Fingerstyle Tone

[guitaroscar]

I have played hybrid style for many years but I would really love to dispense with the pick altogether. The thing that bothers me is the tone. I never seem to get a clean attack using my fingers.
I have tried using nail only, flesh only, and both. I always get this tfft tfft sound on the attack of each note.

Q. will I develop callouses on my right hand fingers and will these help with the tone?
Q. Does anyone have any suggestions or exercises I might do to improve my fingerstyle tone.

I live in a small coastal town in NSW Australia and I think I am the only jazz guitarist in town. (Yes! I am finally the first call)

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[fep]

Classical guitarists and instructors really dissect the right hand technique. You might want to study that approach.

I'm thinking you should look into what they call the "preparatuon" part of the attack which is that your finger or thumb rests on the string prior to plucking.

The tone I really like is from our forum member Tim Learch who uses mostly the flesh of his fingers i.e. not much if any fingernail.

Talks about using the flesh of his fingers at about 10:15 of this video:

[jazzkritter]

Fep’s spot on about attack. Classical guitar teaches that the motion is to depress the string slightly then pluck. Imagine a darting motion of your fingers where it hits the string slightly pushing it then pulling it back to towards the palm while releasing. It’s not an intuitive motion and does take time to master. Also classical right hand technique calls for the main motion pivoting on the large finger joint at the base of the finger. IE not using any of the joints out in the finger but just the joint closest to the palm. Much more power and control, and also keeps your wrist from clutching or collapsing which is a very big no-no. You want a nice arch not extreme at all but enough again to prevent collapse. (Called ‘clutching ‘)

Head on over to classicalguitardelcamp.com, there’s tons of good (and not so good) material there.

You may also consider the standard work for right hand technique Mauro Giuliani 120 Exercises for Right Hand Guitar Technique. Starts easy and goes crazy, but nearly all of us came through it.
if you Google it I suspect you will find PDF s. Been around >100 years I guess the copyright ran out)))))

Another suggestion as I suspect your area is not blanketed with classical guitar teachers is artistworks.com.
The classical instructor is Jason Vieux, a great talent. You can take a three month minimum subscription and I saw they are running a half price sale. Good right hand help there.

have fun!
dave

[Tal_175]

Is there a player who sound better or at least as good when they use fingerstyle as when they use a pick on electric?

This is probably highly personal but I think the pick technique has a higher ceiling when it comes to tone, articulation, dynamics, consistency, evenness and attack than fingerstyle on electric (or steel strings in general).

Note Wes is not in this category as he didn't really have a fingerstyle technique, he used his thumb as a pick.

Maybe the rest stroke has some potential like some good bass players do. But it's hard to achieve speed and dexterity with the rest stroke alone. 10.000 hours and with some legato support may do it.

[Litterick]

Wes knew tone:

"I didn't like the sound of a pick. I tried it for, I guess, about two months. I didn't even use my thumb at all. But after two months time, I still couldn't use the pick. So I said, 'Well, which are you going to do?' I liked the tone better with thumb, but I liked the technique with the pick. I couldn't have them both, so I just have to cool.

I think every instrument should have a certain amount of tone quality within the instrument, but I can't seem to get the right amplifiers and things to get this thing out. I like to hear good phrasing. I'd like to hear a guitar play parts like instead of playing melodic lines, leave that and play chord versions of lines. Now, that's an awful hard thing to do, but it would be different. But I think in those terms, or if a cat could use octaves for a line instead of one note. Give you a double sound with a good tone to it. Should sound pretty good if you got another blending instrument with it."

[BickertRules]

Is there a player who sound better or at least as good when they use fingerstyle as when they use a pick on electric?

Frank Potenza has a very toneful and articulate fingerstyle technique, along with very well developed picking skills.

You can see both here, in a jamming context on a standard. Along with using the pick for the melody statement, Frank starts his solo fingerstyle at 5:32 playing some very nice clear lines and then switches to a pick mid-solo at 6:48. It all sounds really good to me!

