Playing tabs - fretting finger order?

Is there a rule or rule of thumb about what fretting fingers play what when moving up and down the neck while playing tabs? (when not just making chord shapes) Do you just do whatever feels right or is there some kind of methodology? I'd like to learn more fingerpicking/tabs and I sometimes feel like I'm making it even harder than it should be.

One rule of thumb (or rule of fingers?) is to use 1 finger/fret when possible. Then when moving up the fretboard, reposition your hand and start a new 1 finger/fret grip.
For example, in "first position" play:
1st fret, index finger
2nd fret, middle finger
3rd fret, ring finger
4th fret, pinky.
From this position you can stretch and reach the 5th fret with the pinky.

To go to higher frets, reposition the hand to finger, for example,
5th fret index
6th fret middle
7th fret ring
8th fret pinky

And so forth up the fretboard. The purpose is to avoid moving your entire hand around all the time.

mikelz777 said:

Is there a rule or rule of thumb about what fretting fingers play what when moving up and down the neck while playing tabs? (when not just making chord shapes) Do you just do whatever feels right or is there some kind of methodology? I'd like to learn more fingerpicking/tabs and I sometimes feel like I'm making it even harder than it should be.

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Gray52's advice is good; it's also what I learned.
Another possible issue is how your tab is generated. Some tabs are just hard to play because of the note/string selections.
Also, if you can rehearse the song, you can work out fingerings that work ahead of time.

There is no single rule, and the rules can be quite flexible (unfortunately). I can think of several rules for now,

Rule 1: when possible, try to put your fingers where you don't need to reposition within a bar. For example, in one bar the lowest note is C5, the highest note is F5, you should put your index finger on 3rd fret 1st string, then you can cover the range without needing to reposition the fingers.
I learned this rule from piano, though I don't know how to play piano.

Rule 2: when possible, keep the transition between notes/chords as minimum as possible. For example, if there is transition from Dm(0222) to G(2320), or G to DM, though usually we use 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers for G, under such situation, using 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers for G will be more convenient.

Rule 3: using pinky finger wisely can make fingering easier. The Dm and G transition example in rule 2 is good case to use pinky, after I realize it, I found using pinky wisely is really useful.

Just wanted to jump in because you mention where to put your fingers for tab AND CHORDS and say that with both single notes and chords, finger placement should be looked at with efficiency in mind. A good example is an open C chord that everyone is told to use their ring finger on. This makes sense if you’re moving to single notes in that area or more open chords, but if you’re going to play a D or E note on the 5th or 7th fret of the A string, it makes more sense to fret the chord with your index finger.

It definitely leads to some weird fingerings for chords, but it’s worth it for smoothness and efficiency. ;-)

Economy of motion and thinking ahead.