Easy picking

Today's playing session was masochistic. It's actually my way of making things easy for myself- by making it difficult at first. I have many picks in my possession so I started by choosing a common feature- depression. All three picks here feature one, they are of different sizes, materials & thickness. The warm-up started with Pick 1. Due to its size, I had to focus on picking every note & making sure it's a sure hit. It's a lesson in focus. Next up, Pick 2. It's the exact opposite of Pick 1, obnoxious, a little lengthy so the focus was not to hit anything else unnecessarily. It's beyond warm up now. I was playing my routine scales & trying out new idea. The objective was to make things difficult for myself & it was definitely working. After the break, I was playing with my preferred pick (Number 3) & it was a breeze. In fact, I got this feeling of playing 'better' when in reality, it's actually how I played all along.

This leads me to say that one way of appreciating one's preferred tool/ implement is to actually use something else & feel the inadequacies kicking in as you try to adapt. Chances are, given ample time, you can make do with that change. However, if you return to your preferred ___________ (pick, pedal, cable, etc... insert accordingly), you'd know what's missing or bothering you so much that you can feel the difference. Appreciate your quirks, it's what makes you, you.