Some fingerpicking advice please ..

[bobby b]

I dont rest my pinky either....just does not work for me.

[Mojorule]

I started out using thumb and 3 fingers, but a couple years ago transitioned over to thumb and 2 fingers (just index and middle fingers) which I think gives the picking hand a little more flexibility to move around rather than always playing the same three treble strings with the same fingers.

 

 

 

This is interesting. What about reintroducing the ringer from time to time, so that your new-found flexibility has an extra dimension? If you can move the other two comfortably and confidently, you should be able to move the third around with them to take in a different set of 3 strings. You can always leave it out again when the feeling takes you!

[fortyearspickn]

This is interesting. What about reintroducing the ringer from time to time, so that your new-found flexibility has an extra dimension? If you can move the other two comfortably and confidently, you should be able to move the third around with them to take in a different set of 3 strings. You can always leave it out again when the feeling takes you!

 

Agree. This gives you the ability to throw in eight notes using your third finger without losing the "flow/beat" you've established using just T, 1 & 2. Or 1/16 th notes when you get up to speed!

[nodehopper]

Agree. This gives you the ability to throw in eight notes using your third finger without losing the "flow/beat" you've established using just T, 1 & 2. Or 1/16 th notes when you get up to speed!

 

Many of the great fingerpickers used only thumb and index fingers for everything. The ring finger is a bit weaker than I or M and I think you get a slightly different sound when using one strong finger to strike 2 or 3 strings quickly and I like the sound I get using strong fingers for the melody notes. For example Doc Watson (RIP) Deep River Blues...he has no trouble hitting fast 1/16th notes with one finger and I think the sound of those fast notes is slightly different when trying to play those passages using 3 fingers.

 

When I changed from the three finger style I experimented trying to decide between using thumb and one finger like many of the old greats or adding the middle finger too. I chose to keep using the middle finger. I also find that using two fingers is helpful when playing solos and use the same finger technique when playing electric guitar similar to Mark Knopfler although I still can't use my thumb well for solo notes the way he does.

 

Watch Doc's right hand here ...I personally think it would be harder to play this using 3 fingers. Trying to learn this song is one of the reasons I changed my style.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyQOCJ4SUSk

[Rambler]

I'm not much on structured theory, don't even know the pentatonic scale. Theory has never interested me. Probably to my demise. If you show me how to do it, with practice, I can usually figure it out to some acceptable level of proficiency.

Theory doesnt bite (Ray Charles was a reading musician). Theory just unlocks the fret board. Gets you from point A to point B more directly.

[Mojorule]

Many of the great fingerpickers used only thumb and index fingers for everything. The ring finger is a bit weaker than I or M and I think you get a slightly different sound when using one strong finger to strike 2 or 3 strings quickly and I like the sound I get using strong fingers for the melody notes. For example Doc Watson (RIP) Deep River Blues...he has no trouble hitting fast 1/16th notes with one finger and I think the sound of those fast notes is slightly different when trying to play those passages using 3 fingers.

 

When I changed from the three finger style I experimented trying to decide between using thumb and one finger like many of the old greats or adding the middle finger too. I chose to keep using the middle finger. I also find that using two fingers is helpful when playing solos and use the same finger technique when playing electric guitar similar to Mark Knopfler although I still can't use my thumb well for solo notes the way he does.

 

Watch Doc's right hand here ...I personally think it would be harder to play this using 3 fingers. Trying to learn this song is one of the reasons I changed my style.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyQOCJ4SUSk

 

Yes, that's a great testimony to what can be done with one thumb and one finger. No clutter, but plenty going on. I wonder how far the picks made speed easier for him.

 

Interesting to note that even Segovia can be spotted following your two-fingered example, and on one of the most fiendishly difficult right-hand work-outs in the classical repertoire. I learned to play this one with three fingers and I need them, but I swear his ring finger is just flapping about in sympathy here. Am I wrong? Where is Matt Sear when you need him?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFA6CVImN0Y&feature=related

[j45nick]

Yes, that's a great testimony to what can be done with one thumb and one finger. No clutter, but plenty going on. I wonder how far the picks made speed easier for him.

 

Interesting to note that even Segovia can be spotted following your two-fingered example, and on one of the most fiendishly difficult right-hand work-outs in the classical repertoire. I learned to play this one with three fingers and I need them, but I swear his ring finger is just flapping about in sympathy here. Am I wrong? Where is Matt Sear when you need him?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFA6CVImN0Y&feature=related

 

It seems pretty clear to me that he is using the thumb, plus all four fingers. Waste not, want not.

[jedzep]

After you get your patterns down, loosey goosey makes all the difference. I find that to be the hard part unless I'm in a particular frame of mind. When I can lock into it, the cadence lines up. The next morning it's gone. Where's my freekin' Red Bear?