps doing a bass walk between chords or making a subtle change to the strum pattern to miss a stroke right over the change etc.

If switching to a lighter pick is stopping your guitar moving and making your chord changes more timely (being on time is WAY more important than being "quick") then that suggests to me that you are, at present, missing a couple of basic skills in both hands. Don't worry though - keep trying stuff out and your ability to make timely chord changes will come, whatever flat pick or fingerstyle techniques you are using with your right hand.

[Coler]

I think the most important thing is to make sure you are strumming in time.

Using a heavier pick to strum is definitely more challenging at the outset. It is worth persisting with once you have a good degree of competence, because you can vary the tone and ‘do more with it’ in terms of expression and dynamics. It’s hard to stiffen a very soft pick but depending on how you hold it you can strum lightly with a thick pick, as if it were far softer.

That said, some of my favourite guitarists advocate a very light pick for strumming, for example John Doyle. He would be recommending this when accompanying Irish trad, for example, which I do a lot of myself, because the guitar is very much supposed to sit in the back of the mix.

I tend to choose a different pick depending on what I’m doing. As a good all rounder I like a Fred Kelly heavy nylon pick. That’s .9mm and has enough of a heft to it to use for flat picking/solos/leads but still has the flexibility you want for strumming. When accompanying trad I use a lot of palm muting and I soften my pick holding grip when I want to get a lighter tone without muting. I also vary the chord voicing and play very few ‘full’ open chords. That and some DADGAD keeps the guitar where it needs to be in the mix.

But your choice of pick is very personal and different excellent players will produce great results using widely different thickness and materials. It’s a mistake to think we will sound like a certain player if we use their preferred pick. But it’s certainly fun to try lots of options out.

I would go back to the start of this post for a final word. The most important thing is that you enjoy playing the guitar, and practice slowly enough so that you are strumming in time before increasing the tempo. That doesn’t mean you can’t push yourself beyond your current comfort zone. In fact that’s part of how we make progress. But make sure you are getting those changes cleanly and strumming in time.

Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect

[JonPR]

I'm fully on the side of thin picks for strumming. They have to be bendy, so you can grip them as hard as you like without doing any damage.

Rigid picks need to be held loosely, in order to give any dynamic variety other than "loud", and that risks dropping them or having them ping out of your hand when strumming. And if you hold them tight enough to not risk losing them, then you can break strings, as well as sounding dynamically crude.

The singer in my band used to break a string - usually the D - every other gig, until he took his pick thickness down a notch He hasn't broken one since. And we can still hear him - because, of course, his acoustic has a pickup!

He uses Dunlop tortex 0.60. Personally I wouldn't go any heavier than nylon 0.88. Grip them hard and they're plenty loud enough - plus you have more subtle softer dynamics available.

I realise personal taste varies, and no doubt some learn to use rigid picks sensitively. They are better for lead playing, so if you combine lead and rhythm (on the same song), then I can see the reason for getting used to them. But for a beginner strummer, I'd always recommend .60 or even less. You have to be able to swing the forearm freely to keep time, and not be worried about losing the pick or hitting the strings too hard.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Realoldguy

Background: So I have always had trouble with cord changes. Gets worse on a fast piece. Just can't seem to get my fingers into the correct position.

Today I found the pick I usually use was broken. In looking through the picks I had I found a very thin pick. Decided to try it. Yes there is less sound but it doesn't move the guitar nearly as much as a thicker pick. The strings are in the same place all the time.

I could not believe how much easier it was to make cord changes particularly quick ones.

Go back to the thicker pick. Make exercises out of the chords and strum them slowly 4 times each, every other day.

For example:

A...A...G...G...E...E...F...F...C...C...D...D... and repeat.

The problem is not the pick, it is your lack of practice.

Make sure you can get each note to ring out without buzzing. Again, go slowly on the changes so you don't learn changing mistakes. Your hand might be tired after doing this exercise, so maybe do it after you practice the songs you like. After a week or so you should see a difference.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by Realoldguy

Background: So I have always had trouble with cord changes. Gets worse on a fast piece.

Play slower. 12 years in and I still love to play a lot of songs real slow.
Search Youtube for Willie Nelson version of "Have you ever seen the rain?".

[Coler]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Play slower. 12 years in and I still love to play a lot of songs real slow.
Search Youtube for Willie Nelson version of "Have you ever seen the rain?".

To be fair songs at a slow tempo can still require many fast chord changes and still needs good clean changes, in time.

You can simplify the chords to anything of course, and that will make it easier to play whether played to a fast or a slow tempo.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by Coler

To be fair songs at a slow tempo can still require many fast chord changes and still needs good clean changes, in time.

?
There is no way that playing a song slow is harder than playing the same song fast.

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

?
There is no way that playing a song slow is harder than playing the same song fast.

True, but much like with skiing, speed can cover up a multitude of sins in technique.

[Coler]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

?
There is no way that playing a song slow is harder than playing the same song fast.

Well sure. Fine, if you're talking about exactly the same piece, chords voiced in exactly the same way, played slower it will be easier to produce the chord changes.

[jjbigfly]

Hold on! Playing most songs at a different (slower) pace changes everything.
The actual chords themselves do not change, of course, but the chord AND vocal phrasing can be difficult. I know there are some folk that have no issue with this, but many do.
Knowing the chord progressions DOES really help, especially when new to this game. Repetition makes it all work correctly….

[zuzu]

Originally Posted by LAPlayer

Whatever works for you.

This here.