New music store

We are very excited to announce that we are now open as a music store in Quispamsis, NB. We will be able to supply you with lessons, instruments and the accessories you need to keep playing guitar. We will be open from 11am-1pm Tuesdays and Fridays for electric and acoustic guitar string purchases. If you’ve never changed a string before, we can help you change your strings and talk with you about the tools you need to make it easier. If your new to guitar we can help you order your first guitar, tune it, and help you get ready for your lessons.

Share and enjoy music.

Rothesay Guitar Mania 1

We are so happy to announce that Rothesay Guitar Mania One, was a huge success. After over 2 years of not being able to perform with bands it was so nice to be back on stage again, in front of a sold out audience.

We had performances from Brian Baker, James Kelly, Dann Downes, Grant Heckman and Chris Roberts. Supported by musicians, Mike Biggar, Matt Cook, Pierre De Villers and Mark Patterson.

The genres presented over the evening featured finger style guitar arrangements, surf guitar, face melting shredding, rock n roll, country and blues guitar.

We want to thank our friends at Long Bay Brewery for being exceptional host. We are looking forward to Rothesay Guitar Mania 2.

If you see live music in the area and are inclined to go out and enjoy the local talent, stay for the extra song, give an extra clap or contribute to the tip jar. If your feeling brave, go to an open mic and try new songs your practicing at your guitar lessons.

It’s been over 2 years since many musicians have been able to work at full capacity. We are happy to conclude by saying, Live Music is back! Share and Enjoy music.

Five Things That May Be Holding You Back on Guitar.

Five Things That May Be Holding You Back on Guitar

All guitar players are on the same journey in at least a couple of distinct ways. We all are, in one way or another, doing our best to become competent guitarists. We all love guitar music of some type and want to be able to play it. We all have to work hard to become better at it, and practice is king if you’re going to make progress! No one is a master of doing all the things listed in the below list! The important thing is to be aware of the things that could slow your progress on the guitar and do your best to avoid doing them. This list is not at all complete; countless things can help your growth on guitar, but we decided to pick five of the biggest things we could think of that may be holding you back!

1. You Only Practice the Things You Are Good At

Every guitar player has done it – we learn a song we enjoy, and every time we pick up the guitar, that song is the first thing that comes out. Doing this is part of what makes playing guitar so fun - hearing yourself play something that you want to hear all the time. Practicing what we are comfortable with can lead to our skills becoming out of balance - take time to practice things you aren’t good at, so over time, all your skills begin to even out.

2. Not Learning Music Theory

A huge part of playing guitar is art and creativity. Many of the best artists of all time are famous for blending musical styles, bending musical “rules,” and upending musical formalities of the past. Music would be nowhere without creativity, but every excellent guitar player had to develop a knowledge of music theory to learn to play with other musicians, play over their music, and push their music further than they likely ever expected.

3. Sticking Only to One Genre

Just learning songs from one genre is another trap most guitarists get into through their journey playing guitar. We like to focus on what we most want to hear! For some, this is country, blues, metal, rock, jazz, or folk. Whatever you love to play, your playing can always benefit from blending in some new styles. There are unique chords, scales, and rhythms played in different genres. Learning these can help you recognize more patterns in music and expand your musical palette. It is not all so different though, the more you progress, the more you’ll see that all music connects in one way or another and that blending genres is not hard to do!

4. Not Dedicating Specific Practice Time

Having a casual relationship with your guitar is cool if that is what you like to do! But we assume you are here because you’d like to get better. The good news is that this is made much easier by dedicating specific times throughout the day and week to practice your guitar. You can be sure you’re getting in enough playing with a guitar practice schedule. You can write down all the times you want to dedicate and make sure you follow it! Scheduling is better than just practicing when you think of it because the schedule can hold you accountable for your progress on the guitar. It helps you track your progress—seeing how much time you have dedicated can feel gratifying!

5. Playing Is Becoming Boring Because You Don’t Know What to Practice

When you are not sure what to learn is when a guitar teacher could be especially beneficial. When you are unsure of the next direction to take with practicing the guitar, and many of the things you try to learn are still out of your skill range, it can become extremely frustrating and lead to a loss of interest. A guitar teacher helps you build up your fundamental skills and foundation, the types of chords and scales that make up complicated songs. It is all a progression, and it takes time, but with the proper guidance and intuition, mastering the fundamentals will lead you to master highly challenging pieces of music!

