I taught myself to play and never used a pick, however, all my friends use picks and a lot of artists that I have watched also use picks. I've tried to learn how to use a pick but I'm finding that the strumming sounds horrible and hitting individual strings is extremely difficult. Is it something that I should just suffer through to get better at, or am I ok with just using my fingers. Thanks for any help you can give.

Chris Answer: It depends on what style of playing you want to do. I've never seen a flamenco guitarist use picks but on the other hand I identify with you completely. I tried to use a pick and it didn't work for me either. I also tried finger picks, however, now I am limited to the style of playing I do. I play accompaniment finger picking and strumming with my very hard fingernails but it would be difficult for me to play fast leads or scales or flat pick in a bluegrass group. The best way to be is...(and it is possible)...be able to do both. I'm pretty content with what I do and have found ways to get around things but if you on the other hand want to play a lot of different styles of music, work on using picks as well.

Bob, Gman ( o )==#