Who right hand fingerpicks... with your 12 string ?

[Ric_MEL]

I've gotten to the point where I use a pick .. less and less often with my 6 string guitars..

actually prefer just using my bare right hand.. seems like I have more control over nuance.. better " feel "

and now that I have a RIC 12 string.. I've been doing the same with it. as bare right hand is becoming my more comfortable way of playing.

It's hard. as there's not much room there to hit the correct string<s> .. ( if you're not just doing a full strum )

and there are variations of how I strum to brighten the attack.. ( ie using my fingernail as a pick ) .. or upstroke to hit the octave first . or hitting single notes.. etc.

Wondered how many others are going down this crazy road and trying to finger pick.. a RIC 12 string.. ?

[iiipopes]

I do. And I remember an article out of Guitar Player magazine in the late '70's that talked about a good technique to fingerpick a 12-string: put your finger between the two strings, and kind of "cup" or "turn" your finger as you pick to get both strings.

[JakeK]

Jim Krause is pretty good at it...can do that amazing Chet Atkins fingerstyle on his trusty 12'er...

[paologregorio]

I do. And I remember an article out of Guitar Player magazine in the late '70's that talked about a good technique to fingerpick a 12-string: put your finger between the two strings, and kind of "cup" or "turn" your finger as you pick to get both strings.

That works. I also like the variation of using a flatpick on the lower strings while finger picking on the higher strings, which feels pretty natural to me; I often play this way on either the six or the 12 without really thinking about it. In some ways it feels more natural on the 12 because there is "more" to pluck at, in the way of two strings instead of one.

[Halbert]

I do as well, but leave those crazy banjo picks for Roger McGuinn.

[jimk]

Jim Krause is pretty good at it...can do that amazing Chet Atkins fingerstyle on his trusty 12'er...

Thanks. Mostly, I prefer to use a combination of flat pick and metal finger picks on my 12 string.

When playing six string, I'll sometimes use bare fingers, or especially on an acoustic six string, thumb pick and finger picks. It all depends on what I'm playing, and the style. For instance, when I'm playing a Blind Blake style ragtime/blues sort of piece, I'll use bare fingers. I can achieve that peculiar syncopation he was famous for a little more easily that way. But if I'm playing some sort of John Fahey type piece, it's thumb pick and metal finger picks.
JimK

[idealassets]

but leave those crazy banjo picks for Roger McGuinn

You know that not many Ric players can fully get the sound that Roger McGuinn achieved, due to not working on this technique for as long as it requires to do it. I am able to do it, and like it, but it took a lot of redundant work to get it worked out. Roger claims to have practiced for at least 8 hours a day. Its no wonder that he could do it so well with that amount of time in on it.

What other guitar player ever thought of something that unique? I believe it was the unique aspect of his technique that has him at #92 in the 2012 edition of Rolling Stone Top 100 Guitar Players of All Time. With just a few exceptions, the only truly difficult lead that he ever produced was Eight Miles High. Most of the "lead" guitar to the other Byrds material was nothing more than standard chords and walkdowns, or single notes on just one or two strings.

But it is still the technique of how Roger did it that made for such a great chimey sound. He was totally different from George in the Beatles and Paul Kantner in Jefferson Airplane at the time.

Craig

[jimk]

The idea itself of using the metal finger picks/flat pick combination isn't original to Roger McGuinn. James Burton was using it years before.
JimK

[bvstudios]

After labouring away on the McGuinn Method for a fairly long time and getting limited success, I find I am opting for a flatpick, baby-finger combo that seems to work reasonably well for most of the songs I play. The fact I can transfer the style to my Gretsch and my Strat fairly easily is a bonus.

Variants- sometimes I'll swap the flatpick for a Herco Medium thumbpick, but because I use .50 Wedgies as flatpicks, the Herco feels quite thick.

I'm still working out the metal vs nylon fingerpick issue... Progress is being made, but it's slower than I thought. My goal is to be able, within reason, to transfer my style between instruments as needed, part of my K*I*S*S philosophy.

[jps]

I don't currently have a 12 string guitar but I have been using a pick a lot less these days when playing my guitars. As noted, much better control of just about every aspect of playing.

[jimk]

One of the instructors at the Academy shared an interesting observation about his students with me. He said that those who had had at least some piano lessons caught on to finger picking the fastest. That isn't saying that those who've never had a piano lesson in their lives can't finger pick.
JimK

[Ric_MEL]

It would appear..

that very few 12 string RIC players.. dont' use a pick !

[iiipopes]

One of the instructors at the Academy shared an interesting observation about his students with me. He said that those who had had at least some piano lessons caught on to finger picking the fastest. That isn't saying that those who've never had a piano lesson in their lives can't finger pick.
JimK

Or that those of us who are left handed but play a conventional right-handed instrument have a dickens of a time fingerpicking with the non-dominant hand (even after six plus years of piano lessons as a boy, and still play keys today for some occasions)!!!

[wmthor]

Who right hand fingerpicks... with your 12 string ?

My right hand is too busy working the fret board!

[Ric_MEL]

Who right hand fingerpicks... with your 12 string ?

My right hand is too busy working the fret board!

Touche!

I actually do both. - fingerpick and plectrum !
I like the nuance I can get fingerpicking.. especially on 6 strings. ..
on the 12 string: there is extra chime with the crisp attack using a pick.
so it all kinda depends on the song. Nice to be able to do either as it applies to the song.

I'm using a 330/12.. if fingerpicking was going to be my only mode of picking. I bet the extra room provided by the 660 would really be nice. pretty darn narrow in there on a standard width.