5 Good Reasons Your Child Should Play An Instrument!

Your Child Should Be Playing an Instrument: 5 Important Reasons Why

Some of the most prominent benefits of introducing your child to playing music while they’re young may seem obvious. Playing music is an excellent activity for a child to be involved with; it can sharpen their skills and senses while they’re spending a lot of time having fun doing it. It is an enriching thing for them to invest their energy and effort into, and it will be something they will be able to carry with them all through their lives. The benefits of their involvement with music span widely, some of the positive effects are immediate, and some will take time – regardless of the time it takes, music is a beautiful thing to pass onto your children. Here are five reasons we believe you should buy your child an instrument as soon as they can hold one – even if you don’t play one.

1.       Learning to Play Music Teaches Important Life Skills

Becoming comfortable on an instrument can happen within a year of steady practice. To become incredibly talented with one can take much longer. No matter how good someone wants to get at playing, learning the fundamentals takes time, and most importantly, takes patience. Children will eventually learn that great things take time to build up, and if learning to play an instrument helps them experience that, they would have discovered it very honestly! Along with patience, they will be learning to persevere. Some of the first accomplishments a musician experiences feel like some of the biggest. Experiencing these first milestones can be a huge motivator and teach them that if they work hard and follow-through, they really can make their dreams come true!

2.       Music Is a Good Way to Get Your Child Thinking

When you first start learning music, it is like entering a new world of numbers and letters – like learning a new language. Luckily, children are comparable to sponges in the way they can quickly learn and retain information. There is no better time to introduce new concepts to a human! Learning music will undoubtedly result in them thinking in new ways and expanding their ability to process information. While being introduced to the structure behind a song, they will simultaneously practice their math and reading skills – an ideal way to get a mental workout while having a lot of fun.

3.       Nurtures Self-Confidence

To make progress doing something as challenging as playing an instrument is highly gratifying. Attempting to learn a complex piece of music the first time and failing is expected, but there is nothing like knowing you failed before, trying again, and succeeding! Practicing the habit of trying hard for something you want until you achieve your goal overlaps with all types of challenges through life! The confidence and ability to always try again are necessary through all parts of life. A serious confidence booster is building something to be proud of that you accomplished through your hard work – this comes inherently through the time and effort it takes to get comfortable on an instrument. Eventually, your child may even want to play some of their music in front of a crowd, which brings a ton of fresh opportunities for them to grow, learn, socialize, and have fun!

4.       Nurtures Self-Expression

All manner of children can be very positively affected by music. All children will, through music, be practicing a new way to communicate and express themselves. Discovering new forms of expression can have a significant impact on their self-identity, interests, and happiness! Opening up their creativity can lead anywhere – in any walk of life or industry, creativity is a serious asset. When you are young, it is the best time to start practicing being creative. Aligning with the last point, they will be gaining the confidence to express themselves in a way they possibly hadn’t had before.

5.       Instills a Sense of Community

The passion for and enjoyment gained from music has no age limit. A 15-year-old singer can sing music enjoyed by people in their 70s. Some of the most famous musicians from the 20th century are 75+ and are deeply loved by 19-year old’s of today. The point is: music connects us in a way that nothing else does. It creates a sense of community that, more often than not, includes everyone. Your child will most definitely become more connected to themselves and to others who play music the more passionate they grow about it. A terrific way to begin increasing musical alliances is through guitar lessons! Guitar lessons help with social skills while teaching coordination and collaboration through the learning and practice of guitar. There are not many better ways to learn an instrument than playing with people who have been doing it longer!

Take it from us, music is highly therapeutic, and it has done us a lot of good in our lives! We want to help spread the joy and love that is playing music. Most musicians only wish they started playing earlier, and even if we didn’t keep playing had we started younger – we 100% believe any time spent doing it would have been worth it.

How Music Positively Affects Mental Health

How Music Positively Affects Our Instructor’s Mental Health.

Music is a great addition to any mood or atmosphere. It makes parties more fun, social gatherings more cheerful, restaurants more warm, and your time spent alone more enjoyable. Listening to music helps our lives in many ways we may not think about, playing music even more so. All of our instructors at Brian Baker Guitar Studio love to enjoy music as a main part of our lives. We do it not only because we love music, but because it makes our lives more enjoyable to live. If you don’t already play an instrument, we highly encourage it for many reasons! In this blog post, we let you know some of those reasons, and the benefits music has on our mental health.

