Welcome to FlatpickGuitar.com!

This site looks at the style of guitar playing using a flatpick. The flatpick is the most common method for picking in bluegrass, country, rock & roll, and jazz. The flatpick, or plectrum, is held between the thumb and index finger of the picking hand. Players like Doc Watson, Clarence White, Dan Crary, Tony Rice and Norman Blake and many others have inspired countless players with their flatpicking skills. The flatpick is a simple tool that lends itself well to both rhythm and lead playing. However, for most of us mere mortals, it is a tool that is easy to use but difficult to master.

All About Flatpicks - Material, Shape, Thickness and Size

Flatpicks come in a wide variety of shapes, thicknesses, sizes and materials.

Shapes

The most common pick shape is the standard teardrop shape. Some players prefer a larger triangle shape (tri-tip).

Thickness

Thicker flatpicks produce a "fatter" sound while thinner picks produce a brighter sharper sound. Bluegrass players often prefer thicker, larger picks. If you use too thin of a pick, you'll start noticing a clicking sound when you play. A pick with a thickness between .8 mm and 1.2 mm is a good starting point This would fall somewhere around the "medium" or 'heavy" category of most makers. If you want a fatter tone, try a thicker pick. for a thinner tone, go with a thinner pick.

Materials

There is a bewildering variety of materials to choose from for flatpicks. The most revered flatpick material is tortoise shell, but this is unavailable today because it comes from an endangered species. Manufacturers have attempted to create picks from modern materials that emulate the sound from tortoise shell. The final choice for pick material comes down to the player's ear. The best advice is to try the different materials and pick the one that sounds the best.

Tips for Choosing a Pick

Ultimately, the decision of what pick to use comes down to how the guitar sounds. Recording yourself playing the same piece of music with different picks is a good idea when choosing a pick. How you sound to yourself as a player may not be representative to what the audience hears. Try recording yourself with a microphone positioned towards the guitar to give a better approximatation of what the audience hears.

Another variable in choosing a pick is whether you are playing in a group or as a soloist. In a group you might need a thinner pick to cut throught the mix of other instruments, while a soloist will probably want a thicker pick for a more mellow sound.