Frank is also a tremendous fingerstyle solo guitarist.

He has a lot of ~1 minute videos on his channel, playing fingerstyle just the heads of a bunch of tunes:

Frank Potenza Videos - YouTube

Plus he’s got some great instructional videos on My Music Masterclass:

Frank Potenza Archives - My Music Masterclass

[Tal_175]

Frank Potenza has a very toneful and articulate fingerstyle technique, along with very well developed picking skills.

Yes indeed his fingerstyle technique is pretty close to his pick technique in terms of articulation, attack and dexterity with a rounder tone.

[Michael Neverisky]

Fep’s spot on about attack. Classical guitar teaches that the motion is to depress the string slightly then pluck.

There is a great body of technical advice in the classical guitar tradition. Worth a look indeed.

Playing with nails, the Segovia technique, we're taught that the shape of the nail causes the string to be pushed into the sound hole as the finger crosses it. So, the string starts its vibration perpendicular to the face of the guitar, not parallel. The difference in tone between the two is remarkable.

A similar result can be had without nails by almost pulling the strings with the finger tips. Rob MacKillop has a video demonstration of this on a gut string guitar. Rob's tone is wonderful.

FWIW, I play with very short nails which... and this is important... are polished smooth with very fine paper.

Experiment. Small changes can make a big difference!

[Cunamara]

Polishing the edges of the nail as smooth as possible is something I find to be very important to tone when playing finger style. I also find, at least in my case, that shorter nails (very short) sound better than longer nails with steel strings. The difference is analogous to a thin versus a heavy pick. Short nails sound darker and rounder, longer nails sound brighter and thinner.

Also, interestingly enough, I find that solidbody guitars are a better platform for amplified fingerstyle tone than acoustic or archtop steel string instruments- at least in terms of getting a jazz tone. Someone else may have the opposite experience, though- my technique or lack thereof could be the issue,.

[Michael Neverisky]

Also, interestingly enough, I find that solidbody guitars are a better platform for amplified fingerstyle tone than acoustic or archtop steel string instruments- at least in terms of getting a jazz tone.

Yes, me too and I was surprised to discover that.

[fep]

Is there a player who sound better or at least as good when they use fingerstyle as when they use a pick on electric?

This is probably highly personal but I think the pick technique has a higher ceiling when it comes to tone, articulation, dynamics, consistency, evenness and attack than fingerstyle on electric (or steel strings in general).

Uhm... Tim Lerch (see second video in post #1 above, he uses both fingers and a pick in that video). Pretty much all the good fingerstyle players sound better with their fingers than a pick to me. It's a warmer, more dynamic, more articulate tone. Yep, must be a subjective thing.

I do think it's easier to play fast single note playing with a pick, not that I can play fast, but it's easier for me to play faster with a pick. So the pick has the advantage there. And there are certain rhythmic strumming that is much better and easier to play with a pick.

[lawson-stone]

Is there a player who sound better or at least as good when they use fingerstyle as when they use a pick on electric?

....

I'd say Joe Pass seems able express whatever he wants, electric or acoustic, finger style or pick. It can be hard to tell on recordings. I've always admired how he gets such strong tone when playing bop lines fingerstyle.

[Marinero]

Wes knew tone:

"I didn't like the sound of a pick. I tried it for, I guess, about two months. I didn't even use my thumb at all. But after two months time, I still couldn't use the pick. So I said, 'Well, which are you going to do?' I liked the tone better with thumb, but I liked the technique with the pick. I couldn't have them both, so I just have to cool.

I think every instrument should have a certain amount of tone quality within the instrument, but I can't seem to get the right amplifiers and things to get this thing out. I like to hear good phrasing. I'd like to hear a guitar play parts like instead of playing melodic lines, leave that and play chord versions of lines. Now, that's an awful hard thing to do, but it would be different. But I think in those terms, or if a cat could use octaves for a line instead of one note. Give you a double sound with a good tone to it. Should sound pretty good if you got another blending instrument with it."

