Finger style playing

[tytlfamily]

Hello folks, wonder if I may get some technique input. For those of you who play finger style, how are you using your fingers to pick while playing a fast run? By that I mean, are you using say, just the index finger to pluck the string and use a lot of hammer on's, or do you pluck each note alternating between plucking two fingers to strike each string for each note. Not sure if that is described clearly, what I'm trying to ask.

Also, when you get down to the low E and A string, are you using your thumb to pick the string down there, or are you still using say, the index finger. I realize finger stlyle has books written about it, but looking for some quick basic guidance.

thanks for any help.

tytlfamily

[pierre richard]

get some elementary classical studies in first...thats the way I did it...to get your fingers where they are to be when playing..

Carcassi method for the classical guitar...

I play a bunch of tunes in the Charlie Byrd style....and for the "old country" fans around here..I play a few Chet Atkins tunes...

time on the instrument...pierre

[TheAbomidableMonty]

I learned my fingerstyle stuff from a video a chap by the name of Scotty Anderson made, it's absolutely fantastic. I'm not sure if the die hard of country pickers would agree on the use of these little gems but I've found them to be supremely helpful when I learned pieces like "Jerry's Breakdown".

Plektren Herco Flat Thumb Pick

Technique wise; I'd recommend going over some basic scales with the fingerings related to the fretting hand. So, for an octave of C Major starting on the 8th fret. The fingering pattern would go as such (P I P I M P I M) try something like this;


---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
--------------------------7--9--10---------
-------------7--8--10----------------------
-8--10--------------------------------------



For Chords, I took this method from Danny Gatton (RIP). For this, just go for a finger per string and begin to ascend and descend. This is an exercise purely intended for gaining picking hand dexterity, I used to warp a towel or a sock on the lower end of the neck and did this whilst I'd watch an interesting documentary, nothing musical about it, whether you want to add that in at a later date is completely down to your discretion! I'd recommend just starting with P, I and M. Add the A when you feel comfortable and come up with different alternations of this exercise until you feel comfortable to do so;




---------------------------x------------------
--------------------x----x----x-----------------
------------x----x-----x--------x---x-------------
-----x----x---x-------------------x---x------x-------
---x----x--------------------------------x------x--
-x-------------------------------------------------x-



I do hope this helps you out, drop me a private message if you'd like some more help.

- Josh

[kris]

I learn a lot from classical guitar playing.
I transfered this technique to jazz guitar.
I play on nylon strings guitars and standard jazz boxes.
YouTube - Krzysztof Woli?ski Trio live - ?Latin goes to blues"

[tytlfamily]

Thanks, guys, appreciate the good advice.

[ptrallan01]

Another "rote" exercise is to pick every note on each string from fret 1 low e to fret 16 high e alternating between which ever fingers you want to use using 1 fretting finger per fret, 4 notes per string up and then down.

This the same basic exercise some of us used to build hand strength when we started and is a good way do practice any new picking techniques that we want to work on. Start slow and pick from the low f, f#, g, g# using index, middle, ring, middle, then switch string to a#,b,c,c# and start the fingering over or which ever combination feels right to you. Do this for 5 minutes each day as you warm up and it will eventually become second nature. Run through your scales the same way 5 minutes a day and in a couple of weeks it should improve dramatically.
It is also a very good way to test any new guitar you are considering buying for dead spots, fret issues etc.

[JimBobWay]

Originally Posted by pierre richard

get some elementary classical studies in first...thats the way I did it...to get your fingers where they are to be when playing...Carcassi method for the classical guitar...

This is good advice, a standard that has held up for a long time and once you have the facility you can figure out what works best for your style. I play fingerstyle on my nylon-strings, and with a pick on steel strings but I still use my other rh fingers. I tried many thumbpicks over the years but just never found one that worked for me. Scotty Andersen, like Chet, Jerry Reed and Danny Gatton, uses a thumbpick and more of a country-inspired claw style (and lots of caffeine !)

[ronjazz]

I had a good classical technique for years, then developed a focal dystonia and lost a lot of the chops. i found that a good scale technique is to alter the thumb and index, almost like playing with a pick. It's a technique developed in the Renaissance for the lute, and it's remarkably fast once you get it down, plus it swings better than index-middle alternating.

[woyvel]

Over time I've played both with fingers and a pick. What I've ended up doing, as many players do without thinking, is tucking the pick away while using the fingers. I saw a video from Just Jazz Guitar magazine yesterday where the instructor explained just that. Then I sat down for a second to see where I put it, cuz I don't think about it. It ends up between my index and middle fingers, and I can still use both fingers.

So my advice is to practice a well-known song or exercise you use a pick on, and use the fingers instead with the pick still in your hand. Then do the same with something you're comfortable using your fingers on, and see if you can still do it with a pick in your hand, almost as if you had to go from one song to the next on the fly.

By the way, I very rarely will use pick and fingers Travis-style at the same time.

[voelker]

I stopped using a pick about 4 years ago, I got pretty fast at just picking with whatever finger was available and comfortable, there are alot of exercises to work on finger accuracy and independence, but at high speeds i didn't sound nearly as crisp as with a pick. Then about 2 years ago i start taking private lessons from Don Linke, he's the head of jazz guitar and bass performance at UW-Milwaukee, he told me if i want to play fingerstyle, i need to choose/develop a picking approach and stick with it. Now this guy is a pretty badass bebop player, so i decided to use his approach, It's intense and takes a lot of practice, but totally worth the time and effort. It's just a simple 4 finger roll; P,I,M,A,M,I,P, but all single note lines are played with this pattern regardless of the direction or string your playing. It takes a while to get it completely independent from left hand movements, but its nice work if you can get it.