Pick or no pick

W

whistleman123

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
229
Reaction score
0
Location
Cleveland, ohio
Just started with uke. I would like to play jazz standards and swing, both comping changes and playing chord solos. Should I use a pick or not. If yes, should it be a hard plastic one or soft felt. i'm playing on an electric uke with Aquila Reds low G.
 
hoosierhiver said:
Playing with a felt pick used to be quite common decades ago, but these days I think very few people use a pick, no clue as to why it is so out of fashion.
Click to expand...

Personally it makes me cringe hearing played with a pick.
 
I'm a no pick guy. Just last night I was playing my uke and wondering why it was sounding so loud and kinda harsh. I needed to trim the nail on my strumming finger. My strumming was all nail and no fleshy part from the tip of my finger. The sound I'm accustomed to is a combination of both. For me, playing with a pick is too hard on the ear and is not a pleasing sound.
 
You don't have to be devoted to any style of playing. Try both and learn the advantages and disadvantages of either way. It's entirely your call.
 
If a pick gets you the results you are seeking, go for it. I see many fine players use one occasionally, even if they usually don't. Depends on the uke, the sound they want, strings they are using etc. Take the Risa LP's, and similar beasts with metal strings. Fingertips frequently won't give you the sound you bought the instrument to get. Lots of mellow jazz that fingertips would be preferred. No one way to do anything.
 
Play it how you want to ..with without ...combos of both....hard picks give a brighter sound ....felt picks can sound a bit soggy ........finger pick , strum ....some use finger and thumb picks .......

I use all of the tricks above ...except the felt or leather pick ....I haven't got one....
 
I'm one of the few that uses a pick I guess. Ultex .60 triangles for me. Partly because I have no useable finger nails whatsoever and partially because that's what I use for acoustic guitar. It sounds good to me. I did notice a few members of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain uses picks, so that makes me feel better... ��
 
As mentioned, it depends on your preferences. Make whatever sounds you want! (Outside with the rude ones, please. ;))

I've been a guitar (and sometimes banjo) fingerpicker for a half-century, often with metal fingerpicks. I never thought much of flatpicks. But I've been playing a lot of mandolin lately and a flatpick is just about required there -- although I abuse mine with fingerpicks too! Flatpicks are in my fingers often now, even when playing a composite-string 'uke. I don't use Grandpa's felt pick much unless I need to be *quiet*. (Grandma made him use it on his banjo-mandolin indoors.)

Ah, and which picks? A fifty-buck Blue Chip is probably overkill; so is an endangered tortoise-shell pick. If you don't need a lot of volume and want to protect the strings, a wiggly Jim Dunlop .38mm nylon pick is gentle and a felt pick is even more so. For a bit more bite I use a Dunlop 207 Jazztone with the edge sanded down a little. I fear anything stiffer and sharper would eat composite strings. No, for noise, I don my National metal fingerpicks and whack at the 10-steel-string Martin tiple, the guy that tenor 'ukes evolved from.
 
IMHO Non steel strings are better with fingers rather than picks (uke and guitar alike). The uke string spacing also warrants finger picking and rolls.

Btw if you want a pick, a piece of leather (part of an old belt) will work.
 
whistleman123 said:
Just started with uke. I would like to play jazz standards and swing, both comping changes and playing chord solos. Should I use a pick or not. If yes, should it be a hard plastic one or soft felt. i'm playing on an electric uke with Aquila Reds low G.
Click to expand...

Maybe a combination of plectrum & fingerpicking?
 
vanflynn said:
IMHO Non steel strings are better with fingers rather than picks (uke and guitar alike). The uke string spacing also warrants finger picking and rolls.

Btw if you want a pick, a piece of leather (part of an old belt) will work.
Click to expand...

I disagree to a degree..and agree to a degree ...which is a bit like sitting on the fence .....I think that you should play whatever you want how you want and if you don't want then don't......experiment .....I like to occasionally use plectrums on an amped up Concert or Tenor uke if playing rock and roll licks or electric blues....

For a little soprano then digits all the way..

Once upon a forum (ah me ) I didn't get the "fad" for putting Ukuleles on straps ...or "leashes "or whatever ...but I moved into a tenor for a have a go and can see that if you want to play that stood up...a strap could be advantageous and have actually fitted me Banjo uke with one (those metal bits dig in at my age now ) and me gitalaylay has a button fitted.....and a strap used ...so does my Les P epi......How you use a pick is what makes the difference...if you are constantly flailing away with a felt pick up and down etc then NO....you are missing out on the nuances and delicacies available with digital manipulation .