Hi, L,
You hit the proverbial nail on the head! This is the decision you must make as a player and here's the answer for me. A Classical Guitar and an Electric Guitar are two different instruments. If you try to get the purity of sound from an EG to sound like a CG it can only be approximate with a good amplifier and some Black Magic. It will never be the same when your ears are attuned to the rich complexity of a quality, luthier built CG and its sound. And, you complicate it further with pick vs fingerstyle and your hole is deeper. I have played EG(on and off) since 1964 and CG, daily, since 1992. Over a year ago, I took my EG from its case after a long sleep and began working on only sound(chords/scales/arpeggios/licks) and my epiphany is this: I cannot get the purity of sound I want when playing EG fingerstyle that I do when playing CG or when playing EG with a pick. To my ears, it is muddy, dead, and lifeless without a pick. Now, perhaps it is because I play through a Fender Piano Amp(used for Classical gigs) that will not give me the spark I expect and that's a possibility but its not the quality of my EG which has a remarkable sound when played without amplification.
So, I haven't given up, yet, and when Covid becomes less of a concern will certainly try some different amps at a music store for comparison. However, at present, I'm redeveloping my pick technique for EG while playing CG fingerstyle. Perhaps, I'll find the sound I hear in my head for EG but haven't been able to find it to my satisfaction as off yet.

Play live . . . Marinero.

[BickertRules]

Yes, me too and I was surprised to discover that.

I find a Tele is great for fingerstyle playing - a bit wider string spacing for your fingertips, nice sustain, easy to dial in a little zing in the top end to add clarity.

[swampguide]

I've just come back to fingerstyle jazz again after studying classical for the last eight years. Classical technique is a good starting point as others have mentioned.

- Nail care and shaping is important. Assuming your right hand is you picking hand, ramping your nails so that they are shortest on the left side is a popular shape. I shape and polish them using a glass nail file and 1500 grit wet-dry sandpaper. Emery boards are not great for this - my nails are too rough using them. Now that I'm playing more electric again I find I keep my nails a little shorter than I would for classical (to play both requires me to compromise a bit).

- One electric guitar I really try and focus on using more flesh and less nail than I would on classical (i.e. I adjust my technique a bit). Too much nail on electric gives me a plinky tone.

- Don't pick too hard with your fingers - let the amp do the work. This is a difference from classical where your fingers have to generate all the volume.

- I find flatwound strings are better on the electric. The scrapes I sometimes get on classical with the roundwound bass strings are even worse with roundwound strings on an amplified electric.

- You may want to check out Rob MacKillop's YouTube channel (I think he's a member here). He's a classical and jazz player who plays without nails. You may find some of his ideas applicable.

- For me Teles and solid bodies are good for fingerstyle tone. The archtop I have (Ibanez AF105) doesn't work as well for me - maybe a better quality archtop would.

Dave

[Alter]

The "Tfff tfff" sounds you mention, most obvious in the bass strings, is probably the result of weak technique on planting the fingers on the strings before hitting them. Your finger (or nail) slightly touches the string and causes it to rattle. Or hits at the wrong angle producing an unbalanced sound.

I struggled for years with this, and at some point I started to focus very diligently on that alone, at the quality of sound and attack. You obviously know what constitutes a good sound (which a beginner player wouldn't), and that helps a lot. After a while your sound improves. But for me at least it took a lot of very concentrated effort, you can't just play scales etc..

Also, playing pieces helped much more than exercises, don't know why (probably because concentration comes easier when playing actual music).

My best fingerstyle sounding period was when I first got my Elferink archtop. It had the buttons on the pickguard, and me playing Benson picking I couldn't play it with a pick (I eventually had them removed). So I spent a couple of months playing fingerstyle many hours a day on that guitar. Smoking tone! There's no way I can even approach that tone now that I'm back to my picking habits..

