GIDDY GUITARISTS
FINGER PICKING: THE HARDER STUFF
Hey fellow guitarists! Now that you know some of the basics, we'll be starting on fingerpicking! Are you ready for the challenge? Don't worry, it's pretty simple as well! Once you have mastered how to finger-pick, you'll become a good'ol guitarist that you've been waiting for! Come on, let's go! :)
A Bit Of F.A.Q. About Finger-Picking
What should I know by now before learning how to finger-pick?
By now, you should be able to play all the open-position chords, a few barre chords, play some basic warm-ups, play a few Major scales, read general sheet music and guitar TAB, and know all the basics of how to maintain your guitar (tuning, replacing string,etc.).
Do I need long finger nails in order to play the guitar finger-pick styled?
Nope. Long finger nails or not, you can finger-pick with the flesh of your finger tips as well. However, you shouldn't have fingers with nails and some with none, otherwise, your playing, would sound plain funny! So you either have them cut or not on the same hand. Some guitarists even use fake nails to finger-pick! I, personally use the flesh of my finger tips.
Do finger-picking pieces also have guitar TAB on their sheet music, too?
Yes, on some pieces. Since finger-picking is an advanced style of guitar playing, there isn't a very detailed TAB for most of the written pieces, because guitarists at this point should (and already) know how to read sheet music fluently as well as know where all the notes on the fretboard are. However, some pieces have TAB on them so players can interpret them cleary in order for them to learn how to play it themselves. Most pieces have numbers next to the sheet music notes to tell you what finger on press on whatever fret, so it's kind of an "abbreviated" guitar TAB (so your fingers on your left hand don't have a hard time playing), I guess you could say, but it doesn't tell you which strings to press the frets on because you should know by now.
When referring to finger-picking, I hear stuff about p i m a a lot, what's that about?
That's the representations, for each of the fingers on your right hand used for traditional finger-picking. There four fingers used to play finger-picking, the thumb, index, middle, and ring finger. Each is named with a letter for short after the Spanish names of the fingers. Remember, fingers 1, 2, 3, and 4 are on the left hand while fingers p, i, m, and a are on the right hand. See the chart below for further explaination:
Letter Spanish word Finger
p pulgar thumb
i indicio index finger
m medio middle finger
a anular ring finger
Is using your little finger as an anchor a bad habit?
Of course not. Even I use this technique myself. It's so my other finger-picking fingers are in the right position and don't move too much. Many other guitarists use it, and many don't. It's really your call. Do whatever if comfortable for you!
In this section, you will learn...
