Learning to play the acoustic guitar is a wonderful idea and one that everyone should at least consider. Whether you want to join a band or just play the guitar when you’re alone and want to express yourself, it’s a fantastic skill to learn. If you’re just getting started with the guitar, the best idea is to take lessons. There are different tips and strategies you will learn with these lessons, including on using a pick and in which cases this is most suitable.

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. It all depends on what type of guitar playing you’re interested in. It all depends on what sort of sound you want to get from your guitar. If you want to play flamenco music for instance, you should avoid using a pick as it will create a deeper sound that is not suitable for this 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. Guitarists are a lot more limited when they don’t use a pick, and must stick to slower paced medleys. 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. There are actually steps to choosing the right pick for playing guitar, something that would be covered in any basic acoustic guitar lesson. Now it’s just a matter of choosing the right size and style of pick. Plastic, nylon and tortex are the most common materials for a pick to be made of.

The size of your pick will have the greatest impact on the overall sound. The smaller pick you use the lighter a sound you will get. This is why guitarists like Carlos Santana use one of the smallest picks, to get the lightest, most mandolin-like sound. Some enjoy a more traditional acoustic sound while others want to play fast medleys.