Ok , so those are the pros . Here are the cons of hybrid picking :
1 . If you enjoy playing fingerstyle on any level , you ’ ll be giving up the use of your index finger to hold the pick with your thumb .
This is a serious tradeoff , almost like playing chess and sacrificing your queen to put the opponent ’ s king in check . Is it worth it ?
2 . You ’ ll also be limiting your thumb ’ s room to move , but it will be closer to the strings , so perhaps that ’ s a blessing in disguise .
3 . You ’ ll need to rely on your pinky to make up the loss of your index , because the shift in fingers from i , m and a , will be m , a and c , so if you haven ’ t strengthened your pinky , this may take some time .
4 . If you use a pick for hybrid picking , and your fingernails are long enough , there ’ s not a huge discernable difference in texture between the sound of the pick and the sound of your fingernails , so it might just make more sense to play fingerstyle .
Do the cons outweigh the pros ? I ’ ll leave that with you . A few more thoughts to consider ….
Let ’ s say you decide you want to try hybrid picking . What would be some good environments to experiment with ? Well , you can do bass lines with block chords on top ( see video ).
You can do walk-down bass lines with more melodic fragments on top .
And you can try picking individual notes but then switching over to strumming .
Let ’ s say you decide against hybrid picking and you still want to have access to strumming , flatpicking , and fingerstyle all within the same song ( which I ’ ve done .) Here ’ s the pro tip I promised you :
You can employ the use of a pick holder on top of your guitar ( or even use an inside-out roll of gaff tape ) so you can have the pick available for strumming and flatpicking , and then you can set it aside and move over exclusively to your fingers for fingerstyle .
And of course , you can grab the pick and go right back to strumming , typically without missing a beat .
You may need to strum with the backs of your fingernails as a bit of a transition point , but you can get there .
Well , I hope this discussion provided some clarity for you that will allow you to make a more informed artistic decision in this season . There are so many styles of guitar playing out there , and hybrid playing can give you access to those … but so can strumming , flatpicking and fingerstyle .
The choice is up to you . And it depends largely on what the song is asking of you , or what you want to bring to the song .
So , try it out . Experiment . And then let me know how it goes !
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David Harsh David is a nationally touring worship leader , songwriter and performing artist . He is passionate about equipping guitarists to discover their potential . Learn more and join now at www . GuitarSuccess4U . com
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