Sean Bourque (Bilingual Guitar and Bass Instructor)

Playing guitar has always been therapeutic for me since I started almost 13 years ago. It can require a lot of patience in order to learn each part of our favorite song, but once we do, it is extremely rewarding and empowering. There is no better feeling than being immersed in the music we love and feeling time melt away. No matter how long I go without playing, picking up a guitar always feels like home to me, and is something that I know I can always rely on as a distraction from my troubles.

Dmitry Myzdrikov (Violin Instructor)

One of the mental health benefits I experience is emotional development and growth in general. When you play a song, you don’t only play the musical notes, but you express your feelings which then become very meaningful. This experience makes music a universal language of communication between people.

Avery Theriault (Guitar Instructor)

Music has long been a healing force in my life; helping me get through the days when I feel less motivated, exciting me even further when I am having a great day, and helping me wind down after an extremely busy day. Music has helped me get to know myself and my feelings, and certain songs have expressed my feelings for me much better than I could myself. When you know a song you connect with that much, it makes it 100x more meaningful when you can pick up your instrument and play your own rendition of it. There is something about putting all your attention into your instrument that makes you forget the rest of the world, and that in itself has an amazing impact on my mental health.

Brian Baker (Music Director)

I find the most benefits of music for my mental health come when I get completely lost and focused in a song. At certain moments you only think about music, it’s processes and for a duration I have no other thoughts. I would compare it to the same way I feel hiking on a trail. I start out sometimes thinking about my day, plans, problems but somewhere along the trail, I find my mind wandering and enjoying nature. Probably the best thing about music and mental health - It’s hard to scroll on your phone while practicing an instrument.

Looking for a new hobby or a great way to spend your time? Play an instrument!!! Need some guidance? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us to learn how we can help.

The Top Ten Best Times and Places to Play Your Guitar – A Breakdown

This list goes for any instrument including your guitar! We believe that fitting as much music into our lives as we can adds a lot of personal enjoyment to our years. Playing music is an activity you can do either as you are lazily zoning out or as you’re really focused. Taking your instrument to new places can offer some fresh creative ideas. In contrast, playing in the space you are most comfortable in can encourage new expression. The point is, play your instrument as much as possible, wherever possible!!! Here are some of the best times and places to jam you may have not thought of!

1.           In Front of the TV

We are guilty as most people of loving to indulge in hours of the content available on countless streaming services. Playing in front of the TV works best with an unplugged electric guitar, especially if you are in the company of someone else. You can also practice acoustic guitar and focus on your ability to play lightly and quietly as you take in the show at the same time. Either way, this is an easy and mindless way to get in hours of practice on top of your focused practice!

2.           When with Family and Friends

Maybe get prepared with some cover songs everyone might know, bring your instrument to your family get-together, and maybe some extra percussion instruments too. Everyone might find out they are more musical than they thought! This can lead to extreme fun spent with good company!

3.           By a Body of Water

Something about sitting by water gets the mind working, thoughts flowing, and usually promotes feelings of calm on a nice day. This can be reflected in your playing and may lead to fresh ideas, new understandings, and general enjoyment. The beach, a lake, or a stream are all perfect choices if you are looking to find inspiration!

4.           As Soon as You Wake Up

Practicing as soon as you wake up can be a motivating way to set the tone for the rest of your day. You may end up practicing a couple more times or writing a song. Learning something new in the morning can make you want to accomplish more throughout the day!

5.           In the Woods

This one can be accompanied by a body of water for great results. The woods are usually a very peaceful place and being surrounded by nature can feel very calming. If you spend a few hours in deep woods, you begin to forget about everything else and this may help you approach your music with a different mindset than if you are at home surrounded by technology and distractions.

6.           In Public

If you live in a suburb or city, during the warm parts of the year there is a large audience to be heard by if you are willing to busk and play in busy places. This is an awesome way to practice and get out of your shell as an artist. This can also help you be heard, become known, and can increase your confidence as a performer.

7.           On Stage

Once you feel confident enough, there is nothing quite like playing your first few shows! The perfect place to start is an open mic as they happen often, many local musicians go to them, and they will help your confidence in performing in front of a crowd. No matter what type of music you play, this is a lot of fun and feels great to do.

8.           When with Other Musicians

We talk in our other blog posts about how playing with other musicians absolutely helps you improve as a musician and it is so true. It can also be a ton of fun and often both musicians will end up playing things they have not played before; in ways, they haven’t played before. It is an ideal opportunity for growth as a musician.