[RobbieAG]

I find the same issue with tone on finger style single line runs, so I decided to stick with hybrid picking and use all fingers for certain tunes that require it (usually no soloing). It's too late for me to perfect a whole new technique at my age

[Marinero]

"Also, playing pieces helped much more than exercises, don't know why (probably because concentration comes easier when playing actual music)." Alter


Hi, Alter,
I think this might be an individual thing since it works for you. However, one of the best ways to develop ones sound and fluency(and which is why it is taught in formal CG pedagogy) is to play scales at varying speeds concentrating on the purity of sound as it relates to attack, finger/hand positioning, and final execution. In this manner, it is the note that has importance vs. melody, harmony, etc. The goal is to match fluency with sound.
However, beginners should listen to all POV's especially from a talented guitarist like yourself who has certainly paid his dues over the years and plays beautifully. Hopefully, 2021 will be better year for us who perform!
Play live . . . Marinero

[docsteve]

As Marinero said, electric guitar and classical guitar are two different beasts. I divide my time between my Tele and my Flamenca, and I find I have to develop distinct approaches to both of them. Most classical right-hand technique doesn't work for me for the sole fact that the geometry of the two instruments is entirely different. Not only does it look daft to play a Tele in the classical position; the body is smaller and thinner, therefore your right hand is at an entirely different angle. No upper bout to to rest the right arm on. IMHO you can't just play the Carcassi exercises on an electric and hope to develop good right hand technique.

Anyway, this thread gives me something to work on.

As to Tal's question: "Is there a player who sound better or at least as good when they use fingerstyle as when they use a pick on electric?" - Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler immediately come to mind

[ronjazz]

docsteve, I went through a similar period where I felt that holding an electric like a classical looked and felt weird. However, once I started using a strap and standing for some of my practicing (since there are gigs on which I have to stand), I found that I could get pretty close to a good classical position and utilize my right-hand fingers more efficiently. In fact, when I acquired a Godin Multiac nylon 7-string, it proved to be much more comfortable with the strap and a Joe Pass/classical-style position both standing and sitting, abandoning the footstool, thus having very similar positions for both sitting and standing. The choice of nails or no nails is more personal; I studied classical guitar with Ghiglia, LaGoya and Williams, and always used nails. I takes some adjustment to get a good sound with them on the electric, but it's entirely possible. I think this young upstart Mancuso shows the way very well.

[Tal_175]

Absolutely! I have three grades of polishing boards, I need to re-edge my nails all the time. Everyday life is brutal on the edge I need to play with a pleasing sound.


Mick Goodrick switched over to nails during a time he was touring regularly with Gary Burton. It took a long period of adjustment to close in on the right technique of angle, attack intensity, string choice, guitar and amp settings, all of which changed and, at least for him, are extremely idiosyncratic and needed to be changed for fingerstyle. For him, it was a completely different instrument. He uses all nail, cut short, polished edge but he said if he could do it again, he'd go flesh. He'd heard students of his who'd played all flesh and that sound was beautiful.
Personal taste honed over time, trial and error.

It's true that it is personal. I'm not sure how Mick Goodrick sounds with a pick but in the video I prefer Pat Metheny's tone by a mile. Mick Goodrick is still immensely enjoyable to listen to but his tone with his fingers is a bit more scratchy and his attack is a little less precise than Pat Metheny's in my opinion.

[christianm77]

Lost my nails years ago when I learned my current pick technique... it’s a trade off with all sorts of factors.

Part of the reason I decided to focus on flatpicking: although now I teach classical grades again I often feel a bit lacking tonally. I should probably get lessons with Rob. Nails are a faff too much for me at least atm.

[Tal_175]

Another difference between CG and EG is that the expectations of consistency and quality of tone production and articulation during performances in the CG tradition is wildly different from the styles of music that typically feature EG (including jazz). Lol.

