Picking

PunkStar · Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2003 9:28 pm Post subject: Picking

G'day:

The first tutorial in this new section. I feel so honored to be able to do this. And my thanks to the guys who taught me this stuff. But that's enough from me. Let's get on with the learning.

But before I start. Feel free to correct me if I say anything wrong or stupid.

Today I would like to talk about one of the most basic elements of guitar playing, how you play your strings. I'm gonna assume you have a strung guitar with you. If not, go get one now. Don't worry, you won't miss anything. I'll just be sitting here tuning up.

Got a guitar? Awesome. I'm gonna assume you're in normal tuning. EADGBe.

The first guitar teacher taught me classical guitar. I don't use much of it now, but the thing I got mainly out of it was the fingerpicking. I love a bit of fingerpicking. It means if I drop a pick during a performance, I can still go on without looking like too much of an idiot. I'm going to try and teach you about using a pick and some fingerpicking methods. So first, the fingerpicking:

I'm a strange guitarist. I play like a bassist. If I'm playing notes, I like to use their main method. What they do is this. 1. Take your index finger (you can use any finger but this example, just do what I do) and put it on top your highest sounding string. 2. Now, drag your finger up to the string above it, making sure you get the string to sound. So you start on one string, play it by dragging your finger up onto the string above it, and there you go. By doing this, you have just used a classical guitar method called reststroke. Called that because your finger rests on the string above after you have "stroked" the below string.

(you can do this with any other string as well of course)

If I can find a video clip off it, I'll post up a link to it. If I didn't make any sense, send me an email and I'll try to explain it better in an amimated gif or something.

That's basically how to do that little trick. That what bassists mainly do. Easy huh, now how many people want to play bass. Come on, be honest. Smile

Another little fingerpicking trick is this. 1. Put your finger under the string, making sure you touch it. 2. Now pull your up in the direction of your plam, making sure you fit the string with your finger of course.

This is called freestroke. Because your finger is free after the "stroke".

The main difference between using these techniques is that the first one will deaden the sound of the string you stop on. So you couldn't use the first one if you are playing two notes together. Just something to keep in mind. Generally, if you need to play more than one string at a time. Then your should free stroke.
It's a pain to change styles in the middle of songs I reckon.

But often when people say to fingerpick. They usually mean this. You usually do this with chords. I'm gonna use the c major in my example.

1. Put your thumb on what is the root note. So in a c major chord. You would put your finger on the A string. 2. Remember those other methods I said above, you will need the free stroke here. Put your ring finger on the high e string, your middle finger on the B string, and your index finger on the G string. 3. Now, this requires knowledge of whatever song you're doing. you have to pick the strings with those fingers to the beat of the song. And when you come to a chord change, you just have to move your thumb to the root note, you can keep your fingers where they are. Obviously, you have to change your left hand to the chord though. Two good songs to practice this on are "Down At The Cross" and "Wealth Won't Save Your Soul". Some nice, easy chords in those. You can use this trick in most finger picking songs. It just saves you having to move around your right hand so much.

The thing about all the fingerpicking methods above is that you have to find a good right hand (or left hand if that's the way you are) position. I mostly rest my thumb on my pickup at the neck and let my fingers fall where they need to. But experiement and see where you feel most comfortable. And play there.

About using the pick.

Firstly, go out and find a pick that you like the feel of. I hate the nylon and tortex picks, they feel kinda powdery to me (you may feel differently, totally up to you). And I don't like then picks because they feel really floppy and I just think like they feel like they will break when I play. I've tried metal picks, but I just don't feel comfortable with them. Like they will break my strings too easily. So I play a heavy gague plastic pick. They're nice and thick and I reckon they feel good. I like Jim Dunlop picks. They do really well for me. But picks are cheap anyway, so you can easily afford to go through a few until you find the type you like. But this is all about personal preference.

You have to find a good way to hold it. Most books will teach you to make your index finger into a hook shape. Place the wide end of the pick over the last digit of the index finger. Then place your thumb over the wide end of the pick to hold it down. I don't like that method. I just feels weird to me. But that may be because I play a plastic pick and it is slipping a bit. The only problem with them for me. Another teacher of mine taught me to hold a pick by using the same thumb position, but put your index and middle fingers together and put those in the place of the first digit on your fingertips. So you lay the pick on those two fingertips and lock it down with your thumb. I use a combination of the two, and I add a bit of my own. I curl my middle finger into the hook and put the pick on the edge. Lock it down with my thumb, and put my index finger on the side furthest from me. That way it doesn't feel like it will drop from my sweaty fingers. Smile

But there is no hard and fast rule to hold a pick. Best way is to do it how you feel comfortable. If you feel better playing with your teeth, by all means do so, just play how you are comfortable. Best advice I can give.

As for pick technique, not much really to say. Pick up guitar, pick up pick. For picking notes, just use the pick in the same way as you did your finger in freestroke. For chords, just strum the appropriate strings. Just like you see on tv.

Well, that's about all I have to say on this subject. Anyone is free to correct me by putting a post in the thread if you feel I am wrong about something. I'm happy to accept corrections. If I get a correction, I'll edit this article. So just be aware of that.

But remember that playing the guitar is about having fun. It's cool if you can't play a single chord. As long as you have fun that's all that matters.

Please tune in next time for another dose of wasted time.

sharring · Tiger Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Posts: 812 Location: Texas

Punkstar...you have seemed to figure out something very important. The best way to learn something is to teach it. I enjoy reading your posts.

PunkStar · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 4:39 pm Post subject:

You're exactly right. Your techinque always gets better when you (try to) teach it. I guess because you have to stop, think, and break down exactly what you're doing. Then try to explain it in a way people can understand.

By the way, I must congratulate you. You're probably the first person to understand whatever I happen to be going on about. Congrats man! I just hope my English teacher manages that incredible feat. Laughing