I use my index and middle fingers.
I’ve tried, many times, to add the ring finger to the mix, but it simply won’t cooperate. I use my thumb as well, but it’s my thumb, and I don’t count it as a finger :) |
I’ve been using thumb, index, and middle for years. But started guitar lessons with a new teacher who is nudging me to go with PIMA, and I am beginning to make the transition. A bit awkward so far, but I’m pleased with how quickly it is coming together.
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I am trying to use all five. But I keep falling back to thumb and index finger.
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I've always done that, from the beginning. I was self-taught, learning from records (in the 60s), not from seeing anyone do it (let alone lessons), and I found my middle finger reached the strings better. That's because I was (mostly) using the "folk-blues" hand position, resting my wrist on the bridge or near it. When I need another finger I use my ring. My index only enters the picture when I need a third finger. I've never rested any fingers on the scratchplate, btw. Some people who use index and middle rest their pinky (or pinky and ring), but I find that very awkward and inhibiting. I also play quite a lot of classical guitar, with my hand in a more "correct" position for that style - so my index reaches the strings more easily then - but by the time I started playing that way I was already in the "middle + ring" habit. You can see my right hand style here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5LZ4s4mPKM |
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3 fingers are required for fingerstyle. 1 or 2 finglers are fine for pattern fingerpicking...both are great but they are different. In order to play bass, rhythm and melody at the same time you need 3 fingers...there are a few guys that occasionally use 4 fingers.
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Whenever possible (which is often) I use my thumb and ring finger simultaneously on the first note of whatever picking pattern I am playing. Then index, middle and finally ring finger again.
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Thumb and index alone, all the way. Mind you, he's probably just some old dude no one ever heard of again... By the way, who was that style named after...? ;) |
I would call that Travis picking before I called it fingerstyle. The latter term isn’t well defined, as far as I know, such that all Travis pickers are fingerstylists but not all fingerstylists are Travis pickers. I know you know this, I realize it’s splitting hairs, and I wouldn’t normally correct anyone’s usage of the term, but since you corrected his with that example...
It seems to me that fingerstyle means two things: (1) in a very broad sense, playing the guitar with your fingers instead of a pick, and (2) specifically, a style of playing the guitar without a pick that was developed in the late 20th century and that combines several techniques and musical influences (examples of those techniques and influences would round out this definition). And when I say pick, I’m referring to holding a plectrum between your fingers, so I’d (grudgingly) concede that fingerstyle includes the use of thumbpicks and banjo picks, although "fingerpick" would be a better term for that, in my opinion. |
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I never really liked the term "Travis picking" to describe folk-blues fingerstyle in general. Firstly because he didn't invent it, and secondly because he had a particularly idiosyncratic technique, using just the index finger. Almost everyone who plays in style that they call "Travis picking" plays differently from him. They'll use at least two fingers for a start. They might also allow the bass notes to ring rather than damp them as he generally did. Quote:
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Firstly, classical guitar is played "fingerstyle". How else would you describe classical guitar technique? That obviously dates back centuries - even to before guitars were invented. Secondly, the non-classical technique is at least 100 years old, in American blues and folk music. It may have developed in the late 19th century, and certainly existed once recordings began. It's true the technique evolved over the 20th Century, and I'd identify two separate styles as broadly "blues" (Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson, etc) and "folk/country" (Mississippi John Hurt, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, etc). The latter is distinguished by the "alternating bass" technique, and there is a further distinction between the damped bass style more common in country music (Travis, Chet Atkins etc) and the freely ringing bass more common in contemporary folk (derived largely from MJH?). There's also the more banjo-based semi-frailing style in country music (Maybelle Carter etc). Quote:
Then again, do we need a different word for the common habit of using a thumbpick but no fingerpicks? |
I generally use thumb, index and middle. Sometimes I use the ring finger.
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It depends. I usually use thumb, index, middle, ring (never pinky). If I'm playing one of the low E, A, or D strings combined with the High E string I'll use thumb and ring or middle. If its the same for low but with the B string, I'll use the middle.
There are always exceptions. |
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I use all five fingers (little finger only for strumming). The finger I use the most is the thumb and, after that, the index or the middle. |
I started growing my fingernails out some months ago. What I have found is that my middle fingernail wears down faster than the others, so I guess I use that one more. However, I have been practising Mary Flower's "Davis Street Rag", and I've found that utilising the index finger makes for a huge improvement.
-BK in BWA |
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