New to fingerpicking...my right hand hurts!

[elicious]

hi all!

I'm new to this forum and I have just purchased my first acoustic guitar, a Gibson WM-45. I've been playing guitar off and on for a while now, mainly electric, but I've decided to give this acoustic thing a go.

I've been trying to figure out how to develop finger picking technique. I've been watching a lot of youtube vids and have come to the conclusion that some of the all-time greats (Chet, Tommy, etc) anchor their right hand with their pinkie finger so I thought I'd try that. If I play with only my thumb and forefinger I have no issues but if I try to use 3 or 4 fingers (with the pinkie anchored) I get acute pain on top of my right hand. I've been trying to play through it since it just doesn't feel natural but the pain persists if I try to play that way. It's only painful while I play, not afterward, fwiw. Also, I've tried reexamining how my forearm leads into my wrist, wrist placement, etc, but it still hurts like hell.

I'm about to give up with the pinkie-anchor thing since pain is usually a warning of worse pain to come.

What am I doing wrong?

[Bingoccc]

To anchor or not to anchor is one of those never ending arguments on this forum. Classical training says no. Lots of the greats do it though. I've tried it and don't like it. It feels uncomfortable to me. I've seen old video of Paul Simon and new video of Marcus Mumford where they plant three on the tree and play thumb & one. You should do whatever works for you and feels comfortable.

[stanron]

When I started I rested the bottom of my hand on the bridge just behind the bass string saddle. This is handy for muting the bass strings like you do in Travis picking but is technically questionable because it will inhibit volume. It is also handy for keeping your hand in a stable position so when you want to pick a particular string you can do.

For a beginner the volume thing isn't a problem so you might give this a try.

Classical players appear to rest their upper arm on the top of the guitar sides and achieve good accuracy and volume control from there. The problem I found with that position was the movement at the elbow and the movement at the wrist made accurate string selection difficult.

My current position is to rest my fore arm, as close as possible to my wrist, on the edge of the guitar near the waist. This is a stable position and I now have no issues locating strings correctly. The edge of the guitar digging into the underside of my arm is an issue but it is easily dealt with. Getting tonal differences by picking at different points on the string is no great problem once the basic position is learned but wouldn't be such an issue for a beginner anyway. The big benefit is that no part of my hand is touching the front anywhere and the only pains I get are to do with my advancing age.

[mdutr0]

Personally, I don't like anchoring and I am certainly NOT a classical guitarist.

I find myself able to do a lot more with my picking hand than I can with my pinkie trying to press its way through the spruce and into the bracing.

I started out anchoring and later decided that I wanted to learn how to use my pinkie in my finger picking. Re-training was no fun!

All that said, do what works/feels good. If it hurts to anchor, don't feel like you have to do it just because some of the greats do it.

[elicious]

Thanks for all the response!

I guess I figured that this was the orthodox way to learn fingerpicking and that it'd be harder to learn it later than to simply make the extra effort now.

I will try other styles, thanks for the suggestions.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by elicious

hi all!

I'm new to this forum and I have just purchased my first acoustic guitar, a Gibson WM-45. I've been playing guitar off and on for a while now, mainly electric, but I've decided to give this acoustic thing a go.

I've been trying to figure out how to develop finger picking technique. I've been watching a lot of youtube vids and have come to the conclusion that some of the all-time greats (Chet, Tommy, etc) anchor their right hand with their pinkie finger so I thought I'd try that. If I play with only my thumb and forefinger I have no issues but if I try to use 3 or 4 fingers (with the pinkie anchored) I get acute pain on top of my right hand.

That's a clear sign to stop, in that case! It's probably because the tendons are all connected, and you're forcing your hand to do something unnatural: fix one finger but move the others.

Those who anchor the pinky have maybe learned to relax it. If your pinky is trying to curl along with the others (as it naturally would) as you pick, that could easily cause painful tension on the back of the hand.

It's significant - IMO - that players you mention all rest their hands on the bridge as well, in order to get the damped bass effect, so there is no pressure on the pinky.

As mentioned above, classical style is not anchored, and the technique involves relentless practice of p-i-m-a arpeggios in order to get the hand used to holding a steady position. (Picking in that style, the hand doesn't move at all, only the fingers move. The only "anchoring" is the forearm on the top edge of the guitar.)

