If you have not played the guitar before, you may not have heard about this term, but after a few guitar lessons you may probably hear/read about it.
Fingerstyle guitar (also known as fingerpicking) is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to using a a plectrum.
Because notes are struck by individual digits, rather than the hand working as a single unit, playing fingerstyle allows you to perform several musical elements simultaneously, and that is why its best to have guitar lessons for some time (if you’re a beginner), before heading straight to this style of playing.
So you could potentially play multiple parts of a musical arrangement such as Bass, harmonic accompaniment, melody, and percussion, that would normally be played by several band members.
And remember its not a style (not a genre of music), its a technique of playing!
How to Pluck the Strings
Center the palm of your picking hand over the sound hole (acoustic) or pick-ups (electric) of the guitar. Curl your fingers and thumb at your second knuckle, and turn your hand so that your fingertips rest underneath the strings (so your second knuckles point towards the floor).
In fingerpicking, when changing chords, usually the thumb moves to play the bass strings when the chord changes, while the three remaining fingers remain stationary – playing the same string.
Things to Keep In Mind
- Its important that your hand be in a loose claw-shape, don’t straighten out your fingers
- Your palm should move very little, all movement should be done with fingers.
- Your fingers should always remain curled, and the motion should come primarily from the second knuckle down.
- The fingers should return back into position once the appropriate note has been picked.
- If strings are ringing very quietly, you need to pick harder
There are some guitarists who are more comfortable anchoring their pinky finger on the bridge of the guitar, while using the other fingers to pick the strings (actually nothing wrong with it). Feel free to experiment with both methods and choose whatever is more comfortable to you.
To play fingerstyle guitar correctly, its important to focus on a couple of things:
- Produce clear and perfect chords. If you’re unable to do this, spend some time on improving the quality of your chords so that each one sounds perfect. Playing fingerstyle guitar will easily expose flaws in your playing, especially playing the chords.
- Do a lot of finger exercises, your fingers need to work together as a well rehearsed unit.
Watch: Hawaiian Slack key guitar Ledward Kaapana. Slack-key guitar is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii
Type of Guitars Required for Fingerstyle Playing
Although the original fingerstyle Guitar is the Classical (nylon string Guitar) and some guitars are better setup to give you better Fingerstyle Guitar playing ability, the fact is that you can play Fingerstyle on any type of guitar – Acoustic, Classical and Electric Guitar.
Classical Guitar is the most popular for this style of playing, followed by Acoustic or Flat Top Steel String Guitar.
There are several guitarists who can play fingerstyle on Electric guitars (Chet Atkins and Merle Travis have used electric guitars almost exclusively for fingerstyle playing).
Fingerpicking Song Tabs
An effective way of learning any new technique on the guitar is by practicing songs that use those techniques. Here are popular songs that you may use to practice your fingerpicking technique.
- Good Riddance (by Green Day)
- Dust in the Wind (by Kansas)
- Stairway to Heaven (by Led Zeppelin)
- Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You (by Led Zeppelin)
- Needle and the Damage Done (by Neil Young)
- Blackbird (by The Beatles)
- Here Comes the Sun (by The Beatles)
- Vincent (by Don McLean)
- Tears in Heaven (by Eric Clapton)
- Shape of My Heart (by Sting)
How Long Does it Take to Master Fingerstyle Guitar
This is a question that almost every beginner guitar player wants to ask. How long does it take to master finger-style guitar (to be able to play “freight train” or “Ebon coast”).
Most players, including the experienced ones feel that there’s always something more to be learnt, so its difficult to answer this question accurately.
In that case, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Keep on working on your right hand.
- Learn the theory of chords.
- Learn to play triads and intervals.
- Now the notes on the fingerboard.
- Learn to read music (a big plus).
- Be motivated and practice regularly.
Even though you might be interested in leaning Finger-Style, if you’re beginner, spend some time knowing the guitar, before moving directly to this style. It’s okay to focus on what you’re interested in, because that will keep you motivated.
It also depends on what you’re more comfortable with – fingerpicking seems “right” for some, playing with a pick seems right for others.
15 Year Old Fingerstyle Guitarist Plays Superfast Acoustic Shredding
Here’s a kid named Ben Lapps, a young fingerstyle guitarist, who seems to be quite good for his age. Checkout the video and see his fast acoustic guitar shredding.
To some, the performance may seem to be lacking a soul, but then for his age this performance is quite good. With more experience, he will learn how to add soul & warmth to his performance.
Besides, he’s using all the characteristics of music. It has melodic value, he’s using lots of techniques from slapping to tapping and more.
He may not be the best yet, but he’s good.
Here are some excellent Fingerstyle Guitar Lessons/songs to help you get started.
This one is Hotel California Instrumental played Fingerstyle
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Mani says
I’m considering buying a larger body guitar with greater projection and a brighter sound. I’m also wondering about moving to a smaller scale length. I’ve decent skills but have smaller hands and a thinking that a smaller scale would be good for fingerstyle playing and to reduce hand strain.
Any thoughts regarding body size, scale, or specific models to check out? Am okay to spend around a couple of grands.
Thanks for the help!
David says
Which are the best Strings for Finger Style Sound?
Jim says
It depends on the type of guitar you will use. On electric, lot of players prefer the D’Addario nickel round wounds. For acoustic guitars, some players prefer the Phosphor Bronze D’Addarios. Some also like John Pearse Nickel acoustic strings.
Martin (Eindhoven, Netherlands) says
Anybody is aware about the history of fingerstyle?
I’m doing a project on music genres. I need to describe an important milestone in the history of fingerstyle as a genre. What made the moment important. Can someone help me with this?
tom says
Is anybody familiar with Elliott Smith fingerpicking playing technique?
Jim says
Not much really, but his style really fits well with his vocals.