Finger picking is one of the most interesting technique used in playing the guitar, it is almost equivalent to playing the piano with all your fingers. More possibilities can be achieved with this style of playing, and it can really highlight the versatile quality of the instrument. Seat through this lessons and get down the basic to fingerstyle guitar.
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The Basic
Assuming that you pick with your right hand, let's examine the pictures below.
*Left hand pickers can treat this as a mirror image*
Each fingers of the right hand (except for the pinky) will be referred by the following 'letters' of the alphabet.
P - Thumb (Plays the 'Bass Strings', namely string 6, 5 and 4)
i - Index finger (Plays the 3rd string)
m - Middle finger (Plays the 2nd string)
a - Ring finger (Plays the 1st string)
The above fingers to string assignment are considered to be the fix settings in this style of playing. It was also based from the methods used by classical guitar players.
Some great guitar players are known to omit this but as a beginner, you can never go wrong with this method.
In the next exercise, you will realize how knowing the names and the functions of each picking fingers, are the keys to get you into mastering this technique.
Finger Picking Patterns
For the purpose of explaining this lesson, we will be using a 'Guitar Tab'. If you're not sure what a guitar tab is, check out the 'How To Read Tabs' section.
Let's start with two of the most useful 'finger picking pattern'.
Our first pattern will look like this:
Pattern 1:
This first pattern requires you to pluck two strings simultaneously using your 'm' and 'a' fingers, and it happens on beat 2 and beat 4. This may seems hard, but actually very easy to do since it's easier to move the middle and the ring finger together than to move it separately.
If you’re having trouble memorizing this pattern, here’s a tip:
Just memorize the order of the 'letters' below the tab. This can work for two reasons:
1. You already know which letter goes with which finger
2. You already know which finger goes with which string
The thumb 'P', can play any of the bass strings according to chords being used.
Here's an example using a 'C' and a 'D' chord.
Pattern 2:
Pattern 2, is just a slight variation of the first pattern. As you can see, the thumb 'P' and the index finger 'i', pretty much stays the same while the middle 'm' and the ring 'a' fingers, will now be plucking the 2nd and the 1st string separately.
Again, you should try to memorize this pattern by the order of the 'letters' that represent the fingers, like this:
| P i m i a i m i | P i m i a i m i |etc...
Keep practicing it this way and soon it will become sub conscious.
These two finger picking pattern are the most versatile pattern that can be use to play hundreds, if not thousands of songs. Let's pick a song to demonstrate this.
Sailing - Rod Steward ( Accompaniment )
This is not the actual picking pattern used in the original recording, but this just goes to show that the above finger picking patterns can be made to fit into many situations.
I have recorded a simple fingerstyle arrangement of this song, and you can try accompanying it using the above accompaniment part.
Sailing ( Fingerstyle Solo ) =
____________________________________________________________________________________
What's Next?
Your next step now, is to try and incorporate this finger picking patterns in songs that you already know.
To further explore this style of playing, I would recommend trying out the 'Finger Picking' course from 'Elmore Music'. It's a very easy to follow course with tabs and videos, you will learn more in depth technique such as the famous 'Groove Style Slap Percussion' technique, similar to the one used in 'More Than Words' by Extreme.
Here's a sample video of what you will learn from this course:
Check it out Here.
____________________________________________________________________________________
The Basic
Assuming that you pick with your right hand, let's examine the pictures below.
*Left hand pickers can treat this as a mirror image*
Each fingers of the right hand (except for the pinky) will be referred by the following 'letters' of the alphabet.
P - Thumb (Plays the 'Bass Strings', namely string 6, 5 and 4)
i - Index finger (Plays the 3rd string)
m - Middle finger (Plays the 2nd string)
a - Ring finger (Plays the 1st string)
The above fingers to string assignment are considered to be the fix settings in this style of playing. It was also based from the methods used by classical guitar players.
Some great guitar players are known to omit this but as a beginner, you can never go wrong with this method.
In the next exercise, you will realize how knowing the names and the functions of each picking fingers, are the keys to get you into mastering this technique.
Finger Picking Patterns
For the purpose of explaining this lesson, we will be using a 'Guitar Tab'. If you're not sure what a guitar tab is, check out the 'How To Read Tabs' section.
Let's start with two of the most useful 'finger picking pattern'.
Our first pattern will look like this:
Pattern 1:
This first pattern requires you to pluck two strings simultaneously using your 'm' and 'a' fingers, and it happens on beat 2 and beat 4. This may seems hard, but actually very easy to do since it's easier to move the middle and the ring finger together than to move it separately.
If you’re having trouble memorizing this pattern, here’s a tip:
Just memorize the order of the 'letters' below the tab. This can work for two reasons:
1. You already know which letter goes with which finger
2. You already know which finger goes with which string
The thumb 'P', can play any of the bass strings according to chords being used.
Here's an example using a 'C' and a 'D' chord.
Pattern 2:
Pattern 2, is just a slight variation of the first pattern. As you can see, the thumb 'P' and the index finger 'i', pretty much stays the same while the middle 'm' and the ring 'a' fingers, will now be plucking the 2nd and the 1st string separately.
Again, you should try to memorize this pattern by the order of the 'letters' that represent the fingers, like this:
| P i m i a i m i | P i m i a i m i |etc...
Keep practicing it this way and soon it will become sub conscious.
These two finger picking pattern are the most versatile pattern that can be use to play hundreds, if not thousands of songs. Let's pick a song to demonstrate this.
Sailing - Rod Steward ( Accompaniment )
This is not the actual picking pattern used in the original recording, but this just goes to show that the above finger picking patterns can be made to fit into many situations.
I have recorded a simple fingerstyle arrangement of this song, and you can try accompanying it using the above accompaniment part.
Sailing ( Fingerstyle Solo ) =
____________________________________________________________________________________
What's Next?
Your next step now, is to try and incorporate this finger picking patterns in songs that you already know.
To further explore this style of playing, I would recommend trying out the 'Finger Picking' course from 'Elmore Music'. It's a very easy to follow course with tabs and videos, you will learn more in depth technique such as the famous 'Groove Style Slap Percussion' technique, similar to the one used in 'More Than Words' by Extreme.
Here's a sample video of what you will learn from this course:
Check it out Here.
