Fingerpicking

Get playing fingerstyle with TG’s easy acoustic guitar lesson

“Okay, I’m going to take a guess that fingerpicking just means you use your fingers to pick the strings. That must be right! Right?”

You’re absolutely correct, it really is that simple. Today we’ll be showing you how to use your fingers instead of a pick (aka plectrum) to pluck the guitar’s strings. The use of a fingerpicking technique is preferred by many acoustic players, particularly in folk and blues styles, and classical guitarists use the technique almost exclusively. That said, greats like Mark Knopfler, Lindsey Buckingham, Jeff Beck and John Mayer have all played fingerstyle on electric guitar so don’t be afraid to experiment .

“Great, I like to play acoustic and electric. How do I get to grips with it?

Start with some easy open chords that you can comfortably play. C, D, Am and G are good examples but, really, the choice is yours - any chord will do. To begin with your goal is to pick the strings one at a time. Simply hold down your chord and use your thumb and first, second and third fingers to pick the strings one after the other. The little finger is rarely used.

“Crikey, it’s a right spaghetti bolognese of fingers, thumbs and strings. Which finger should go on which string?”

Don’t worry too much about that – there is a handy and simple approach that takes away some of the guesswork. Use your thumb to pick the three bass strings, and use your first, second and third fingers for the third, second and first strings respectively. If you’ve got it right you should feel comfortable when you rest your fingers on the strings. The ‘All Fingers And Thumbs’ box on the right should help, too.

“Okay, I’ve got my fingers hitting the right strings. What next?”

Take a look at our first tab exercise below where we’re fingerpicking the notes of an open D chord. With four notes to play, this is a perfect example of how to use your thumb and three fingers. Naturally, you should play slowly at first - but this short piece of music should be fairly easy.

“This is quite easy, actually. How can I progress and sound more professional?”

Our second tab example is a small step up in difficulty and, with an open C chord, uses an ‘alternating bass line’ for a more sophisticated sound. That just means there are two bass notes instead of one and you’ll ‘alternate’ between them as you play through the tab. Again, take it slowly and don’t worry if it takes you a while to get the hang of it.