9.           When Music is Playing

Try to figure out what key signature different songs are in and try mimicking the chords, rhythm, or notes. This will help train your ear and is a fun way to practice. If you have a playlist on, try playing along with each song. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it is actually even better when done loosely so you can try new things and grow your playing abilities!

10.   Around the Young Ones in Your Family

Have children? Nephews or Nieces? Younger Siblings? Play your instrument around them!! Children have a lot of fun hearing live music and it can become a very communal activity that they enjoy. Get them started enjoying music early! They may not know the songs you are playing but it will certainly be memorable for them if they haven’t heard much live music before.

7 Great Reasons to Start Taking Guitar Lessons Now!

We often say at Brian Baker Guitar Studio that the best time to start learning guitar was a year ago and the second-best time to start is today! Now that we have a new year upon us, many like to start making resolutions and aiming to make big changes in their lives. Starting to play guitar isn’t a major lifestyle change but it comes with many benefits that add to anyone’s general wellness. Playing music has been proven to make your brain work in unique ways and the feeling of making quantifiable progress, such as when mastering a difficult song to play – can be highly gratifying and motivating! So why start taking guitar lessons in the new year (or ever) instead of just learning on your own? Find out in this 7-part list we wrote to show you why you need guitar lessons!

​1. Tailored Approach – At Brian Baker Guitar Studio, each student has their lessons prepared separately from every other student to ensure every student we teach is getting a musical education that is made to fit their unique needs as a musician. If our students know what they’d like to learn, then we focus on that! If our students are unsure of what they’d like to learn, we get them started on the right foot and make sure they’re learning the skills needed to really improve their musicianship.

​2. Be Guided in The Right Direction – Our teachers are all local musicians and we all started from the place of not being able to play our instruments like any beginner! Through trial, error and many years of practice, we learned the things we needed to in order to continue growing as musicians. We take all our musical experience and build our lessons upon that, ensuring that each student will be guided in the direction that will help them grow and bloom as a musician. Don’t spend years and years going in circles before finding the right direction to go musically, have one of our instructors share what they have learned and with practice, you will be making progress in leaps and bounds!

​3. Form Good Habits – Guitar lessons form good habits in many ways! The most direct way good habits are formed from lessons are on the neck of the guitar itself. There are many ways to play guitar wrong – believe it or not, and some of these ‘wrong ways’ can lead to hand, wrist or forearm problems for the rest of your life. Make sure you are taking proper care of your hands while playing guitar as your playing is observed by someone who can immediately tell you if it looks right or wrong. Simply going to guitar lessons each week is habit forming in itself, it will make you commit more to your musical education as a whole. The habit of always picking your guitar up to practice is a fantastic habit to build.

​4. Get Experience Playing with Other Musicians – Guitar lessons are not just all work and no play. One of the greatest benefits of getting guitar lessons is being able to play guitar with your teacher! This helps you in every facet of being a musician; timing, ear-training, confidence, tone, coordination, music theory and much more are all practiced at once when you play your instrument with another musician. Playing with other musicians can lead to big growth in your playing, not only because you have to learn to expect what the other person is going to do, but also because other musicians often have lots of new tricks to show and teach you.

​5. Learn New Music – There is so much music in the world that not any one person is going to know all of it. Playing with and learning from other musicians can open up your music taste a lot! Hearing music played right in front of you instead of on a recording can be truly eye opening and a much rawer listening experience - it can pique your interest in ways it has not been before! Be open to new music!! You ​ALWAYS​ will find more music to love.

​6. Gain A Support System – Lots of people pick up an instrument in their lives but many of those people won’t keep picking it up due to a lack of accountability - the accountability that taking guitar lessons can offer. When you have a guitar lesson each week with a guitar teacher who is eager to see you learn, it makes you want to show that you are progressing and learning the songs and techniques you are being taught. Without someone to guide you or watch your progress, it can be a much more difficult challenge to always keep picking that instrument up. At Brian Baker Guitar Studio, we have many ways we support the growth of our students. We have our Facebook group where students are welcome to post their music and guitar playing and have it watched by other members of the Brian Baker Guitar Studio Community, including their instructors. We also offer performance opportunities through-out the year to help our students get used to performing and have some fun doing so! (COVID Pending) When you have a guitar teacher, you always have someone to ask any music related question to which can make learning a lot easier!

