Finger picking good

[euler]

Hey guy, do you know any exercises that can enhance my plucking abilities?
And by the way, how many fingers do you use when plucking?


Euler

[cyberfret]

That is a huge subject :) But here are a couple of basics. You will use your right hand thumb, 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers. You will not use your 4th other than a Flamenco strum.

Here is a basic 4/4 pattern. The numbers are the right hand fingers you will use and not the frets you should play. T=thumb, 1=first finger...etc. Your thumb will play the lowest note that you would normally strum. So this will not always be the 6th string like indicated below. It could be the 5th or 4th.



E:----------3---------3------
B:--------2---------2--------
G:------1---------1----------
D:---------------------------
A:---------------------------
E:---T---------T-------------

Here is another common 4/4 pattern

E:-----------3-------------
B:-------2-------2---------
G:-----1---1---1---1-------
D:-------------------------
A:-------------------------
E:---T---------------------


Here is a common 3/4 pattern

E:----------3--------
B:--------2----2-----
G:------1--------1---
D:-------------------
A:-------------------
E:---T---------------

Here are the most common right hand string combinations used in fingerstyle. Each of your right fingers will be assigned to pluck the notes on a particular string.

E:---3---3--3--|-----------
B:---2---2--2--|--3---3----
G:---1---1--1--|--2---2----
D:----------T--|--1---1----
A:-------T-----|------T----
E:---T---------|--T--------


Here are some links to check out.

http://www.acousticfingerstyle.com/

http://olms-music.com/main.htm


--Shawn