picking fingers

D

dinghy

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 1, 2017
Messages
77
Reaction score
0
Location
Detroit, Michigan
Ahoy

ok here goes
how many fingers do you use
looked at more than a few youtube videos

Aldrine Guerrero
uses thumb and 1st finger

Ukulele Mike
uses thumb 1st and 2nd finger

have book teaches thumb and three fingers

so what are the good and bad points of
thumb and one finger
apposed to using more fingers

thank you
mac
 
I think you'll find it's more a case of what you feel comfortable with, but I'd suggest trying thumb & 3 fingers, you'll be able to arppegiate chords. :)
 
Play like classical guitar style thumb on top two strings and i and m fingers alternate on bottom two. I use a finger on bottom string when playing a chord involving all 4 strings.
However nothing is set in stone.
For example a piece like romance by anonymous I alternate i and m even if the triplets go into the top two strings where the thumb may be.

Figure out your fingering for the piece or composition you are learning. But nothing is set permanently in stone where you become inflexible in learning something practically.
 
Nice to learn a bunch of different ways to pick things. Aaron Keim has an excellent ebook on a variety of picking techniques.
 
Last edited:
I'm an old banjo finger picker so it's tmi for me. Oh and yes, I still drool.
 
The correct answer is thumb and three fingers. Results may vary.
 
Hi, Dinghy. I added fingers step-by-step rather than try to jump in all at once. Thumb picking, thumb and index, thumb-index-middle, and finally adding the ring finger.

If you're wanting to play fingerstyle solo and fingerstyle accompaniment, eventually you're going to need thumb-index-middle-ring to do all the things you're going to want to do.

I pretty much only use my ring finger if I have to; it's easier for me to get the right sound out of the middle or index finger. As time goes by the ring finger is getting more coordinated as is getting a bigger share of playing time.
 
It depends on the song, but usually I use all fingers except the pinky.
 
My first teacher taught thumb and 3 fingers but alternate fingers if picking the same string multiple times. I've also been taught all of the other methods at one point or other. I tend to use whatever feels right for the song I'm playing. There is a song that I've been playing lately where I even use index and middle fingers only most of the time and occasionally add the ring finger, but never the thumb. I wouldn't do that most of the time, but it seems to work for this particular song...
 
For Arpeggio type picking, thumb and three fingers (one finger per string) has always been my favorite and what I was taught. For high-G in/out picking (lowest string to highest string - 3-2-1-4 - thumb and index finger alternating top two and bottom two strings. For melody play, similar with the thumb playing the top two strings and the index finger playing the melody on the bottom two strings most of the time.

As it's been said several times already, the fingering depends on the song and style. Get used to using everything but the pinky on the right hand.
 
I would say,use however many fingers you are happy with!
I sometimes use index finger for a fast strummed chord based
song,then thumb and index for picking,and then ALL fingers
for triples etc! Best option is to try it and see what you are
happy with,and what sounds good!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
Finger picking - do you alternate right hand fingers like classical guitarists do?
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
robinboyd
robinboyd
SoloRule
Fingers picking style discussion
Replies
8
Views
1K
M3Ukulele
M
D
How many fingers to use when finger picking?
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
Laouik
Laouik
UkeCanDoIt!
Fingers and picking
Replies
6
Views
1K
SeanKy671
SeanKy671
Freya Vie
Finger placements while picking strings.
Replies
19
Views
783
Freya Vie
Freya Vie
Top Bottom