I play both ways, and don't feel the need to anchor my pinky at all. Having tried it, it feels weird to extend it on to the scratchplate, and I can definitely sense that if I tried picking with my ring it could get painful, because the pinky then feels awkwardly extended. Picking with index and/or middle it's not so bad. Still, I don't need to do it, as it offers no advantages for me.

[sirwhale]

Originally Posted by stanron

When I started I rested the bottom of my hand on the bridge just behind the bass string saddle. This is handy for muting the bass strings like you do in Travis picking but is technically questionable because it will inhibit volume. It is also handy for keeping your hand in a stable position so when you want to pick a particular string you can do.

I do this, as I play blues and most of the songs I play I need a muted bass, so I'm used to it. When I need the bass to not be muted, then I just move my hand back so it rests lightly on the bridge pins just behind the bass strings.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by elicious

…I've been trying to figure out how to develop finger picking technique. I've been watching a lot of youtube vids and have come to the conclusion that some of the all-time greats (Chet, Tommy, etc) anchor their right hand with their pinkie finger so I thought I'd try that.

Hi elicious…

Touch down with the pinky, yes, plant, neither Tommy nor Chet are/were anchoring pinkies. They don't ever force weight onto them. Their use is more of a place marker (in relation to the sound hole), angle setting (of the hand/fingers) technique.

The picking hand needs to stay relaxed to be effective, and if you put weight on a pinky or are over plucking you are creating stress not relaxation.

The byproduct of stress is often pain.

[elicious]

I'll try to focus on wrist placement at the bridge along with lighter placement of my pinkie. I'll try that for a few days to see whether there's pain... I am still new to finger picking and acoustic but I hope I can feel the difference based on your suggestions.

Thank you all for your help!

[Pitar]

Originally Posted by elicious

hi all!

I'm new to this forum and I have just purchased my first acoustic guitar, a Gibson WM-45. I've been playing guitar off and on for a while now, mainly electric, but I've decided to give this acoustic thing a go.

I've been trying to figure out how to develop finger picking technique. I've been watching a lot of youtube vids and have come to the conclusion that some of the all-time greats (Chet, Tommy, etc) anchor their right hand with their pinkie finger so I thought I'd try that. If I play with only my thumb and forefinger I have no issues but if I try to use 3 or 4 fingers (with the pinkie anchored) I get acute pain on top of my right hand. I've been trying to play through it since it just doesn't feel natural but the pain persists if I try to play that way. It's only painful while I play, not afterward, fwiw. Also, I've tried reexamining how my forearm leads into my wrist, wrist placement, etc, but it still hurts like hell.

I'm about to give up with the pinkie-anchor thing since pain is usually a warning of worse pain to come.

What am I doing wrong?

You're fighting your right hand. In an attempt to keep it stable with pinky planted, and yet loose enough to fingerpick there are conflicting stresses (muscle tensions) working against each other. It's cramping up on you. You can't have tension in your right hand and develop into a decent fingerpicker. Keep the hand loose, relaxed and floating. You muscle memory will develop and the sensation of it being uncontrollable and inaccurate will leave you soon enough.

I see people planting their pinky fingers or heels of their hands on the bridge and their technique is awful. The angle of the fingers is all wrong and the hand itself looks cramped. Yes, they can play but they most certainly can play better without that handicap if they're willing to prove it for themselves. It isn't a snobbish "proper technique" thing, either. It's just plain physics. The strings need to be plucked and set in motion parallel to the soundboard for best tone-production, not plucked upwardly, and the latter is what I see most "planters" doing because their hands are not far enough away from the strings to pluck and release in a parallel motion to the soundboard. On the flesh side of tone producing, the right hand remains relaxed and poised. Plus, it's a no-brainer to move the hand towards or from the bridge to change up tone dynamics effortlessly.

In my sig link - a shameless plug, maybe - you'll see my floating hand. It's just hanging there relaxed and effortlessly plucking strings like drumming fingers on a table top. That will come quickly if you focus on it.

[elicious]

Thanks for the suggestions!

To be honest, I've never normally "followed the directions" with anything (I'm self-taught on guitar) but I thought I'd try to do something conventionally this time.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Pitar

You're fighting your right hand.

Hi P…

You've seen him play?

I disagree with a lot of what you said in your post. There are too many professional greats who 'plant' their pinky and don't get cramps. Nor do they appear to be uncontrolled and inaccurate.

Glad you found a way to play which is best for you, but I sure don't assume it is universally the best way for everyone to play.