How Many Fingers?

Well...how many?

  • One finger

    Votes: 3 5.2%

  • Two fingers

    Votes: 12 20.7%

  • Three fingers

    Votes: 30 51.7%

  • Four fingers, one on each string

    Votes: 3 5.2%

  • Four fingers, shifting amongst the strings

    Votes: 13 22.4%

  • Five fingers

    Votes: 1 1.7%

  • Other

    Votes: 7 12.1%
  • Total voters
    58
Kem

Kem

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Okay...the two-finger thread has got me curious. (I don't mean to poach from that thread; in fact, I would like to avoid steering it off course.) If you pick, how do you pick? How many fingers do you use, and in what configuration? Do you have one rigid method, or do you experiment? Are you willing to learn new tricks? Were you taught your current method, or did you develop it yourself? Who did put the bomp in the bomp de bomp de bomp?

My answers: I pick four-fingered, with one finger on each string. I have internalised this method to the extent that I no longer have to think about which finger goes where; switching things around would take some effort. I developed this method alone over a period of years. I'm not sure who put the bomp in the bomp de bomp de bomp, but I expect it was someone exciting.

(Incidentally, the poll is multiple-choice, so if you use more than one method, feel free to indicate as much.)
 
Last edited:
Hi Kem

I mainly use my thumb, index and middle...so I guess that's 3 fingers for me! As I'm self taught with the instruments I play, I guess I kinda have developed my own style since I took up the uke too...
 
I honestly have to say that it depends... Sometimes, I use the entire hand, others a single finger, and sometimes I just use the fingers on the hand.

I can't say I have a particular technique - more like whatever happens, happens.

............... -Kurt
 
eugene ukulele said:
Hi Kem

I mainly use my thumb, index and middle...so I guess that's 3 fingers for me! As I'm self taught with the instruments I play, I guess I kinda have developed my own style since I took up the uke too...
Click to expand...

What Eugene said. When I fingerpick, I generally use the thumb for the G and C strings, the index for the E string, and the middle for the A string. I keep thinking I should assign a finger to each string, but this seems to work pretty well for me.
 
I voted for 3 fingers, because,......well,........you didn't have a 3-1/2 finger choice! :eek:

I use my thumb, middle, and ring finger,....with an occasional subdued sounding "Nub" thrown in. :D

My middle finger gets the most work out,.....being used for much of the strumming i do, as well as fingerpicking
a lot of the melody lines.

(i've adjusted,...i'm 55 now and damage done at age 16)

7-21-11IndexFingerDamage2.jpg


Close ups below , ....not for the faint of heart:

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/...nger Injury/7-21-11IndexFingerDamageClose.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/...x Finger Injury/7-21-11IndexFingerDamage3.jpg
 
Last edited:
Kem said:
Okay...the two-finger thread has got me curious. (I don't mean to poach from that thread; in fact, I would like to avoid steering it off course.) If you pick, how do you pick? How many fingers do you use, and in what configuration? Do you have one rigid method, or do you experiment? Are you willing to learn new tricks? Were you taught your current method, or did you develop it yourself? Who did put the bomp in the bomp de bomp de bomp?
Click to expand...

I grew playin flamenco guitar. and my maestro developed n teached many of the right hand techniques used by paco de lucia.
for example the accents on a run of picados must (almost always) be done with the middle finger, picado apoyando, start with the middle if in pair note, etc, etc.

i consider this kind of "order" for the right hand is crucial to develop the skills. right now i'm studying a piece of esteban de sanlucar, played by paco in his youth. hope i can do it nice to post it.
 
I use thumb, middle, and index. However, on guitar, I occasionally add the ring finger as well. I may explore the "one finger per string" approach; it seems, as Spock might say, "Logical."
 
syrynx said:
What Eugene said. When I fingerpick, I generally use the thumb for the G and C strings, the index for the E string, and the middle for the A string. I keep thinking I should assign a finger to each string, but this seems to work pretty well for me.
Click to expand...

Me too! Exactly what he said.
 
Well, as I learned to pick using Eugene's videos as my guide- I am a Thumb Middle Index fellow, and I brace with the pinky because I saw that somewhere else...now trying to break that habit (sigh)
 
I learned the pinky brace when I started to play 5-string banjo, because.. well, that's what everybody else did!

