Pick guard noise

[OKCtodd71]

I don’t “anchor” but I do glide ever so gently on the guard with my finger tips. First thing to do is make sure that your right hand nails are short because the scratching of nails can be loud, much more than just fingertips. Secondly and a problem I specifically work on : when you do lift finger tips off the top/guard, be very aware of how you lay them back on to the top. You can’t just let them drop with the weight of your hand as this will as you know cause a “ boom” that will be amplified by the top. This tends to happen after strumming a chord then returning to single note picking and perhaps after playing single notes on the low E string, then skipping up to the top 2 strings. If you’re tapping the top when you return finger tips to “baseline” of softly gliding, you need to figure out how to do it without making an artifact noise.

[Steel and wood]

My little finger became the bane of my fingerpicking (mostly Travis style) so much so that I've had to retrain it by taping it up so that it straightened out to lightly touch the pickguard instead of curling up and taking my ring finger with it. (I fingerpick with thumb, middle and index fingers only).

I still feel the need sometimes to do this today.

[OKCtodd71]

Do not do that. Your pinky and ring finger share a nerve, they often move at the same time for a reason. You are not only hampering the movement and control of your ring finger but risking damage to delicate nerves. Some classical players spend many hours trying to attain complete finger independence between these two fingers on their left hand too. There is absolutely no reason or benefit to it and it’s all but impossible to attain. I was told this by Manuel Barrueco; if Manuel doesn’t think it’s a wise thing to do.......?

[Steel and wood]

Originally Posted by hatefulsob

Do not do that. Your pinky and ring finger share a nerve, they often move at the same time for a reason. You are not only hampering the movement and control of your ring finger but risking damage to delicate nerves. Some classical players spend many hours trying to attain complete finger independence between these two fingers on their left hand too. There is absolutely no reason or benefit to it and it’s all but impossible to attain. I was told this by Manuel Barrueco; if Manuel doesn’t think it’s a wise thing to do.......?

I know of others who are able to loosely glide (like I do) or firmly plant their pinky finger on the pickguard independently of their ring and other fingers. (Whether they use their ring finger or not).

I'm not a classical player and I decided long ago not to use my ring finger like a classical guitarist would do. (My ring finger and pinky therefore get in the way more or less).

Either way, thanks for the advice.