Finger Picking
Finger Picking or finger-style is a technique that uses the right-hand fingers to pluck the strings instead of using a pick. This offers a different tone than using a pick, avoiding many of the transients and generally delivering a darker tone. It is also useful to more easily arpeggiate chords as well as playing intervals that do not use adjacent strings.
Contents
Notation
Finger-picked guitar notation often includes markings above/below the tab/sheet music indicating which finger on the right hand to use. These take the same form as left-hand fingering for fretting:
| t | thumb |
|---|---|
| i | index |
| m | middle |
| r | ring |
| p | pinky |
Where liner notes do not specify whether the markings pertain to left-hand fretting vs. right-hand finger-picking, it is usually obvious what they refer to. For example, if a marking is given over an open string, then it clearly refers to finger-picking, as your left-hand doesn't fret an open string. If still ambiguous, actually trying to play it should reveal what's going on - the markings may make a seemingly simple left-hand fretting difficult to impossible...because the markings actually refer to the right-hand.
Generally, your right-hand fingers will align sequentially with the string as in the following examples:
E--r--r--r--p--p-- B--m--m--m--r--r-- G--i--i--i--m--m-- D--------t--i--i-- A-----t--------t-- E--t--------t-----
Technique
Flatten your right-hand fingers and palm so that you can lay them on all the strings. Good finger-picking position typically angles your right hand so your fingers cross the strings at a 45 degree angle, so they form a line from your right shoulder (actually a bit to the space right of your right shoulder) towards your left thigh. This should be a comfortable position - moreso than angling your finger perpendicular or parallel with the strings.
Fingers
Now curl your fingers so the tips are touching the strings, giving each finger its own string as indicated in the notation section above. You want to use the same parts of your right-hand fingers as you would use your left-hand to fret. The only difference is that when fretting, your finger tips are directly over the strings and will push them straight down onto the frets. The right-hand finger-tips should actually be below (or under) the strings, as though you are preparing to use an upstroke to sound each string. Each finger should be resting against its assigned string, without making any contact with an adjacent string.
The actual plucking motion is very similar to how you would pull a trigger. Your wrist and elbow should not move. All the motion should come from the individual fingers. This causes the finger to push through the string at a 45 degree angle - it should slide off the fleshy part of your fingertip near the side of your finger nail closest to your face. So it's not like you are "scratching" the string with the very tip of your finger, but allowing it to slide off the side of your fingertip. The plucking motion for each finger should only pluck its assigned string, not multiple, which should be quite natural due to the 45 degree angle of your wrist and the plucking motion.
When arpeggiating chords, you cannot place the finger at rest against the string after it plays its assigned string - the note should sustain. Then you have to hover the finger over the string until it is ready to pluck it again.
Thumb
The thumb operates a bit differently. Rather than rest under/below its assigned string, it should rest above it. Its plucking motion is similar to a downstroke. Most of the thumb should remain rigid, with the majority of the motion coming from the joint nearest the wrist; however, the wrist itself should not move. The movement should carry the thumb almost under the index finger.
Arpeggiating Chords
Finger-picking is commonly used to arpeggiate chords. Since each finger has its own string, it is simpler and potentially quicker to use this technique rather than trying to use a pick for each string. The left-hand can finger and hold the entire chord, while the right-hand plays one string at a time.
Em C E-|----------0---------|----------0---------| B-|-------0-----0------|-------1-----1------| G-|.---0-----------0--.|.---0-----------0--.| D-|.------------------.|.------------------.| A-|--------------------|-3------------------| E-|-0------------------|--------------------| RH: t i m r m i t i m r i m
Em C E-|-------------0------|-------------0------| B-|----------0---------|----------1---------| G-|.------0-----------.|.------0-----------.| D-|.---2--------------.|.---2--------------.| A-|--------------------|-3------------------| E-|-0------------------|--------------------| RH: t i m r p t i m r p
Em C E-|-0------------------|-0------------------| B-|----0-----0---------|----1-----1---------| G-|.------0-----0-----.|.------0-----0-----.| D-|.------------------.|.------------------.| A-|--------------------|----------------3---| E-|----------------0---|--------------------| RH: r m i m i t r m i m i t
Playing Chords
A nice feature of finger picking is the ability to play chords that do not use all adjacent strings. When using a pick, you'd have to mute that string to strum the chord without having a non-chord tone ring out. This adds difficulty to fingering the chord as well as adding the noisy, percussive mute, which is often unwanted.
B11 E13 Cm6 E-------9----5-- B--5----9----4-- G--6----7------- D--7---------5-- A-------7----3-- E--7------------ use t, i, m, r for each chord
Bass/Strum
Finger-picking can also make bass/strum patterns easier.
E-----0-----0--|-----0-----0-- B-----0-----0--|-----1-----1-- G-----0-----0--|-----0-----0-- D--------------|-------------- A--------------|--3-----3----- E--0-----0-----|--------------
Playing Single Strings
For playing a single string quickly, alternating between thumb and index finger can act like the down and upstrokes of alternate picking. For increased speed, you can incorporate the middle and ring fingers as well, although it's important to practice keeping a consistent rhythm between all fingers before trying to use too much speed.
--0--0--0--0--0-0-0-0-- t i t i t i m r