[christianm77]

Might interest
https://robmackillop.files.wordpress...rtechnique.pdf

[christianm77]

Another difference between CG and EG is that the expectations of consistency and quality of tone production and articulation during performances in the CG tradition is wildly different from the styles of music that typically feature EG (including jazz). Lol.

Of course, it’s the same for technique across the board. I’d say my main reason for focussing on plectrum guitar was acoustic projection. More recently this has become less important, but I still pick in a non electric guitar way (I have to modify my approach to play electric.)

So it works for fingerstyle as well; a full classical technique that will carry on a concert hall is not necessarily appropriate for jazz on an archtop of course. Or even an amplified nylon string playing jazz or Brazilian music.

OTOH there are a lot different ways to fingerpick on an acoustic; folk, flamenco, old school classical approaches (like Sor’s)

[grahambop]

Andy Brown gets a good sound playing finger-style. Sounds to me as if he uses a little bit of nail possibly.

[Marinero]

" I studied classical guitar with Ghiglia, LaGoya and Williams, and always used nails." ronjazz


For those who may not be aware, only the cream of the crop of CG students studies with the above performers/teachers. You ,usually, have to be highly recommended by a notable teacher and perform before being accepted. Quite impressive, Ron! I met Oscar several times at the Chicago Classical Guitar concerts held at Northwestern University in Evanston,Il where he performed regularly over the years during their Winter concert series. He was friends with Richard Brune, luthier, who built my guitar and did repair work for many of the performing greats. If you know Richard, he just moved his shop from Evanston to Wauconda, Il. Richard was also a devotee of Flamenco Guitar and quite a historical scholar for the Classical Guitar. Can I ask what CG you're playing now? It's a smaller world than many think.
Play live . . . Marinero

[Marinero]

Andy Brown gets a good sound playing finger-style. Sounds to me as if he uses a little bit of nail possibly.

Wow! Great post, G! Thanks. Andy is the real deal: great sound, beautiful phrasing, excellent nuance. Are you certain he plays exclusively with his nails? I'm sorry I missed him before I left Chicago. As a brief comment, if you choose to play EG with your nails, they must be a shortened version of what is used in CG since, as DocSteve mentions, the angle of attack is completely different. I think the best compromise for a hybrid player is 1.) use a pick, or 2.) buy an electrified CG unless you're willing to spend a lot of time "perfecting" your sound where clarity, depth, and cleanness is the goal.
Play live . . . Marinero

P.S. The last thing I need to tell my wife is that I need another guitar! M

[christianm77]

While I presume the Segovian technique is of course the bedrock of modern classical guitar technique, from my limited understanding the situation with classical guitar technique has been somewhat complicated by the Historically Informed Performances movement’s moves into the 19th century rep.

I feel some what daft saying this as there is a bone fide expert on early plucked strings on JGO (Rob) but here’s my understanding. FWIW I’ve taken lessons in classical and lute, although I can’t say I played either at a high level.

That pioneer of modern Lute playing, Julian Bream gave up playing lute as HIP refined instrument making and tecnique; he played heavy lutes with Segovian technique and of course sounded great as the master musician he undoubtedly was, but lutes became lighter and lutenists of the next generation adopted the thumb in technique found in Diana Poulton’s method, usually without nails.

Anyway, I’m not sure what the HIP ‘state of the art’ is (I think players use nails on Theorbo and Baroque Lute and a non-Segovia thumb out technique but I might be wrong) but AFAIK renaissance lute playing is done without nails. So if you are a lutenist and a modern classical guitarist you have a bit of a dilemma.

So I was quite surprised to hear David Miller, mainly known as a lutenist have no problem projecting in a hall on a 19th century small bodied guitar with gut strings and nailless technique playing Schubert with Emma Kirkby (he was using thumb-in Renaissance lute style right hand, which I don’t think any 19th C guitarists used, but I might be wrong. In any case he had no problem playing that way.); he actually credited the lower tension of the strings with helping nailless projection. I also from my own experiments I can’t say it’s as easy to use lute technique on modern nylon strings, let alone steels.