I still do it, on occasion, depending on the song.

But as I said, everything else is variable. Sometimes I alternate the melody notes between thumb and forefinger, sometimes just the forefinger, and other times I just seem to randomly use a finder for melody and/or chord.

Whatever it is that I do, if you can recognize what I'm trying to play, it is intentional. If you can't recognize it, it was a mis-strum.

.....-Kurt
 
Thumb middle index ring, depending on how much they hurt at the time. I couldn't use my index finger for a few months, but it's doing better now with a lot of anti-arthritis nutritional supplements. I will also pinch strings with thumb and index and middle fingers primarily.
 
yeah I'm a thumb, index and middle kinda guy. No bracing, just have my hand floating above strings. The bracing thing seems to take my hand too low. Broke my thumb a while ago and started just using index and middle so now I'm retraining my thumb. Tried using four fingers but it seems too cramped. I've noticed Aldrine and some others just using their thumb (with great speed)but when you need to say pinch the third and fourth string and the first it seems to be too much to switch from just thumb to then using three. I'll leave that to the pro's.
 
I'm in the "other" category. Only been playing ukulele for a few months, so I'm still working on what style is best for me. I've been a finger-picker on guitar for most of my life, classical style, and have transferred that over to how I play banjo (sort of a modified clawhammer), but have found that the techniques I've used on guitar and banjo don't transfer to uke very well, at least not for me. So I'm doing some finger-picking and some strumming. Having a great time working it out in the meantime. Have worked out a pretty acceptable version of the Beatles' "Mother Nature's Son" combining strumming, finger-picking, and thumb. Will try to post a YouTube video when I have it a little more polished.
 
I use thumb, index and middle same as my guitar fingerpicking. Started as a guitarist with influences from John Fahey, Mississippi John Hurt and Merle Travis. Has transferred to the ukulele nicely.
 
I find it very interesting how varied the methods are. My instinct would have been to assume that most people played four-fingered, but that's clearly not the case, and my personal method appears to be in a minority, right down there with the one-finger technique. The great thing is that all the different methods have their benefits and their limitations. Someone earlier labelled "one finger" as "limited," but I can see how it might work well with, say, Irish traditional music, in which harmonies are often minimal or nonexistent. The one-finger-per-string method is useful when you want to weave intricate melody and harmony lines together; the two- and three-finger methods give you a distinction between the melody line and the bass (or a reasonable approximations thereof). The four-fingers-on-various-strings method offers both intricacy and flexibility. It's probably telling that no one uses five fingers; five fingers on four strings might be a bit messy. I'm not sure it's fair to claim that any method is better or more sophisticated than any other. Some of the videos in the "two fingers" thread demonstrate that two-fingered play can be incredibly effective.
 
I voted "four fingers, one on each string" since that's what I try to do, but to be honest I probably should have gone with four fingers shifting amongst the strings since I can't seem to be very consistent!
 
I use thumb, index and middle (and sometime brace with little one).
 
I'm still trying to find the right feel for me, and so far I've tried two, three, and four fingers - each with and without using the pinky to brace.

So far I find that three fingers seems to feel most natural to me when hitting the strings. At first I was using my pinky to support my hand and keep it in proper position (both in terms of location along the strings and height above them), but found that it started hurting after only a few minutes. So, our of necessity I've gone to the three-fingers, hover method, and while very awkward at first, it's finally starting to feel natural. But then this is after practicing at least 30 minutes a day (not continuous minutes), every day, over about a month. That's a long time of practice before I'm even beginning to see payoff. But at least it was fun practice!

So, put me down as a hovering three finger guy.
 
It totally depends on the song for me. For Bachs Cello Prelude 1, which is pretty quick, I just use my thumb. For Bohemian Rhapsodies picking parts, I use multiple fingers, excluding thumb. And for Sakura Sakura I use both thumb and index finger. It really depends on the song for me, but this may just be because I'm still a beginner, somewhat.
 
When I finger pick, I use thumb, index, middle, and ring. That's what I use on guitar, too.
 
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