A fellow guitarist and I were talking the other day. I mentioned that my fingerpicking is a kind of pseudo classical style thing I developed early on in my playing. He could tell I was clearly dogging my technique and offered this encouragement: “Anything that gets the job done is acceptable.” Just because I did not use the “approved” (in my mind, anyway) method of fingerpicking, did not mean I was doing it wrong. I need to take my own advice, sometimes.
Fingerpicking or fingerstyle
Whatever you want to call it, fingerpicking or fingerstyle, is really a matter of learning a way that works for your music and sticking to it. You can always change it or add to your technique later. Take a look at just these few techniques to consider:
- Classical guitar
- Banjo roll
- Hybrid a.k.a. Chet Atkins style or chicken picking
Where to begin
When starting out, concentrate on the basic moves and get comfortable with those. You should also try to play in just that style for some time to really get it under your fingers. I mean, put down the pick and only play fingerstyle for a time. I used to think I needed to keep playing with a pick and practice my other rhythms as well so I would not forget all that I had learned up to that point. It is only when I set aside everything else and really concentrated did I get to a point of competence.
The next concern you may have is with your fingernails. When I play bass I get the additional clicking from my fingernails so, I keep them short. This forces me to either adopt finger picks or just go with what I’ve got – meat. Whatever you decide, stick with it for a while. Resist the urge to keep switching around. That will only derail whatever progress you make.
Finger picks or not?
As a kid, I had nothing but bare fingers to work with. Who used finger picks? Most just let their fingernails grow out a bit and used them. Depending on the strength of your nails, that may work well. Playing on steel or nylon strings makes a difference, as well. Steel will wear your nails down very quickly especially if you are playing acoustic guitar. Most classical players I know, go with either false nails or are strengthening up their natural ones with clear nail polish.
The steel players I know, use a thumb pick at the very least. Check out Doyle Dykes for example. He is in the Chet Atkins Nashville style and uses a thumb pick. My good friend, Tom Monaco, is a jazz guitarist who uses a thumb pick. I new a guitarist years ago who played hybrid i.e. holds a flat pick with is thumb and index finger but also uses his other fingers. Johnny Hiland is scary good with this technique. Finally, check out Andy Timmons on Headed For The Ditch where he sounds every bit like a chicken picker but he is using a flat pick!
All or nothing fingerpicking
To wrap up, it is important to decide and then commit with any new technique. I mentioned that I learned a style when I was a kid that got the job done without any extra finger nails or finger picks. My guitar teacher at the time showed me the classical guitar method and I built on that. Not sure what I would have done if I knew about or was shown all of the other methods.
Later in life, I picked up a resonator guitar, a Dobro Hound Dog, and started to learn slide. I use a set of three finger picks like a banjo player: thumb, index and middle. When I plan to play it live, I woodshed a bit to get back to a level of comfort with it. Typically a week of solid Dobro only playing gets my chops back and I am much more at ease. It is a blast to play a completely different instrument like that but it takes some concentration. Jump in and try it!