For some players, guitar picks are extensions of their bodies; they can’t be too far from one at any given time. Percussive acoustic guitar virtuoso Marcin, however, is the opposite. He’s a pick rebel.
It's always a good idea to have a few spare picks to hand at all times. You never know when you'll need one. But speaking to D’Addario, the former Total Guitar cover star has explained why he’ll never be seen using one.
Obviously, his fingerstyle approach doesn't require one. But it goes deeper than that. Marcin actually thinks a pick represents self-imposed limitations, and can hinder your playing.
“Man, it’s so funny that my nails have become this point of conversation whenever I do an interview,” he says, regarding his picking hand claws. “The left hand is obviously normal; it needs to be able to tap and to play like any guitar player. But I am a true enemy of the pick. I don't use a pick, ever.
“Even if I play electric, I'm not gonna use a pick. Why do I need a pick? If I have five picks right here on this hand.”
Indeed, he says this methodology stems from his flamenco and classical guitar backgrounds. He wants to keep one foot in tradition while he explores ways to push the boundaries of the acoustic guitar. A pick is surplus to requirements.
“No self-respecting classical player is going to play with a pick,” he believes. “Same with flamenco, how are you doing a rasgueado [a picking technique involving fanning the strings with multiple fingers] with a pick?
“It's the most limiting thing in the world. The pick is the nails, dude. I get heated [about the topic].”
Marcin has recently been accused of faking his virtuosity, but he hit back by writing a song that pleads his case for him in a highly inventive way.
The guitarist has said he wants to reinvent the acoustic guitar for a whole new generation, and his boundary-pushing approach to the instrument, while remaining sensitive to its tradition, is more than doing its part.
Elsewhere, Marcin isn't the only modern fingerstyle virtuoso to shun the pick. Last year, fusion ace Matteo Mancuso revealed he never learned how to play with a plectrum – but gave it a go during an interview with Rick Beato.
