Guitar picking is a group of hand and finger techniques a guitarist uses to set guitar strings in motion to produce audible notes. These techniques involve plucking, strumming, brushing, etc. Picking can be done with:
A pick (plectrum) held in the hand
Natural or artificial fingernails, fingertips or finger-mounted plectrums known as fingerpicks (for techniques collectively known as fingerstyle) A plectrum held between thumb and one finger, supplemented by the free fingers—called hybrid picking or sometimes "chicken pickin".
Using a single thumb pick with the bare fingers is similar to hybrid picking. Another mixed technique is to play different passages with a plectrum or fingerstyle, "palming" the plectrum when not in use. This however requires the use of one or more picking hand fingers, and/or can reduce dexterity in the picking hand.
Comparison of plectrum and finger picking techniques
The pros of each guitar picking style are indirectly correlated to the cons of the other.
Fingerpicking advantages
A pick isn’t necessary. It is easier to play non-adjacent strings at the same time, or immediately consecutively. It is easier to play polyphonically, with separate musical lines, or separate melody, harmony and bass. A simpler motion is required to play notes on non-adjacent strings. With a pick, string skipping is required. It is possible to play chords with no arpeggiation, ie. exactly at the same time. There is less need to use the fretting hand to damp notes in chords (muting) since the guitarist can pluck only the required strings. A greater variation in strokes is possible, accommodating expressiveness in timbre. A wide variety of strums and rasgueados are possible. Picking with the fingers is useful in almost any genre of music.
Fingerpicking players use up to four (sometimes five) surfaces, usually nails, to strike string independently. However, that does not equate to four plectrums, since plectrums can more easily strike strings on both up and downstrokes—which is much more difficult for fingers. Also, each finger can be over a different string, which greatly reduces or eliminates the need for traditional string skipping.
Advantages of plectrum picking
Picks require no maintenance, and can easily be replaced when lost or damaged. Picking in both directions (down, up) with a pick is easier. Economy picking, utilizing Alternate picking, is the most efficient technique, however many Russian classical guitarists are able to fluently do this with their fingernails. Tremolo effects (same note repeated in rapid succession) may be easier to achieve. The guitarist picks the string with less contact that a finger would involve. On a non-amplified instrument, a pick can usually produce louder sounds compared to bare finger playing. It may be easier to maintain articulation or clarity when playing fast, especially with a less flexible pick. Playing on heavier gauge strings can damage un-coated nails: finger picking is more suited to nylon strings or lighter gauge steel strings (this does not apply to fingerpicks). Using a pick can significantly reduce damage to fingers when playing for long periods of time on a steel string guitar. Some styles of music are easier to play with a pick. Hybrid picking can bring some of the advantages of fingerpicking, allowing the player to switch between fingerpicking and plectrum utilization on a dime or use them simultaneously.
Fingerstyle techniques
Plucking patterns
To achieve tremolo effects, varied arpeggios, and rapid, fluent scale passages, the player must practice alternation, that is, plucking strings with a different finger each time. Using p to indicate the thumb, i the index finger, m the middle finger and a the ring finger, common alternation patterns include: i-m-i-m Basic melody line on the treble strings. Has the appearance of "walking along the strings". i-m-a-i-m-a Tremolo pattern with a triplet feel (i.e. the same note is repeated three times) p-a-m-i-p-a-m-i A tremolo or arpeggio pattern.. p-m-p-m A way of playing a melody line on the lower strings.
In some genres, such as folk or country, the player can "lock in" to a picking pattern for the whole song, or even the whole performance, since these forms of music are based on maintaining a steady rhythm. However, in other genres—such as classical, flamenco or fingerstyle jazz—it becomes necessary to switch fluently between patterns.
Tone production
Tone production is important in any style. Classical guitar, for example, stresses many techniques are that applicable to other styles. Tonal techniques include: