Classical with pick

[MikkoKarhula]

Hi!

I don't have any kind of degree on classical music but I try to play that style even with pick.

Here is my little composition where I try to play maybe more traditional classical style. But I use pick.

Thank you and forgive me!
Kindest, Mikko

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[Christian Miller]

Very very nice, shades of Chopin

You are a very talented musician

[kris]

...pick...
You play and sound great.
***** stars

[kris]

Very very nice, shades of Chopin

You are a very talented musician

I don't hear much of Chopin, but it's nostalgia.
.....sorry my wife is a pianist.

[MikkoKarhula]

Very very nice, shades of Chopin

You are a very talented musician

Thank you very much!!

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[MikkoKarhula]

...pick...
You play and sound great.
***** stars

Thank you very much! I don't know where the influence comes because I don't study classical music. But this style is still very nice to compose and play.

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[kris]

Thank you very much! I don't know where the influence comes because I don't study classical music. But this style is still very nice to compose and play.

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You are Great!
You play real music from the heart.

[Marinero]

A few observations/comments:

1.) Classical Guitarists do not use picks. It is not an element of the genre.
2.) Your left hand control/positioning shows you have had proper training at some point. If not, then you are ,perhaps, a savant since you do not exhibit the faults/poor technique of untrained guitarists. Did you study Classical Guitar at some point in your life?
3.) Your playing, as I have commented in the past, is a mature, personal style that, for me,
cannot be taught. However, why do you choose to play an instrument that is not intended
to be played with a pick? There are no rules, really, but the nature/intent of the instrument is
changed much as a L5 would not serve a Classical repertoire.
4.) Why be concerned what you call your music? You are an excellent musician. Period. However,
the term "Classical" is a stretch. For me, you are a polished musician.

Play live . . . Marinero

[Rob MacKillop]

Mikko,

Well done. I hear a few different traditions coming together. At times I’m definitely hearing modern Gypsy Jazz, not the gymnastics nonsense, but the good musical progressive stuff. I hear a little classical, which I quite like hearing with a pick sometimes. In fact I have a book forthcoming from Mel Bay, devoted to lute music played with a pick, as it was in the early days. I recorded all the pieces too, so have a good insight into what works and what doesn’t.
I also hear the “plectrum guitar” tradition, as exemplified in the Mel Bay edition, “Masters of the Plectrum Guitar”, and of course the playing of Johnny Smith.

So, that’s quite a mixture, but the main ingredient is yourself, and that is the best ingredient. Keep up the good work, and ignore those who like to keep classical guitar pure - which it isn’t and never was.

[kris]

A few observations/comments:

1.) Classical Guitarists do not use picks. It is not an element of the genre.
2.) Your left hand control/positioning shows you have had proper training at some point. If not, then you are ,perhaps, a savant since you do not exhibit the faults/poor technique of untrained guitarists. Did you study Classical Guitar at some point in your life?
3.) Your playing, as I have commented in the past, is a mature, personal style that, for me,
cannot be taught. However, why do you choose to play an instrument that is not intended
to be played with a pick? There are no rules, really, but the nature/intent of the instrument is
changed much as a L5 would not serve a Classical repertoire.
4.) Why be concerned what you call your music? You are an excellent musician. Period. However,
the term "Classical" is a stretch. For me, you are a polished musician.

Play live . . . Marinero

No no no...
A pick is like a hard nail, just one finger - kind of.
If someone has mastered it, he is a master.
A guitar in Mikko's hands sounds great.

[kris]

Mikko,

Well done. I hear a few different traditions coming together. At times I’m definitely hearing modern Gypsy Jazz, not the gymnastics nonsense, but the good musical progressive stuff. I hear a little classical, which I quite like hearing with a pick sometimes. In fact I have a book forthcoming from Mel Bay, devoted to lute music played with a pick, as it was in the early days. I recorded all the pieces too, so have a good insight into what works and what doesn’t.
I also hear the “plectrum guitar” tradition, as exemplified in the Mel Bay edition, “Masters of the Plectrum Guitar”, and of course the playing of Johnny Smith.

So, that’s quite a mixture, but the main ingredient is yourself, and that is the best ingredient. Keep up the good work, and ignore those who like to keep classical guitar pure - which it isn’t and never was.

Yes...+1

[Marinero]

No no no...
A pick is like a hard nail, just one finger - kind of.
If someone has mastered it, he is a master.
A guitar in Mikko's hands sounds great.

Hi, K,
A pick is arguably as hard as a nail but it is not the same as playing Classical Guitar since CG's play with nail and flesh and this is a different sound than solely playing with a pick. Some players ,like Rob, play without nails which is truly a different sound. However, no question for me concerning Mikko's musicianship and I made that clear in my initial post. I hope this is clear.
Play live . . . Marinero

[kris]

Hi, K,
A pick is arguably as hard as a nail but it is not the same as playing Classical Guitar since CG's play with nail and flesh and this is a different sound than solely playing with a pick. Some players ,like Rob, play without nails which is truly a different sound. However, no question for me concerning Mikko's musicianship and I made that clear in my initial post. I hope this is clear.
Play live . . . Marinero

Ofcourse.
I play on classical only by my fingers...also I do not use a pick on my another nylon strings guitars.
However, I appreciate this recording because it sounds very professional to me.

[MikkoKarhula]

A few observations/comments:

1.) Classical Guitarists do not use picks. It is not an element of the genre.
2.) Your left hand control/positioning shows you have had proper training at some point. If not, then you are ,perhaps, a savant since you do not exhibit the faults/poor technique of untrained guitarists. Did you study Classical Guitar at some point in your life?
3.) Your playing, as I have commented in the past, is a mature, personal style that, for me,
cannot be taught. However, why do you choose to play an instrument that is not intended
to be played with a pick? There are no rules, really, but the nature/intent of the instrument is
changed much as a L5 would not serve a Classical repertoire.
4.) Why be concerned what you call your music? You are an excellent musician. Period. However,
the term "Classical" is a stretch. For me, you are a polished musician.