Anyway, I’ll post Brandon Acker here, as he’s a lutenist who also plays classical guitar, to my ears very nicely. But the divergences between his right hand and what I understand as classic Segovian posture are interesting, as are Rob’s. He does seem to play with nails:

I don’t know enough about the specifics of the various schools of technique, and would be interested to know more .

[christianm77]

Andy Brown gets a good sound playing finger-style. Sounds to me as if he uses a little bit of nail possibly.

I really like this guys tone.

[Marinero]

Hi, C,
He's definitely playing with nails--although a shortened version than many. Nail length on CG is determined by hand size and playing preferences. For example, many CG's with smaller hands use a longer thumb length to compensate for stretches. This may also apply to i-m-a fingers as well. Two of my former teachers ,who are both performing artists, use very long nails despite their large lands. I use a longer thumb nail with a shorter length on i-m-a since the thumb length gives me greater stretch while the shorter nails give me the bigger, rounded sound/tone I prefer. It takes years of experimentation, for some, to get the right length and it is essential to getting the sound you want. A CG is a lush, romantic instrument capable of great tonal range, beauty, and nuance. A thin, weak sound is death for a Classical guitar. Check out Bulerias' videos if you want to hear how a CG should be played in my estimation.
Play live . . . Marinero

P.S. I am not ,in any way, disparaging the fine performance above. M

[grahambop]

Wow! Great post, G! Thanks. Andy is the real deal: great sound, beautiful phrasing, excellent nuance. Are you certain he plays exclusively with his nails? I'm sorry I missed him before I left Chicago.

Yes Andy Brown deserves to be better-known, I’m sure he would be if he was in NY rather than Chicago. He also plays with a pick, it sounds much the same. I have his solo masterclass video, he never says whether he uses nails, I am just going by the sound. What I mean is that he probably uses a combination of flesh and nail, i.e. quite short nails.

[ronjazz]

Richard was also a devotee of Flamenco Guitar and quite a historical scholar for the Classical Guitar. Can I ask what CG you're playing now? It's a smaller world than many think.
Play live . . . Marinero

I played Barbero and Contreras classical guitars until the early 90s, when I decided to switch to flamenco guitars, and had two made by Lester Devoe: a negra with spruce top and rosewood back and sides, and a blanca with spruce top and cypress back and sides. Both were Lester's "Paco de Lucia" models, and both are spectacular instruments. I felt that my jazz playing would be better served by the fast attack and articulation of the lighter instruments, and that proved to be the case. The recordings I've made on them display amazing tone and clarity; as much as I loved my Contreras, the DeVoe instruments really are superb; I spoke with Paco about his, and he was very complimentary, using one of his in the soundtrack and promo video of the movie Don Juan, and on the hit song "Have you ever Really Loved A Woman", where the intro is pure Paco flamenco.

As an interesting side note, when I was studying in Spain with John Williams, he heard my jazz playing and hired me to assist him in some of his Master Classes at the University of Cordoba, saying he wanted my jazz approach to rhythm included in his teaching, much like he learned flamenco rhythms from Paco Pena. That was a truly transcendent experience!

I really like Brune's instruments as well.

[Marinero]

" and had two made by Lester Devoe: a negra with spruce top and rosewood back and sides, and a blanca with spruce top and cypress back and sides. Both were Lester's "Paco de Lucia" models, and both are spectacular instruments." ronjazz

Hi, R,
I went to Lester's website--pure guitar porn. I saw both of your beautiful models and they are superb. However, the Blanca is an exceptional looking instrument. What's the sound differences? Also, does Pavel play one of his instruments?
Play live . . . Marinero

[wolflen]

many fine finger style players

the classical vs electric to me seems more like boxing vs wrestling (and pro wrestling at that)

there is so much more you can get out of an electric..even on the clean channel and no effects..just a slight increase in volume or playing directly over the pickups can change the
tone ALOT

my fave finger style and hybrid style players

mattio mancuso .. on electric he is just amazing..any style..rock blues country fusion - he covers an Alan Holdsworth piece.. and a Weather Report tune..and he can play classical as well

jeff beck..pick or fingers

tom quayle.. hybrid picking master

as to how they get their tone..this is where what they hear is going to be very different from what you hear..

