aja
When fingerpicking I try use all fingers and try jump from string to string, as opposed to sticking to "thumb on EAD, index on G, middle on B, ring on E, pinkie as pivot/support" - it just makes sense in my head to use all your resources(keyboard solenoids/fingers in this case).
How do you maintain consistency in volume and attack on your rather differently constructed/sized fingers? Granted, the thumb will sound a little dull compared to the others, but every now and then, like the municipality haphazardly fixes potholes closer to election time, a finger will randomly jump out at immense speed and absolutely murder a string, resulting in a sonic boom that registers 9.7 on the Richter scale. Okay maybe not that bad but you get the idea!
Is it a practice or a technique issue that I need to address here? I suppose not using the pinkie as a pivot results in less control overall.
PeteM
It is all about practice... but practice in the correct way. I would suggest that you go for lessons to a well-known fingerpicking tutor to make sure that you get into the right habits. It's much better to get it right the first time rather than having to correct things at a later stage, which is both frustrating and time-consuming.
AlanRatcliffe
Practice, practice, practice. ? Yes it's hard to get consistency. Also it's hard to accent or ease back on specific notes, but if you work at it with these things in mind, it's do-able.
Bob-Dubery
Personally I try to keep a finger assigned to each of the 3 high strings, and only double up when it's absolutely necessary.
A big problem with consistency can be the 2nd string. On some steel strings this is louder or has more emphasis than the strings either side. There are reasons for this - one being that if your saddle is compensated for the b string then this usually results in that string having a markedly steeper break angle over the saddle. You can teach yourself to adjust the volume on that string by touch - which is easier if you have just one finger assigned to it. A good tech can also reduce the overemphasis.
This used to drive me crazy. My right index finger is crooked - the souvenir of a goal keeping accident in a soccer match many years ago. I could hear a big difference between the 3rd and 2nd strings and was convinced it was to do with the crooked finger and experimented with different angles and even filing the nail on the index finger differently. Then I went to the GFSA set up workshop at Andy McGibbon's and heard him talking about how the 2nd string is often over emphasised he made a change to my saddle and bingo - volume across strings 1 to 3 evened out.
Occasional, random jumps and dips in volume should disappear with practice. It's easier if you keep specific fingers assigned to specific strings.
Keeping the thumb for strings 6 to 4 makes keeping good time and a constant rhythm MUCH easier. That may sound counter intuitive, but I remember the first lesson I had after teaching myself for some time. I played the teacher the old Dylan song "Don't Think Twice" with, as you suggest, fingers being deployed as seemed necessary and logical. The teacher worked through it with me using thumb for 6 to 4 strings and then a finger each for 3 to 1 strings. Much smoother and cleaner almost instantly. There are often good reasons for the text book techniques - even if you're not actually sure what the reason may be.
Fingerpicker
I only fingerpick these days, no plectrum and any strumming comes from the nails of the right hand, usually for a couple of beats or bars.
I don't really have any rules. Sometimes the pinkie and/or right ring finger rest on the soundboard or a string, sometime all fingers are "airborne". Don't get wrapped around the axle on this.
When I work out a tune I always try the melody line all over the place, top three strings, bottom three strings (ie melody played with the thumb), different chord positions etc. Eventually I try to get to an interesting arrangement, for me, that is.
Whenever I practice a piece, I always try it very slow, then play it faster and faster, capo all over the place until I have a feel for what the different nuances are. I then try different rhythmns, 3/4 4/4 etc, with swing without swing etc
In the beginning I went for speed a lot. Then I noticed that you could start fast then start leaving notes out, giving the illusion of speed while lowering your work rate. There is also a point when you are playing too fast, (the Law of Diminishing Returns again?).
I think that what drives me is that I can't stand to hear the same plucking pattern played through a song. I used to be there, no more. The melody has to be in there somehow.
What I do a lot of is thumb and index finger only plucking quite a bit, clean and efficient, I think Rev Gary Davis used this a lot.
The end result of all the above is that your fingers are translating what your brain is thinking, all the time getting more efficient and responsive.
I hope that this is of some use.
