Fingerpicking Notes

Finger designations

In italics, the formal designation. Because guitar playing has such strong roots in Spain, terminology is Spanish though there are equivalents in other languages.

1. pulgar, thumb (from Latin, pollux)
2. indice, index finger
3. medio, middle finger
4. annular, ring finger
5. chico, pinky finger

Typically, the pinky is not used to pluck strings, but serves to touch the guitar body. While it's possible to perform Travis picking leaving your ring finger to join the pinky in support of the other other fingers. However, this wastes the ring finger given that you might find the better use for it of controlling the E string. You only have the thumb and three fingers, yet six strings to control (4/6). Why waste yet another finger when the pinky is enough, in contact with the pickguard or guitar body near the f-hole, to stabilize and impart precision. You can dedicate the pinky to the E string to lower the ration even further, as is done in classical guitar, however, putting the pinky down to anchor the position of your hand gives you advantages nearly for free without requiring the development of much technique.

I originally put down both the ring and pinky when I was young. When I started guitar back up recently (after a 40-year absence), I got over this. Of course, when I was young, there was no money for guitar lessons. Since that time, there has also appeared the almighty Internet.

Tablature

The tablature describing picking procedures and patterns is confusing because it must carry chords, strings, frets, sequence and time or beat. It looks like a fretboard, but vertical marks look like frets when, in the system described here, they denote beats (or time).

Here is a very basic tablature to begin fingerpicking training. It suggests that you pick all open strings (what the 0 means). The finger to use is indicated across the bottom of the tablature and, as the tablature proceeds from left to right, the string to be picked is represented by 0.

Thus, you dedicate your thumb to the large E string nearest you at the top of the guitar, and your index, middle and ring fingers to the bottom three strings, those farthest away from you): G, B and e.

The sequence is very harp-like: thumb, then index, middle and ring, then reverse, ring, middle and index, and, finally (but not shown here), the thumb again which starts you off repeating the pattern.

Picking styles

There are myriad styles of guitar fingerpicking including those of classical guitarists like formal classical, flamenco and, to some extent, bossa nova.

In North America, with the evolution of Scotch-Irish music and the substantial contributions of African influences over 200 years, there have been identified in particular:

• country blues
• American primitive
• country music
• ragtime
• Carter-family picking
• Travis picking
• clawhammer and frailing (primary banjo techniques)
• percussive
• funky
• African
• slide guitar
• slack-key guitar
• fingerstyle jazz (including Mark Knopfler)
• electric blues and rock

Travis picking

(Merle Travis, 1917-1984)

Travis picking is one of the most common styles employed by folk and folk rock guitar playing—everything from Merle Travis (himself, obviously) to the Everly Brothers, Peter, Paul and Mary, Gordon Lightfoot (think In the Early Morning Rain), much of Jim Croce and even Lindsay Buckingham accompanying Stevie Nicks singing Landslide and Kansas singing Dust in the Wind.

Travis picking is characterized by using the thumb to pick a bass line while the other fingers bring out melody and chording especially in syncopated melodies.

The most succinct tablature representation of Travis picking—and it uses only the thumb, index and middle finger, is this:

   middle  │ •        •           - │ •        •           -  │
    index  │    •           •     - │    •           •     -  │
    thumb  │ •     •     •     •  - │ •     •     •     •  -  │
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     beat    1  &  2  &  3  &  4  &   1  &  2  &  3  &  4  &

Note that:

1. The thumb alternates between base notes (i.e.: the bottom note of whatever chord is being played; this will be the E, A or D strings depending on the chord),
2. The index and middle pluck the more treble notes of the chord played on the G, B and e strings.
3. Note that, where two strings are to be plucked on the same beat, these are in essence "pinched"—always the thumb and one of the fingers.
4. Care must be taken not to pluck strings that don't contribute to the chord; typically, this is more often a problem for the thumb and determines which bass note it will pluck.

A different representation...

This is the one taught me by Mike Baelde. Notice that on every even beat, the thumb is plucking a bass string. Note also that the ring finger is doing nothing.

Let's continue this "song" by changing the chord from C to G:
// TODO: fix these next two lists.

...then to the D chord: