Finger Picking

As a guitarist it is important to have a wide range of different techniques available to us. One great way of expanding your playing is to develop a good right hand picking technique. Finger picking is a method in which you pluck the guitar strings with your picking hand and is commonly associated with classical and acoustic guitar styles.

The first thing we need to understand is how each finger is named. You pick the strings with your thumb, index, middle, and ring finger which can be represented with the notation P, I, M, A. The P represents the thumb, I represents the index finger, M the middle finger and A the ring finger. The pinkie finger is rarely used as it tends to be the weakest of all the fingers.

One great way to improve the sound created when finger picking is to grow your nails long. Having nails greatly improves the tone produced and it is the reason so many classical guitarists have long nails.

This lesson should serve as a good introduction to this great technique. I will show you some simple arpeggio patterns which you can practice and experiment with. Practicing arpeggio patters like these will really improve your coordination and finer strength.

Don't be afraid to try these patterns with different chord sequences and see if you can come up with some ideas of your own. These patterns work really well for song writing and acoustic guitar playing.

Exercise 1

These patterns all use a simple C major chord but you can try using these patterns with other chord shapes

Exercise 2