Balalaika for example has both,one steel and two nylon strings and it is considered traditional to play it with the flesh of the fore finger and thumb ....so it beggars the convention of steel and finger ...so you can equally have nylon and pick in my book......Horses ...courses and i would not have it any other way...
 
When I played guitar (almost 50 years), I only used a pick, but when I started on ukulele 2 years ago, I never touched another pick (as well as any of my guitars). But I also say play whatever sounds good to you.
 
itsme said:
I agree that I think nylon strings sound better with fingers than picks.

Use a pick if you like, but most of the people I know who play don't use a pick.
Click to expand...

Depends on what type or genre of music you are playing.....and that's the problem here .....some people only play ONE style or genre...and though they may do it very well tend to forget that others can and do play different styles .
 
Well it's up to the individual what style or what genre they want to play ..so many punters on here seem to only play one style anyway ...some are multi stylists....so it's a very personal issue...just take your pick. Or , not.
 
Last edited:
CeeJay said:
Depends on what type or genre of music you are playing.....and that's the problem here .....some people only play ONE style or genre...and though they may do it very well tend to forget that others can and do play different styles .
Click to expand...
Yup. Fingerpads, fingernails, fingerpicks, flatpicks (of various thicknesses and materials) and even bird quills all give varied effects and have their place with different styles. Hmmm, I wonder if anyone makes a bowed 'uke? Anyway, we attack the strings with whatever we wish (or have available) to make the sounds we want. Certain attacks may be standard for certain styles -- and some of us twist paradigms and subvert styles.

The very diversity of 'ukes invites such varied attacks and twisted styles. What we call 'ukes may be hollow or solid wood or plastic (thick or thin), or more-or-less metal, or cigar box, papier-mache, coconut shell, or probably other materials. They may be electrified. They may range from pocket-size to almost a guitar. They may be strung with metal or composite or gut or whatever, with one to twelve or more strings, or even no strings if it's totally electronic. They may be shaped like almost anything. They may have resonator disks or banjo heads or thin skins like a Tahitian 'uke. The may be harp-ukes or multi-neck or part theremin.

Given such, it's hard to dictate one genre, one style, one mode of producing sounds. Jump in and have fun.
 
As a long-time finger-style guitar picker I recently learned to use a plectrum when I took up mandolin. Inevitably one thing led to another ... yes, there's "pick acquisition syndrome" as well ... and I've now got a couple of dozen different plectrums, most of which are actually used, but all on different instruments.

For a nylon-strung ukulele (I'll include Aquila red's here, I use them so I can), I use a thin nylon pick, 0.46mm on a soprano up to 0.73mm on my baritone, for melody work, a Jumping Cow artificial felt pick for strumming on all of them (note to self, must order a spare).

I also finger/thumb pick and strum as the mood takes me, but that's by-the-bye for this conversation ;)

I've tried harder picks, I don't like the tone, but that's on an acoustic instrument, YMMV on an electric. However, I would have reservations about using a harder pick on nylon strings, especially for strumming, as it may cause excessive (and uneven) wear on the strings, possibly giving tuning problems before they prematurely snap. That aspect of things may not concern you, that's your privilege and I don't have a problem with it, but I thought I'd mention it :)

Whatever you do, enjoy it ... it's not called "playing" the ukulele for nothing !!
 
It's always comical to me when people make blanket statements regarding the "proper" way to play the ukulele. It's a folk instrument. Play it however you want.

Personally, I almost always play with a pick. Not because I cannot play without - because I most certainly can. The fact is, there are certain techniques and timbres that are more easily achieved with a pick.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ukuleletraveler
No longer available Ko'olau tenor local pick up only
Replies
2
Views
217
ploverwing
ploverwing
ukeclass
Help me pick my next Kamaka!
Replies
5
Views
390
ukeclass
ukeclass
S
Flight pick up switch out
Replies
2
Views
200
Poul Hansen
Poul Hansen
R
No longer available 2006 KoAloha Concert with pick-up
Replies
10
Views
1K
RafterGirl
R
Stefano64
Play uke also with pick?
Replies
19
Views
890
Mezcalero
M
Top Bottom