[marcwhy]

I met Oscar several times at the Chicago Classical Guitar concerts held at Northwestern University in Evanston,Il where he performed regularly over the years during their Winter concert series. He was friends with Richard Brune, luthier, who built my guitar and did repair work for many of the performing greats. If you know Richard, he just moved his shop from Evanston to Wauconda, Il. Richard was also a devotee of Flamenco Guitar and quite a historical scholar for the Classical Guitar. Can I ask what CG you're playing now? It's a smaller world than many think.
Play live . . . Marinero

Cool, Marinero -- I used to have a Brune when I played classical, too! Dick is the coolest guy, and his guitars are works of art!! Wish I could afford another one now ...

Lots of great info/advice here for the OP (and the rest of us)!

Mick Goodrick has already been mentioned, and is one of my favorite "all fingers" players.

John is another:

and so is Kevin:

What I like about these two is their range of timbre -- they can as easily be "soft and pretty" as they can be "dirty and raunchy!"

[ronjazz]

" and had two made by Lester Devoe: a negra with spruce top and rosewood back and sides, and a blanca with spruce top and cypress back and sides. Both were Lester's "Paco de Lucia" models, and both are spectacular instruments." ronjazz

Hi, R,
I went to Lester's website--pure guitar porn. I saw both of your beautiful models and they are superb. However, the Blanca is an exceptional looking instrument. What's the sound differences? Also, does Pavel play one of his instruments?
Play live . . . Marinero

The blanca ("La Luna") is very light, very loud and very fast. It has pegs, and is the guitar I used to accompany flamenco dance classes at Wesleyan University, and for my fast-tempo tunes on my recordings. The negra ("Estrellita") is warmer and richer, projects well, and has more sustain, excellent for Spanish and South American classical pieces and for medium tempo and ballad jazz. I don't know if Pavel plays one, but Vicente Amigo has a couple, Paco had 3, and several other well-known players use Lester's guitars.

In group and large situations, I use a Godin Multiac nylon 7-string or a modified Antonio Aparicio blanca that my luthier made into a 7-string. Both have the RMC pickup system with synth access. With the GR-55 synth I can get good electric guitar tones from either, from a smooth L4 model to a really great Telecaster-through-tremolo setting perfect for country ballads. The synth allows me to play Broadway-Style shows with only the Godin: no lugging banjo, mandolin, or acoustic guitar. Pretty cool.

[stringtapper]

I have had the exact opposite experience in my own playing, but my situation might be a bit different. I've been playing electric and upright bass for 30 years and only just started seriously studying guitar in the last four years.

My experience is that I sound better using finger-style for all but the most rock-oriented rhythmic playing. I use a Memphis 335 with LaBella Flatwound .15s, both pickups on and tone all the way up. I mostly use thumb, index, and middle. I'm guessing that a big reason that this works for me is that I have built up calluses over the years on all three of these fingers from bass playing.

I am also able to play single-note lines *way* faster with my fingers than with a pick. This is because I transferred over a technique I developed for playing muted lines on electric bass while maintaining speed. So I use my thumb and index, alternating between the two. Think of the standard index-middle electric bass plucking technique and just move it over one finger to thumb-index and you have the idea. Sometimes I will add the middle in there, which can be really cool for grabbing octave displaced notes within a melodic line.

When I started playing electric bass as a kid I instinctively started with this same thumb-index-middle technique. Once I started studying bass "for real" that faded away and I migrated to the standard technique. But this instinct has always been with me as is evident in how I've gravitated back to it on guitar.