​7. Get an Outsiders View on Your Playing – This last one ties together most of our reasons to take guitar lessons. Having someone watch you play your instrument who has had a lot of experience and has heard a lot of guitarists play can help you in large amounts. Your teacher will be able to assess your strengths and weaknesses and make a true effort to help make your guitar playing shine. By watching you play, your teacher will be able to see the natural direction you are headed in and be able to offer teachings that will compliment your playing and improve it immediately.

Guitar lessons are an invaluable resource to guitar players. If you want to start playing, or you want to start moving your guitar playing in a new direction – we recommend you try a couple months of lessons with us and see what guitar lessons can offer you!

5 Reasons why you should buy local!

This is not our typical blog post content as it is not solely guitar-related, however, as a small business this topic is near and dear to us!

As we near an entire year of enduring a worldwide pandemic, the convenience found in ordering something on your phone and having it delivered to your home has become an option most businesses now offer!

Supporting local businesses has always been important, but it has become more crucial now than ever. Small businesses have been struggling. The on set of the pandemic has made entrepreneurship more challenging then ever before. Local businesses define your region and are the backbone of every community. The best way to take preventative action against losing the option of having local businesses to shop from is with your money. Here are 5 great reasons why you should buy local!

The Money is Directly Creating A Job And Income. 

Every dollar a small business takes in translates into a job for a family or person. Most small businesses are family operated so everything revolves around trying to take care of the business. Small businesses also usually employ other locals so the chain of a small business’s income helps many local families and individuals. 

The Money is Staying in the Community

When purchasing from big international chains, the money is usually going to a huge corporation with billions in cash and assets – further lining the pockets of the richest. When you spend it in your community, you know who the money actually goes to. With most small community businesses helping with and sponsoring community events – the money always comes back to the community.

The Sales Mean More to a Small Business

Small business owners are definitely more appreciative of customers for one sale than a big chain can be as one sale accounts for a much larger part of their entire income. The 2020 pandemic has also made running a local small business a challenging task – between lockdowns and restrictions, businesses just start getting clients back and have to, unfortunately, shut down whenever necessary. This is making customer retention itself extremely difficult.

It is Cyclical

Money always is spent locally to varying degrees, but it seems people have been trying more in recent years to keep their money in the local economy. One very good reason for this is that the money you spend at a local business will probably be spent at another local business and it will carry on – helping to stimulate the entire local economy, and likely coming back to you!

More Flexibility and Personalization in Services

When you call a local business, you can be quite sure you will not be talking to someone in a call center who lives and works across the country. You will be talking to someone you could go see in person to speak with - someone who cares about their business, their customer’s satisfaction and will likely go the extra mile to make their customers happy. Since many local businesses have begun offering their services online and adjusting to the times, it has become much easier to support local companies. Local business owners will be a lot more eager to put effort into satisfying their customers because each and every customer is crucial to their livelihood.

In summary, supporting local businesses means supporting local business owners, their employees, and their families. It is very important; it seems now more than ever!

If you love your community, support it at its backbone by shopping local.  

I’m a beginner guitar player. Where do I start?

I am a beginner guitar player – where do I start?

Learning to play guitar can be a tall order for those without much guidance. Even with guidance, such as the guidance from one of our professional guitar teachers, it is important to be able to structure practicing on your own, to know what you should be learning next, and to know what is important to learn. Without knowing where to go next, you can get frustrated, not feel you are making the progress you hoped, and ultimately you can give up before getting anywhere on your instrument. This blog post is here to help ensure you keep playing!

Basics

To make sure that your guitar is sounding it’s best, you want to make sure of a few things. First make sure you have 6 strings on your guitar! Make sure they look to be different sizes and that they aren’t rusty or have corrosion built up. It can create an unpleasant playing experience if your strings aren’t in fair condition. If they do have corrosion built up, you could find a way to clean them if you are in a bind, but we would recommend buying a new set and starting there!

Next, we recommend that you download a free tuning app on your phone or tablet. This saves you the money of going out to buy a tuner and these tuners work extremely well. Our instructors rely on them and they are a very good resource for guitarists of any skill level.

