Fingerstyle Practice

That's like Django would have played it because he only had the thumb and forefinger on his rt. hand, legend says...
 
I use PIM, but I agree with Aaron Keim that a thumb pick puts your thumb in a more natural position, so I have added that. A problem with most thumb picks is that they are too stiff and they make the thumb notes louder than the other notes. I have gone to a Fred Kelly Speedpick, which is smaller, less stiff and doesn't make the thumb notes so loud.

And from banjo I learned to do fast single note runs with alternating thumb and index finger - I have carried that over to uke.

YMMV
 
That's like Django would have played it because he only had the thumb and forefinger on his rt. hand, legend says...
It was his left hand that was damaged in the fire.

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On chord melodies I use mostly my thumb. When I studied guitar I used PIMA and still do, however on ukulele I learned from the beginning to use PPIM. For some reason it just feels more natural to do it that way so I stick to PPIM on ukulele.
 
Thumb and index finger works for me on ukulele. Most melody notes with thumb, but for double stops, drone notes, and some A string notes, I use index finger
 
This is interesting. I'm a brand-new ukulele player, coming from many years of (classical) double bass and a few years of clawhammer banjo. I started with Aaron Keim's fingerstyle book, which teaches PIM, but I've also been working on some books and exercises by Rob MacKillop and Samantha Muir, who use PIMA. Maybe this is foolish, but I'm trying to learn both. Aaron's arrangements work so nicely with his system that it's best to just stick with it. There is one exercise in Aaron's Ukulele Handbook that works great in PIMA, too, though. However, for the other exercises, I'm trying to use all 4 fingers.

Thus far, I haven't found it too confusing largely because I can sort of view the AK system as just a subset of the other one - I don't feel like I have to break PIMA rules or guidelines to play his arrangements with his system. However, I think I'd have a harder time playing the MacKillop or Muir exercises unless I used all 4 fingers. I'm hoping this strategy doesn't cause problems in the future, but so far I feel I am progressing on all fronts.
 
Thus far, I haven't found it too confusing largely because I can sort of view the AK system as just a subset of the other one - I don't feel like I have to break PIMA rules or guidelines to play his arrangements with his system. However, I think I'd have a harder time playing the MacKillop or Muir exercises unless I used all 4 fingers. I'm hoping this strategy doesn't cause problems in the future, but so far I feel I am progressing on all fronts.

I actually think you're doing it the right way. Whether we're talking about learning new languages, or finger picking systerms, or whatever...I have experienced that the more you learn the easier it gets. The different systems don't hamstring each other. After you become adept at a few systems, the walls of those systems evaporate and then it is just you and fingers that can do whatever you want. It is the same with scales. At first you are stuck inside the shape of the scale. Then you learn new scales and learn new shapes. Eventually the shapes fade away and all that remains is a fretboard that you can navigate. So keep on keeping on
 
Interesting. I try to stick to PIMA, but occasionaly just use my thumb when the picking tends to be mostly sequential. I'll have to try this out.

Help this newbie out - What is "PIMA?"
 
I’ve just learned this. It’s a picking system borrowed from classical guitar. PIMA is an acronym for the Spanish words for thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers. The system involves more than just using 4 fingers but that’s one of the important things differentiating it from what Aaron Keim teaches- he generally assigns thumb to the 3rd and 4th string and index and middle to 2nd and 1st, respectively. With PIMA, various fingers can be used on other strings, so there are a lot of possibilities, but that makes determining what finger to use for any given note a lot more complicated.

A lot of Aaron’s material works so neatly with his system there’s no need to do anything more complex- it makes reading the tabs a total breeze and it sounds great.
 
I actually think you're doing it the right way. Whether we're talking about learning new languages, or finger picking systerms, or whatever...I have experienced that the more you learn the easier it gets. The different systems don't hamstring each other. After you become adept at a few systems, the walls of those systems evaporate and then it is just you and fingers that can do whatever you want. It is the same with scales. At first you are stuck inside the shape of the scale. Then you learn new scales and learn new shapes. Eventually the shapes fade away and all that remains is a fretboard that you can navigate. So keep on keeping on

I agree. I generally use the thumb for bass notes, sometimes with a thumbpick, sometimes without. PIM or PIMA for patterns, and anything goes for chord melody. I even use my pinky at times (on guitar, not so much on uke). Once you know the fretboard, its a matter of whatever finger is closest to the string with the note you're targeting. Put another way, the more you know, the less you have to think.
 
I use the thumb to play the G & C (D & G baritone) and use the index for the E string and middle finger for the A string. May have been from playing three finger banjo and I just carried that over. I tried using 4 fingers with one for each string, but don't find it as comfortable. I think use whatever you feel comfortable with.
 
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