I had a similar experience, but I picked up the thumbpick. It was during the covid lockdowns, I wasn't going out, wasn't playing any gigs or even jamming, I decided to work on using a thumbpick, which I had tried years ago but never really got the hang of it. But this time was different, I had plenty of time to suck while not performing in front of anyone, and slowly I got it. It started with maybe 25% thumbpick and 75% flat pick; then 50/50, then 75% thumbpick and 25% flatpick; and slowly I just kept playing more and more stuff with the thumbpick. I still revert to a flatpick for just a few songs, but end up using a thumbpick for about 95% of the time during a gig. And yeah, the thumbpick has changed everything for me, and I would highly recommend it.
I recently started using a thumbpick for playing acoustic after watching a Tommy Emmanuel video, and him suggesting all fingerstyle players should try it out. Some of the great guitar virtuosos such as Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed used a thumbpick. It's been very awkward to say the least, and I feel like I'm just not getting the hang of it. I put it down for a bit and then put it back on after a day or two. Take it off, put it on. Ready to give up on it. Reading your post encourages me to keep at it and not to give up on it right away. Thanks for commenting.
@@johnrutledge1810 yes, I was influenced by many of those same players as you. I would just encourage you to not give up, stick with it, because the pay off is worth it. Note, I tried a lot of different thumb picks, trying to see which one worked best for me. I finally settled on the basic Dunlop large, it's not fancy, it just plain works best for me. I still have some of the other styles around I may pick up and use from time to time, but it's the Dunlop that I keep in my pants pocket.
Wonderful playing, Josh! I seem to remember videos of old concerts where Johnny Winter used hybrid picking, but with using a thumb pick. Apparently, he was trained in finger picking at a young age.
I tried the hybrid picking and couldn’t get it down but I have put the pick down and have been using just my fingers to pop the strings like a bass guitar and I came up with some cool stuff but I’m gunna give hybrid another try because it would be the ultimate because it’s the best of both worlds and I didn’t realize you were striking the strings simultaneously to produce the whole chord sound at once mixed with using your pick and fingers when your noodling around the neck
10 years ago i was just getting to the point where hybrid picking was starting to feel natural to me and then i discovered Modern Prog/Djent and got completely side tracked for a decade lol, i was hoping for some muscle memory but my fingers remember nothing!
My right hand pinky's tendon was severed for me and I still try to do this. So, obviously I can only use the index, middle, and ring finger. Hybrid picking is fantastic. I first saw it watching Buddy Guy, but, Danny Gatton is The guy for that technique. .
@@ricopedrajrs I did - my question still stands. Josh gives a number of examples how "all of a sudden" he was doing some intricate hybrid picking. Maybe others are good enough to do that overnight, as a beginner intermediate player, I am interested in how you would practice/progress to improve at this skill.
