Fingerstyle guitar

Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectrum, commonly called a "pick"). The term "fingerstyle" is something of a misnomer, since it is present in several different genres and styles of music—but mostly, because it involves a completely different technique, not just a "style" of playing, especially for the guitarist's picking/plucking hand. The term is often used synonymously with fingerpicking except in classical guitar circles, although fingerpicking can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues and country guitar playing in the US. The terms "fingerstyle" and "fingerpicking" are also applied to similar string instruments such as the banjo.

This article is about the guitar style. For the Chet Atkins album, see Finger Style Guitar.

Music arranged for fingerstyle playing can include chords, arpeggios (the notes of a chord played one after the other, as opposed to simultaneously) and other elements such as artificial harmonics, hammering on and pulling off notes with the fretting hand, using the body of the guitar percussively (by tapping rhythms on the body), and many other techniques. Often, the guitarist will play the melody notes, interspersed with the melody's accompanying chords and the deep bassline (or bass notes) simultaneously. Some fingerpicking guitarists also intersperse percussive tapping along with the melody, chords and bassline. Fingerstyle is a standard technique on the classical or nylon string guitar, but is considered more of a specialized technique on steel string guitars. Fingerpicking is less common on electric guitar. The timbre of fingerpicked notes is described as "result[ing] in a more piano-like attack,"^[1] and less like pizzicato.

Players do not have to carry a plectrum, but fingernails may have to be maintained at the right length and in good condition if the player has a preference to use fingernails over their skin.

It is possible to play multiple non-adjacent strings at exactly the same time. This enables the guitarist to play a very low bass note and a high treble note at the same time. This enables the guitarist to play double stops, such as an octave, a fifth, a sixth, or other intervals that suit the harmony.

[3]

It is more suitable for playing , with separate, independent musical lines, or separate melody, harmony and bass parts than using a plectrum, and therefore more suitable to unaccompanied solo playing, or to very small ensembles, like duos in which a guitarist accompanies a singer. Fingerstyle players have up to four (or five) surfaces (fingernails or picks) striking the strings and/or other parts of the guitar independently.

polyphonically

It is easy to play ; but the techniques for tremolo (rapid repetition of a note) and melody playing are more complex than with plectrum playing.

arpeggios

It is possible to play chords without any , because up to five strings can be plucked simultaneously.

arpeggiation

There is less need for fretting hand damping (muting) in playing chords, since only the strings that are required can be plucked.

A greater variation in strokes is possible, allowing greater expressiveness in and dynamics.

timbre

A wide variety of strums and are possible.

rasgueados

Less energy is generally imparted to strings than with plectrum playing, leading to lower volume when playing acoustically.

Playing on heavier gauge strings can damage nails: fingerstyle is more suited to nylon strings or lighter gauge steel strings (but this does not apply to fingerpicks, or when the flesh of the fingers is used rather than the nail, as is common with the .)

lute

i–m–i–m: Basic melody line on the treble strings. Has the appearance of "walking along the strings".

a–m–i–a–m–i: Tremolo pattern with a triplet feel (i.e. the same note is repeated three times)

p–a–m–i–p–a–m–i: Another tremolo pattern.

p–i–p–i or p–m–p–m: A way of playing a melody line on the lower strings.

North American tradition[edit]

Country blues[edit]

Fingerpicking (also called thumb picking, alternating bass, or pattern picking) is both a playing style and a genre of music. It falls under the "fingerstyle" heading because it is plucked by the fingers, but it is generally used to play a specific type of folk, country-jazz and/or blues music. In this technique, the thumb maintains a steady rhythm, usually playing "ostinato bass" or "alternating bass" patterns on the lower three strings, while the index, or index and middle fingers pick out melody and fill-in notes on the high strings. The style originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as southern blues guitarists tried to imitate the popular ragtime piano music of the day, with the guitarist's thumb functioning as the pianist's left hand, and the other fingers functioning as the right hand. The first recorded examples were by players such as Blind Blake, Big Bill Broonzy, Skip James, Blind Willie McTell, Memphis Minnie and Mississippi John Hurt.^[8] Some early blues players such as Blind Willie Johnson and Tampa Red added slide guitar techniques.