Play live . . . Marinero

Thank you for your kind words!
I have played all my life with pick and tried to get as close relation to it both sound-wise and technically as I can. With fingers I would get better sound but I don't have time and motivation to practice from the beginning and I don't know would I ever get good enough with fingerstyle. Many of my idols like Al diMeola plays with pick and I really like it. It would be nice to play picados like Paco deLucia but maybe it would never happen with me. One thing also is that I break quite often my long fingernails at my day job and it would be frustrating to fix them all the time.

Here are my reasons for choosing pick. It's compromise but I'm happy with it.
Cheers!

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[MikkoKarhula]

Mikko,

Well done. I hear a few different traditions coming together. At times I’m definitely hearing modern Gypsy Jazz, not the gymnastics nonsense, but the good musical progressive stuff. I hear a little classical, which I quite like hearing with a pick sometimes. In fact I have a book forthcoming from Mel Bay, devoted to lute music played with a pick, as it was in the early days. I recorded all the pieces too, so have a good insight into what works and what doesn’t.
I also hear the “plectrum guitar” tradition, as exemplified in the Mel Bay edition, “Masters of the Plectrum Guitar”, and of course the playing of Johnny Smith.

So, that’s quite a mixture, but the main ingredient is yourself, and that is the best ingredient. Keep up the good work, and ignore those who like to keep classical guitar pure - which it isn’t and never was.

Thank you Rob, you are so kind!
I love playing with pick and finding boundaries with it.

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[ronjazz]

Hi, K,
A pick is arguably as hard as a nail but it is not the same as playing Classical Guitar since CG's play with nail and flesh and this is a different sound than solely playing with a pick. Some players ,like Rob, play without nails which is truly a different sound. However, no question for me concerning Mikko's musicianship and I made that clear in my initial post. I hope this is clear.
Play live . . . Marinero

And yet you continue to try to pigeonhole classical guitar as if there is no way it can played differently from finger style, when the long history of it includes plectrum playing as far back as the 16th century. Playing a classical guitar piece with a pick on a classical guitar is merely a technique, one that I have adopted since my 40-year finger style classical guitar classical guitar career came to an end because of focal dystonia, which fortunately does not limit my pick-style technique. As we can near in the piece demonstrating the OP's "classical" guitar, his tone is quite acceptable, perhaps more so than trying to play it on an L5.

[Rob MacKillop]

Ron, I think you’ll like this picture of an archtop guitar being played with a pick, dating from 1493!

[Peter C]

You have a beautiful touch my friend. That would be with one of your own wooden picks, I imagine. As you said "classical style".

[Marinero]

And yet you continue to try to pigeonhole classical guitar as if there is no way it can played differently from finger style, when the long history of it includes plectrum playing as far back as the 16th century. Playing a classical guitar piece with a pick on a classical guitar is merely a technique, one that I have adopted since my 40-year finger style classical guitar classical guitar career came to an end because of focal dystonia, which fortunately does not limit my pick-style technique. As we can near in the piece demonstrating the OP's "classical" guitar, his tone is quite acceptable, perhaps more so than trying to play it on

an L5.

So, R,
No one is trying to pigeonhole CG, but would it be fair to say that playing CG and its repertoire with a pick the exception rather than the norm? Someone here got the idea that I'm criticizing playing with a pick. Not true. However, it is in no way standard practice or taught, to my knowledge, in any CG degreed program.
Play live . . . Marinero

[grahambop]

I don’t care if he played it with his nose, I still liked it.

[MikkoKarhula]

And yet you continue to try to pigeonhole classical guitar as if there is no way it can played differently from finger style, when the long history of it includes plectrum playing as far back as the 16th century. Playing a classical guitar piece with a pick on a classical guitar is merely a technique, one that I have adopted since my 40-year finger style classical guitar classical guitar career came to an end because of focal dystonia, which fortunately does not limit my pick-style technique. As we can near in the piece demonstrating the OP's "classical" guitar, his tone is quite acceptable, perhaps more so than trying to play it on an L5.

Thank you! Can I ask what is L5?
One Finnish classical guitarist also had focal dystonia of some kind and he ordered wooden picks from me. He played for a while with picks and trained little by little back to fingerstyle.

I have made "Five Miniatures" ep of my compositions, all played with pick. There is also score book available. You can listen them if you are interested.

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[MikkoKarhula]

You have a beautiful touch my friend. That would be with one of your own wooden picks, I imagine. As you said "classical style".

Thank you Peter C! I have started to play with black JazzIII. I try to make everything very effortless. That's why so small pick.

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[MikkoKarhula]

I don’t care if he played it with his nose, I still liked it.

That's nice to hear. Thank you!

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[gitman]

Mikko, your music speaks for itself and when that is the sound you hear in your head then that's a fact and you bring it out beautifully. However, I clearly hear the pick-attack and - this is a most subjective observation - I think you could improve your picking technique to further minimize these artifacts. If it doesn't bother you, then that's perfectly fine.
In case you haven't already checked him out I suggest you listen to some recordings by one of my personal favorites on the nylonstring guitar : Kevin Seddiki of France. He has a degree in classical guitar but is a constant wanderer between many different worlds. His tone is mesmerizing, regardless of his use of nails or pick, as I've just recently witnessed during a concert performance of Kevin and his current Duo Partner Jean Louis Matinier on accordion. He used a small pick off and on but only for some rapid-fire single-note passages.

[kris]

Mikko,
Which classical guitar did you play so beautifully?
is it Yamaha?
Best
Kris