Using Picks With the ‘Ukulele
Who uses picks on the ‘ukulele? The answer is: lots of people! They are great for getting different tones and for backup in case you break a nail.
In my opinion, the best kind of picks you can use are your fingernails. They are always with you and if you take care of them they sound good. As your nails grow, just start playing and they will become part of your gear.
Thumb picks are cool because they let you position your hand in a more relaxed manner. It is a good idea to practice with a thumb pick occasionally so that if you break your thumbnail you have a backup. Keep in mind that it’s also a good idea to practice with just your thumbnail in case you lose or forget your thumb pick. There are tons of different kinds, so just choose a couple that you like the look of and try them out. I personally like the Golden Gate GP-7s (shown below). When you first start playing with a thumb pick you might feel like you are going to break the strings off your ‘ukulele. Don’t worry, you just need to practice letting the pick slide off of the strings at a little bit of an angle.
The only person I can think of who plays ‘ukulele with fingerpicks is Ledward Kaapana. Most fingerpicks are made out of metal and you can bend them to fit your finger. Because of the way the picks go on your fingers, you have to pick upwards, towards your face. With a thumbpick, fingerpick, and delay pedal, you can get a really bright “Led” sound that is lots of fun to play with.
A different kind of fingerpick is an “Alaska Pik“. It goes over your finger, but under your nail. These are cool because you can pick down as well as up.
Plectrums (flat picks) are not used by many ‘ukulele players, mostly guitarists who have just transferred over to ‘ukulele. There are several types: standard guitar picks, felt picks, and rubber picks. Standard picks will scratch the top of your ‘ukulele if you are not careful. Felt picks are just thick, stiff pieces of felt. The flat picks that I have experience with are the Wedgie rubber picks. They might work okay for you if are just doing simple picking, but if you try to rip it up, I think they would really slow you down. I personally don’t recommend flat picks.