with the guitar in the normal position, using a slide called a bottleneck on one of the fingers of the left hand; this is known as bottleneck guitar;

with the guitar held horizontally, with the belly uppermost and the bass strings toward the player, and using a slide called a steel held in the left hand; this is known as .

lap steel guitar

Electric guitar[edit]

Fingerstyle jazz guitar[edit]

The unaccompanied guitar in jazz is often played in chord-melody style, where the guitarist plays a series of chords with the melody line on top. Fingerstyle, plectrum, or hybrid picking are equally suited to this style. Some players alternate between fingerstyle and plectrum playing, "palming" the plectrum when it is not in use. Early blues and ragtime guitarists often used fingerstyle. True fingerstyle jazz guitar dates back to early swing era acoustic players like Eddie Lang (1902–1933) Lonnie Johnson (1899–1970) and Carl Kress (1907–1965), Dick McDonough (1904–1938) and the Argentinian Oscar Alemán (1909–1980). Django Reinhardt (1910–1953) used a classical/flamenco technique on unaccompanied pieces such as his composition Tears.^[33]

Fingerstyle jazz on the electric guitar was pioneered by George van Eps (1913–1998) who was respected for his polyphonic approach, sometimes using a seven string guitar. Wes Montgomery (1925–1968) was known for using the fleshy part of his thumb to provide the bass line while strumming chordal or melodic motives with his fingers. This style, while unorthodox, was widely regarded as an innovative method for enhancing the warm tone associated with jazz guitar. Montgomery's influence extends to modern polyphonic jazz improvisational methods. Joe Pass (1929–1994) switched to fingerstyle mid career, making the Virtuoso series of albums. Little known to the general public Ted Greene (1946–2005) was admired by fellow musicians for his harmonic skills.^[34] Lenny Breau (1941–1984) went one better than van Eps by playing virtuosic fingerstyle on an eight string guitar. Tommy Crook replaced the lower two strings on his Gibson switchmaster with bass strings, allowing him to create the impression of playing bass and guitar simultaneously. Chet Atkins (1924–2001) sometimes applied his formidable right-hand technique to jazz standards, with Duck Baker (b. 1949), Richard Smith (b. 1971), Woody Mann and Tommy Emmanuel (b. 1955), among others, following in his footsteps. They use the fingerpicking technique of Merle Travis and others to play wide variety of material including jazz. This style is distinguished by having a steadier and "busier" (several beats to the bar) bass line than the chord melody approach of Montgomery and Pass making it suited to up-tempo material.

Fingerstyle has always been predominant in Latin American guitar playing, which Laurindo Almeida (1917–1995) and Charlie Byrd (1925–1999) brought to a wider audience in the 1950s. Fingerstyle jazz guitar has several proponents: the pianistic Jeff Linsky (b. 1952), freely improvises polyphonically while employing a classical guitar technique.^[35] Earl Klugh (b. 1953) and Tuck Andress have also performed fingerstyle jazz on the solo guitar. Briton Martin Taylor (b. 1956), a former Stephane Grappelli sideman, switched to fingerstyle on relaunching his career as a soloist. His predecessor in Grappelli's band, John Etheridge (b. 1948) is also an occasional fingerstyle player.

Electric blues and rock[edit]

The solid-body electric guitar is rarely played fingerstyle, although it presents no major technical challenges. Slide guitarists often employ fingerstyle, which applies equally to the electric guitar, for instance Duane Allman and Ry Cooder. Blues guitarists have long used fingerstyle: some exponents include Jorma Kaukonen, Hubert Sumlin, Albert King, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Derek Trucks, John Mayer, Joe Bonamassa, Sandor Enyedi and Buckethead. Exponents of fingerstyle rock guitar include: Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck (formerly a pick player), Stephen Malkmus, Bruce Cockburn (exclusively), Robby Krieger, Lindsey Buckingham, Mike Oldfield, Patrick Simmons, Elliott Smith, Wilko Johnson, J.J. Cale, Robbie Robertson, Hillel Slovak, St. Vincent, Yvette Young, Kurt Vile, David Longstreth, Richie Kotzen (formerly a pick player), Greg Koch, Guy King, Courtney Barnett, Jared James Nichols.^[36]

Pearson, Wyn (2008). . Mel Bay Publications Inc. ISBN 978-0-7866-7607-1. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07.