Once your guitar is all strung and you have your tuner, the next step is tuning up. It is important to always tune up before practicing so your guitar sounds as pretty as it can and so you get used to hearing what a tuned guitar sounds like. If you don’t know your string names, we have a fairly easy method of remembering them. From the thickest string to the thinnest, we like to remember them like an acronym. The string names are E A D G B E, and we like to help students remember with this saying: “Every-Adult-Dog-Growls-Barks-Eats”. ‘Every’ is your thickest string and ‘Eats’ is your thinnest!

Getting Playing

So, your guitar is all strung and tuned now! Awesome! The next step is to start practicing. We recommend spending 10-20 minutes a day playing instead of playing for an hour only one day of the week. This is our recommendation because you will spend more time total, and it won’t become boring to you if you aren’t forcing yourself to practice for a long period of time.

Another great rule of thumb is to practice songs that are within your skill level. It can be extremely frustrating to try to learn a highly challenging song before you’ve learned a lot of the basics and can lead to you losing motivation for your instrument. If you are taking lessons with one of our instructors, they will make sure to help you lay a solid foundation for yourself, and in no time, you will be off to the races learning really hard songs!

HAVE FUN

Guitar playing is not meant to be something you get upset doing or something that seems like a chore! There are a few ways to make sure you are setting yourself up to have lots of fun while playing. We recommend finding music you enjoy and learning those songs! If you are making progress while playing something you really love hearing, it will be twice as gratifying.

Play with other guitarists and jam with other musicians! One sure way to double the fun you have playing your instrument is sharing your skills with other musicians. This not only makes for a great time, but also helps you improve your playing and helps get you used to playing in front of others. If you have family members, friends or acquaintances that play music, reach out and see if they want to jam sometime. If not, get one of your friends or family members to play some tambourine! Playing music is fun for the whole family.

We recommend trying to perform sometime! Got a coffee house or talent show at your school? Sign up and get practicing! If you are an adult, try going out to an open mic in your city. One way to get really excited about playing music is having a show to look forward to. You don’t have to always perform in person either, online performances are becoming just as common. Post a video of yourself playing for your family and friends to see and get some feedback! We recommend posting a video to our students only Facebook group called “Brian Baker Guitar Studio Community”. Here you can get feedback from other musicians including your instructors and get used to your playing being heard before posting it for the whole world.

If you are looking for more guidance, we would love to have you join us for a month of lessons. Our instructors will do our best to have you feeling like a better guitar player after leaving each and every lesson!

Choosing your Guitar Pick!

Have you noticed that picks come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colours.  Just when you thought learning the guitar was easy, you now have a thousand choices in picks. What I want to do is share with you some basic pick information so we can get back to, well picking of course. 

I’m a beginner, which pick should I use? This is all about gauge. Picks range in size based on thickness in millimetres. Until you build up some finesse in your picking hand we always recommend lighter gauge picks. Anything around 0.60 should do the trick. Now you can go lighter, but eventually you will want a thicker pick, and I find 0.60 is a good middle ground. Anything lighter for example, 0.45, is really light and floppy. Some students  like them for strumming, but you will notice the sound of it flopping back and forth on your strings. 

After a few lessons, and you notice your playing more of your favourite songs, you will want to move up to a thicker pick.  Go up in increments.  Start with a 0.60. Then try a 0.75 and so on. You will notice more volume, and warmer tone as the gauge moves up. Most importantly you will have more control as well. 

Picks also come in various materials, shapes, some have grips, and logos of your favourite band on them. That is for you to experiment and find the shape, size and style that works best for you. So much fun! Now your a pick collector!  

Can I use a bread bag clip or a coin as a pick? Sure, just don’t let me see you do it. To be honest, that’s kind of lame!  Sorry, you need real picks for picking and grinning. Sometimes if your really stuck, you could cut out a piece of a ice cream container or credit card. Emergency’s only! 

I personally use a 1mm pick. Over the past 20 years performing professionally on stage, teaching, songwriting or jamming at the fire, 1mm have always been my favourite. To be precise, Jim Dunlop 1mm. They have a little bit of grip on them and can be purchased in a pack of 6 called match picks. For fingerstlye guitar, I use thumb picks by Fred Kelly. Thumb picks are a different game altogether. They wrap around your thumb and are used primarily in fingerstlye guitar. Watch a few Chet Atkins videos on YouTube to see thumb picks working at their best.  

It’s always great to have extras. They break, you loose them, someone will need one. 

Picks also have a way of turning up in the laundry, driveway or under your car seats. 

Remember to have fun, share and enjoy music. 

Happy Picking! Bring Extras! 

Brian