Fingerstyle uses the fingers on your right hand to pluck the strings of your instrument. The point of contact on your fingers can either be your fingertips or fingernails. On the guitar, the thumb is usually assigned to the fourth, fifth, and sixth strings, while your index, middle, and ring fingers are assigned to either the fourth, third, and second strings or the third, second, and first strings. As you might have already noticed, the main difference between flatpicking and fingerstyle lies in the technique.
Flatpicking requires you to use your fingers to hold a pick, while fingerstyle requires the use of your fingers as individual picks. Since fingerstyle gives you the ability to have four picks, some techniques that can be done with fingerstyle are impossible or very difficult to do with flatpicking. For example, chord-melody combining the chords and a melody on the guitar arrangements of songs can be easily accomplished with fingerstyle but very difficult to do with flatpicking.
Some chord-melody arrangements require you to play a walking-bass line on the sixth and fifth strings while playing the melody note on the third, second, and first strings. If you only use flatpicking, it is impossible to play a bass line that has a different rhythm from the melody line. Similarly, many folk songs can only be played using fingerstyle, as they often require two different notes on non-adjacent strings to be played at the same time. Adding percussive elements such as slaps and slap-strums—commonly used by artists like Sungha Jung, Tommy Emmanuel, and Andy Mckee—is also a lot easier using fingerstyle.
On the other hand, flatpicking allows you to pull off sweep picking techniques more easily. However, many guitarists can play extremely fast with their fingers, so it may be a matter of putting in more practice to build up your speed. The other major difference in the two styles of playing lies in the tone produced. Using a pick gives you a brighter and more consistent tone than using your fingers, because the pick is made of the same material throughout, while plucking strings with different parts of your fingers produces different sounds.
However, if you use your fingers, your down strums will sound different from your up strums, because your down strums strikes your fingernails, while up strums gets the flesh of your fingertips. In fact, having different sounds allows for a much wider range of dynamic expression. Alternatively, you can pull the strings back and snap them against the fretboard for maximum volume and punch. In short, flatpicking generally has a more consistent tone, but if you spend enough time mastering the different possible sounds of fingerstyle, fingerstyle can open up a wider range of dynamic expression.
There are ways to combine both styles of playing for maximum speed, consistency, dynamics, and complexity. The first method requires you to learn how to manipulate the pick in your hands.
I personally like to keep my pick in between the first and last joints of my middle finger. Alternatively, you can place your pick between your fingers. It may seem difficult to move your pick from the playing position to the holding position initially, but with time, this will become second nature. Thanks for sharing! I totally agree that guitar picks are the most overlooked element to guitar. I am a guitar teacher and I see so much improvement from my students simply by helping their guitar picking technique.
Hey there, really informative post about choosing the best guitar picks. I have been using the same plectrum for years however I have now decided to try as many different picks as possible to see if my first choice yellow Tortex will still remain my favorite.
Thanks for the useful information. Thin picks are anything up to approx 0. Medium picks are between 0. Thick or heavy guitar picks are anything from approx 0. Get the eBook. Get the print book. Sound Playing the guitar with a pick produces a bright, punchy sound as opposed to playing the strings with the flesh of the fingers.
Thickness A heavier pick will generally produce a darker sound than a lighter pick. Playing styles Thin guitar picks allow a guitar player to strum hard without breaking the strings or playing too loud. Music styles Of course the kind of music you want to play is also a factor. About the Author Daniel Coffeng is an honors graduate from the Guitar Institute of Technology and is a Los Angeles, CA based performing guitarist, freelance studio musician and music educator specializing in modern contemporary guitar.
Share this page with your friends Iron Age November 1, at pm - Reply. Justin October 28, at am - Reply. I also refer my new students to this webpage. I think it is really helpful. Thank you so much! The poor, lowly, and often forgotten guitar plectrum. Better known as a pick, we strongly recommend you take time to experiment with a large selection of them!
When asking a new guitarist about playing many things will probably come to mind before the guitar pick will. This is unfortunate because picks vary so widely that finding a style, thickness, and material that feels comfortable in your hand can make learning so much easier. It will also often vary depending on the type of music they are playing. Ultimately, the pick you play should be an individual choice based simply on what works for you.
Before choosing a guitar pick, you need to choose to use one in the first place! There is really not a right way to play the guitar. Both using your fingers to strum or using a pick is appropriate.
As with many things in this guide, it mostly comes down to preference. Many beginners find that it is easier to do many things with a pick, though. Most musicians who play in bands will also prefer to use a pick as it makes achieving volume easier and it can save your fingers from tiredness.
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