Two finger Picking style?

Icelander53

Icelander53

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I've been watching "Danielle Ate the Sandwich" videos on Youtube and she seems to only use two fingers for picking songs. Even on Guitar. What's up with that? I only wish I could play at her level. I'm starting out very late to music at 61 and frankly it takes me a lot longer to progress at this age. I'd like to do some fingerpicking but it's a struggle to put it lightly. Using two fingers would simplify things for me but I want to make sure that choosing it would work on some level.

And yes I know it's not the best way if you want to play intricate music or be a pro but I just want to play around the campfire.

What say you?
 
I picked with just two fingers on both guitar and ukulele for years. I wasn't going for a specific pattern, I was just picking out notes that sounded nice to me. When I eventually wanted to learn more traditional picking patterns, I was glad that I'd spent time getting my thumb and my pointer in shape before incorporating another finger.

Start by doing what comes naturally---or by doing whatever another performer is doing that makes sense to you----then if you ever want to learn a specific technique, you'll have a head start.
 
TheOnlyUkeThatMatters said:
I picked with just two fingers on both guitar and ukulele for years. I wasn't going for a specific pattern, I was just picking out notes that sounded nice to me. When I eventually wanted to learn more traditional picking patterns, I was glad that I'd spent time getting my thumb and my pointer in shape before incorporating another finger.

Start by doing what comes naturally---or by doing whatever another performer is doing that makes sense to you----then if you ever want to learn a specific technique, you'll have a head start.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting perspective. I've heard mostly the opposite. If you start off with one method then gaining another becomes more difficult.
 
Yes Kimo Hussey has some excellent videos where he explains his "pinching" technique.

I used it on my Hallelujah video based on his video... it allows you to slow down and really bring out the melody yet have a simple and effective harmony and base. (check it out on my youtube channel via the link in my sig)
 
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I was a 3 finger picker untill I tore a nail really bad. I had no choice but to try 2 fingers, turns out I picked (no pun intended) it up pretty quickly. I now have a hard time going back to 3 fingers...go figure.
 
....ummm ,isn't Clawhammer two finger picking by any other name ? and that s** is superb....oops that s***t ...oh poo, too late ....did anyone notice ?
 
I'm not sure which recent one of Mike's you refer to Phil, but this one came out just a day ago, I think, and I just found it this morning. I like it and it would easily adapt to two finger style:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohsIHap2Nik

I'm nearly your age Icelander53, and started late too. Right on your heels. And it was also Danielle for me, that triggered a desire to develop a finger-picking pattern (which I still haven't accomplished) but I hadn't noticed that she was just using two fingers until you mentioned it. Guess I got distracted by her glasses or something. I like her style. Good luck with the chewing gum while walking deal.

PhilUSAFRet said:
A little different from the recent tutorial on Travis Picking by Ukulele Mike....thank you very much for sharing, I like that "pinching" technique.
Click to expand...
 
I tend to use the two finger Travis style picking a lot in my playing as well. I've been known to throw throw a third and a very occasional fourth finger in there when a little glissando or a grace note is required. I find you can get a pretty fluid sound with notes spaced closely together. You can't really do arpeggios with this style and some songs just don't sound right with it. It's certainly a good place to start but I'm trying to work more fingers in the mix as soon as possible.
 
Well I lost three fingers and a thumb on both hands in the big war so it's a little more difficult for me.

(just kidding)

But I'm just entering my third month of playing and I'm still just learning the chords and smoother transitions. I'm just starting now to work on the finger picking part.
 
A simple method for starting to fingerpick is to use your thumb, index, middle & ring. Thumb 4th string, index 3rd, middle 2nd & ring 1st. Play through all the chords you know (or songs) and get used to plucking all strings at the one time. This comping technique will allow you to get the feel of playing all strings at once. You need to train your hand to be in the right place initially in relation to the strings. Comping is an ideal way to start the process.
 
My ring finger always gets in the way...I always end up just using my thumb, index and middle.

Last night I was practicing tremelos and the lesson said use two fingers, I couldn't manage that, I so I just picked really fast with one. The end result sounded the same so I went with it.

I would say, just go with what's natural feeling. I never follow the rules ;) (mostly because I can't figure the darn things out hehe)
 
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