Anyway, maybe the thumb-index melodic technique can give people some ideas.

[stringtapper]

Ok, I see from another thread that the T-I method is well-known, so carry on!

[frankhond]

If you’re getting a scratchy sound from your nails, try filing a diagonal ramp where the diagonal ascends up and away from where your thumb is (looking down on the back of your hand). Scott Tennant has a whole section on this and right hand technique in Pumping Nylon.

For electric, you can use classical hand position or a more collapsed hand. Both work and technique is similar. See Leo Kottke for example of collapsed hand.

For me, ramped nails kept pretty short works well. I’m training myself to keep pick between index and middle fingers. This way I can switch between the different tones available. See Mateus Asato for example how to do this.

[xavierbarcelo]

The inevitable clip by Martin Taylor

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Marinero]

Nail shape and length is an entirely individual matter. It takes years to discover what works best and it may change over time. I recommend Doug Niedt's approach. He is a master musician and a world class teacher.
Play live . . . Marinero



How to Find the Best Length and Shape for Your Thumbnail

douglasniedt.com › thumbnailshapeandleng

[guitaroscar]

I find a Tele is great for fingerstyle playing - a bit wider string spacing for your fingertips, nice sustain, easy to dial in a little zing in the top end to add clarity.

I have a tele which I modified for jazz; in the neck position I installed a Seymour Duncan stacked humbucker. Because the 2 magnets are stacked instead of side by side it fits into the narrow tele mounting.
It sounds awesome without any single coil noise.

I string it with Half Round strings.

The same guitar if I make a few adjustments at the amp and I can play rock 'n roll or blues

[docsteve]

And do you play it fingerstyle? (This Forum seems to turn anything into a Telecaster thread.)


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[Litterick]

[Member who joined yesterday posts photograph of Telecaster lent against expensive boutique amp beside bookcase, evidence of his taste and learning]

[stringtapper]

This Forum seems to turn anything into a Telecaster thread.

That’s… unexpected. I’m trying to think of a single jazz player who uses them. Bill Frisell?

I went straight for a 335 with the heaviest high tension flats I could find and it gets that bell-tone sound I associate with “jazz guitar.”

For instance, that Martin Taylor guy, I love his tone in that video above… but I don’t love it as a *jazz tone*. It’s closer to something I would go for in a prog rock setting. It’s that *zing* that I assume are from his nails. I prefer that round tone that I hear from old guys like Wes, Burrell, and Martino.

But I’m not even a guitarist, so what do I know!

[docsteve]

That’s… unexpected. I’m trying to think of a single jazz player who uses them. Bill Frisell?

I went straight for a 335 with the heaviest high tension flats I could find and it gets that bell-tone sound I associate with “jazz guitar.”

For instance, that Martin Taylor guy, I love his tone in that video above… but I don’t love it as a *jazz tone*. It’s closer to something I would go for in a prog rock setting. It’s that *zing* that I assume are from his nails. I prefer that round tone that I hear from old guys like Wes, Burrell, and Martino.

But I’m not even a guitarist, so what do I know!

Hey, what I meant is: this thread is about fingerstyle, not about telecasters. If you play your ES 335 fingerstyle, post away. EDIT I see that you did that already so everything's fine

What I was trying to say is: There are other threads to showcase your guitars, teles and otherwise. While we do digress into gear questions at every corner, a connection to the original topic should be discernible. And nothing prog rock about Martin Taylor's tone IMNSHO.

PS to add to your education: Julian Lage, Tim Lerch, Ed Bickert, Ted Greene, just to name a few.

[xavierbarcelo]

Wow! Martin Taylor’s tone as ideal in a prog-rock setting! That was unexpected...


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[guitaroscar]

And do you play it fingerstyle? (This Forum seems to turn anything into a Telecaster thread.)


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Yep!