Guitar How-To

How To Start Guitar Fingerpicking

Obviously, fingerpicking means letting go of your plectrum and using your fingers to pluck and strum the guitar strings. When you first try fingerpicking you will see how much of a security blanket your pick is. It feels very strange to begin trying to move your fingers in coordination to produce a tune containing a bass line, melody and accompaniment.

If you are planning on specializing in a particular genre, then I would advise you to start at YouTube by looking at classical, folk, flamenco or acoustic blues videos. If you just want to experiment with playing your guitar using fingerpicking, here’s a way to start out.

One very important aspect of fingerpicking is to begin with resting your fingers on the strings you are about to play. It is logical to think that picking the guitar strings begins with moving the hand to the guitar and picking a note with a finger, then using another finger to pick another note. The truth is it is far more economical in terms of energy if you rest your thumb on the sixth or fifth string, and the first, second and third fingers on the third, second and first strings, respectively.

Now, try playing an arpeggio with the thumb and fingers. Once you get the hang of it you should find that it is much easier than the hunt and peck method of guitar fingerpicking.

Here is a video to introduce you to fingerpicking . . .