Keira-WitherKay
now that i been playing my 175 so much for my gigs.... i have discovered that electric guitar is much harder to be consistant ...when fingerpicking .and i exclusively use fingerpicking style......never a plectrum ......... i have found acoustics at least nyon string ones don't boom on the bass end that easily and that the strings don't sustain that long on nylon to cause problems.. but on the jazz guitar with flatwound jazz strings quite heavy gauge ........ i find one has to 'learn" ones guitar more that for acoustic.... and this i read on a jazz guitar site where they often discuss how jazz players vary their touch to how the string sustains/booms ect and on say the 175 they have boomy bass strings which need to played softer than the mid range strings ..... so basically what i'm saying is spend time on the guitar and learn which notes boom/buzz/have overtones and how you pluck that note can alter/fix that ...... it sounds complicated but it just requires listening closely and remembering what booms or projects more where .......
initially i used a limiter/compressor on my 175 cos it was hectic to maintain levels evenly ( which was no prob on the nylon string ) but removed the compressor after reading that it's a common problem on jazz guitars and one can teach oneself how to play consistantly despite the gutar behaving "badly" and yes the problem is gone but i definitely pluck the bass strings differently to rest , far lighter and i have a few notes where i have to be careful of fret wear ..and i get a fabulous consistant sound with no compressor ........
and like everyone says just practise..........
and one thing i'm starting to believe in and practise in my own musical endevours is to try use only one guitar ......as one learns to control it better ..... so i have picked one nylon out of my collection of 7 and play that exclusively and one electric (ok i only have 2 of them) this helps a lot
Kalcium
Im sorry I have no advise but rather another question with regards to fingerpicking, I hope you don't mind me asking herebut since the fingerpickers are already here....there are some songs which are tabbed to be played with say the top 3 strings at once, but i think it sounds better (in the case of this song) to play them slightly staggered. The way I've been playing has me 'strumming' the 3 top strings with my index finger from E to the G in 1 quick fleshy side upstroke. My question is, is this bad technique? Should I play each string just slightly later but still use 3 fingers to play them?
MikeM
Kalcium that's a subjective thing. Do what you prefer and call it your style.
Aja, I can suggest the same thing. My first 8 years of playing was basically all fingerpicking. Start off like Bob says, the correct way and over time adjust it to your needs. Like all art forms, learn the rules before you break them. I often play with all 5 fingers, or shift my hand across a string when I know I won't be using the high e for a while. But all that IMO comes from necessity.
singemonkey
No answer to Kalcium's problem.
Keira, is pickup adjustment not a factor? Can't you simply dip the pickup towards the bass strings a little? I do 95% of my fingerpicking on electric, but usually I'm damping the bass strings for country/blues type stuff so my problem is more getting enough volume from the treble strings - especially when I don't have a nail.
Aja, Viccy gave me exercises for classical guitar that were good for this. Can't remember the fella's name off-hand. Eye-talian though, I think. And then you try to put emphasis on each string sequentially every time you do the exercise, i.e., today I'm emphasising the b and trying to keep all the others at constant volume. Effing hard for a kak-handed type like me. (sorry that's the English, kak-handed, not the South African, hands made of kak.)
What I find troublesome is the difference between styles of picking. It's simply impossible to use classical technique if you're heel-damping the bass strings as you do with Travis-picking and country-blues picking. Your hand is now at a totally different angle. I find I lift my fingers way too high between plucks and it makes it very difficult to play syncopation - involving playing the same string twice in a row with the same finger.
These problems are just exacerbated for hybrid picking. Because now your hand's scrunched up even more to hold the pick.
Keira-WitherKay
singemonkey wrote:
Keira, is pickup adjustment not a factor? Can't you simply dip the pickup towards the bass strings a little? I do 95% of my fingerpicking on electric, but usually I'm damping the bass strings for country/blues type stuff so my problem is more getting enough volume from the treble strings - especially when I don't have a nail.
thanks for the reply singe.. but no it's not a pickup prob but a common 175 hollow body prob ..... that maybe is related to the hollow construction that certain notes ..especially bass notes can get " boomy" and uneven level wise in sound and this is reflected by many others on jazz forums..... so things like just dialing out bass, or lowering pickups will just thin out the tone and sound..... and in jazz we virtually roll tone control right off..... so we want the big bass sound but prob due to resonant frequencies and the hollow design coupled with really thick strings some notes .especially at gig volume tend to "misbehave" ? but just a careful right hand technique sorts it out and maintains the full fat tone for the walking bass lines......
and for me it's no longer an issue it took me about 3 weeks of conciously focussing on the right hand and how certain notes responded at volume and now it's part of my style i've stopped "thinking" about it it just happens...... . but i must admit i listen more closely to the sound coming out of the speakers when i play electric than i do for nylon
anyway all i'm pointing out is that many picking probems are not from your fingers but from possible resonant frequencies or other guitar issues...... so i was just advising aja to listen to his guitar more carefully and "learn" which notes can be troublesome..... remember this is more relevant to playing at gig volume ( for softer gigs) not in a bedroom situation . but i know the amps aja owns.. ?....... a gorgeous monster of a 50's tube and a roland JC120 ....... so he prob practises as loud as i gig ?
anyway just a thought but other than that if it's a finger problem just practise practise practise......
