To pick or not to pick is really the question, one that a lot of people just aren’t able to make on their own. You see some guitarists using picks and others not, so which way is better? It all depends on what sort of sound you want to get from your guitar. Flamenco guitarists for instance will rarely use picks because it does not produce a sound suitable for their style of music.

On the other hand if you want to play fast leads or scales you’re going to want to use a pick because you wouldn’t be able to do so with just fingertips or hard fingernails because it would hurt your fingers. You’re basically more limited if you’re not using a pick. You’re a lot more limited when you’re not using a pick because there are only so many melodies that you can play. In the basic acoustic guitar lesson a pick will be used.

Strumming slow acoustic songs is fine without a pick. Choose the right songs when you’re not using a pick and you should be fine. Picks come in a variety of sizes and styles. There are also different materials of picks to choose from including plastic, nylon and tortex.

The size of your pick will have a great impact on how it sounds. The smaller pick you use the lighter a sound you will get. If you want to get more of a mandolin sound then stick to smaller sized picks like Carlos Santana. Taking an acoustic guitar lesson will teach you all of these basics as well as more complex instructions on playing the guitar.