User:Mikeyds1

Guitar picking is plucking or strumming the strings on a guitar. Picking can be done with one’s fingers, a guitar pick, or both. Picking with one’s fingers is known as finger picking, and with a guitar pick is known simply as picking. Picking with fingers and a pick is known as hybrid picking; however, because this uses a pick it is considered a sub-style of picking. Each style has pros and cons, as well as ways to overcome the cons. There are many different styles of finger picking, but only one variation to picking (hybrid picking).

Pros and Cons for Picking and Finger Picking

The pros of each guitar picking style are indirectly correlated to the cons of the other.

Pros of finger picking
• It’s possible to play multiple non-adjacent strings at one time
• Having a pick isn’t necessary
• Playing with 5 fingers is like having 5 picks playing at once, which can enable playing more than one melody and/or bass line and/or chord

Pros of picking
• Involves less multi-tasking which makes it easier to do; requires less practice
• Picking back and forth with a pick is much easier
_ • A finger bends, while a pick stays straight
_ • A finger is soft while a guitar pick is hard, which is beneficial because if the string is touched with any miniscule part of the pick the string will make a sound; however, if a player touches the string with a finger it will be muffled unless done just right and with a larger portion of the finger than would be required from a pick

Overcoming the cons of finger picking

A guitar player could overcome the con of not being able to move back and forth on a single string by using more than one finger on one string. With 5 fingers this could be more effective than using a pick. Playing 5 harmonies or 2 harmonies and 3 bass lines, etc., are also possible advancements, though it would take a lot of practice to be able to do this. To overcome the difficult multitasking of finger picking, a player simply needs to practice more.

Overcoming the cons of picking

The only way to overcome the cons of picking is to use a pick and fingers, which is known as hybrid picking. This would enable a guitarist to play more than one string at a time that aren’t adjacent and a bass line with a harmony, or two harmonies, etc. However, knowledge of finger picking is necessary to do this, and since two fingers are used to hold the pick, only four strings can be played as opposed to the five possible with finger picking.

Examples of songs that use finger picking and songs that use picking

General finger picking songs
Finger picking usually gives songs a more muffled sound and is usually folk-like or classical.

• “Deep Sea Diver”, “Stagalee”, “Frankie and Johnny”, “Georgia Rag”, and “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone” by Moses Rascoe
• “Blowin' in the Wind” by Peter, Paul, and Mary
• “Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out” by Eric Clapton

General picking songs Picking usually gives songs a more clear sound, and picking is used in many different genres of guitar.

• “Soul Sacrifice” by Santana
• “Sitting Waiting Wishing” by Jack Johnson
• “The Ocean” by Led Zeppelin

Styles of finger picking

• Fingerstyle classical guitar
_• Plays two melodies
• Travis picking
_• Plucks a different string with a different finger in a certain pattern
• American primitive guitar
_• Plucks an alternating bass line with chords
_• Uses alternate tunings
• "New Age" fingerstyle:
_ • Plucks a bass line and plays arpeggios
• Slack-key guitar
_ • Plucks an alternating bass line while playing a melody on the higher strings
_ • Uses alternative tunings
• Fingerstyle jazz guitar
_ • A mixture of any of the other finger picking styles. Some fingerstyle jazz is played with chords and a melody, with a bass line and chordal melodies, etc. Jazz guitar is characterized by the selective notes that are played and how they are played, but the actual technique of the finger picking is a culmination and mixture of all other styles of finger picking, often within a single song.