Читать книгу Campfire guitar - Christian Pahlke - Страница 6

There are two different ways to play chords on the guitar: picking and strumming.

For this we can use our free hand (usually the right hand since most people are right handed) or a nice little tool called a plectrum (a plastic plate, also simply called a pick).

Picking is carried out with your thumb because the thumb of the right hand points downwards while playing, in fact only in this direction. Soon we will need the thumb, especially for picking the bass. The picking with the other fingers is performed from the bottom to the top. Fortunately, they are arranged on the hand in such a way that it hardly works differently.

You strum the strings either only with your loose thumb, the fingernails of your right hand or the plectrum. Each of these playing varieties has its advantages and disadvantages, or rather its distinct qualities.

With your thumb, you cannot create any loud sounds. Instead, you can play in a wonderful delicate way with it. With the fingernails of the right hand, you can already play much louder if required. Strumming downwards and upwards (upwards always with your thumbnail) as such is not a problem. However, if you’re strumming and also want to pick the bass in the same rhythm, then this already requires some practice and proper playing.

The plectrum is also something nice, it can make a lot of noise and covers a lot of technical inaccuracies. It is very easy to strum downwards and upwards with the plectrum. But if you play with the plectrum exclusively, then the fine motor skills of your right hand will not be trained. And that would be a shame. That is why I think the plectrum is only partially suitable for beginners. But you should definitely learn how to handle it because it allows individual strings to be emphasized. And at a campfire it acts like an amplifier.

The "pick" itself is a tool for an instrument and this technique has to be learned properly at first. But if you try these techniques out every now and then, then in the long run they shouldn’t be a problem. Time and practice will make you improve. That's the beauty of making your own music, it never goes back, only forward. And one day, not too far away, you will master even these techniques and play like countless guitarists in the world, loose, free and happy.