Fingerpicking can be utilized in many styles of playing.
Every type of music featuring a guitar can make use of fingerpicking as a style. From classical to country, rock and jazz, many guitar parts are written to be strummed, but patterns of playing chords by plucking individual notes add depth and character to the piece. No matter which style your lessons lean towards, there are basics you can learn, so put the pick down and get your fingers ready.
Bass Strings
Finger picking styles depend on a bass line that is plucked with the thumb. More chord positions than not can use more than one of the lower strings to fit the chord without sounding dissonant. Playing a bass string of your choice on the "one" and "three" beats of a 4/4 song and repeating the pattern creates the bass line of the song.
Higher Strings
Placing the index, middle and ring fingers above the highest three strings readies the player to pick. The common Travis pick, named after its creator, Merle Travis, is played by plucking a bass string and the highest string simultaneously, and then plucking the index finger, middle finger, ring finger and then index finger again, completing a pattern. The pattern is repeated, alternating bass strings.
Picado picking, used in flamenco guitar playing, is picked with the index and middle fingers alternately playing notes on any of the top four strings. Usually this is done in a quick scale pattern.
Alternating the index and middle fingers to pick out arpeggios is another style.
Placing all of the fingers on the same string and then picking with each finger in succession creates the tremolo style of picking.
Tags: index middle, bass line, bass string, index finger, index middle fingers