Fingerstyle guitar


Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking. The term "fingerstyle" is something of a misnomer, since it is present in several different genres and styles of music—but mostly, because it involves a completely different technique, not just a "style" of playing, especially for the guitarist's picking/plucking hand. The term is often used synonymously with fingerpicking except in classical guitar circles, although fingerpicking can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues and country guitar playing in the US. The terms "fingerstyle" and "fingerpicking" are also applied to similar string instruments such as the banjo.
Music arranged for fingerstyle playing can include chords, arpeggios and other elements such as artificial harmonics, hammering on and pulling off notes with the fretting hand, using the body of the guitar percussively, and many other techniques. Often, the guitarist will play the melody notes, interspersed with the melody's accompanying chords and the deep bassline simultaneously. Some fingerpicking guitarists also intersperse percussive tapping along with the melody, chords and bassline. Fingerstyle is a standard technique on the classical or nylon string guitar, but is considered more of a specialized technique on steel string guitars. Fingerpicking is less common on electric guitar. The timbre of fingerpicked notes is described as "result in a more piano-like attack," and less like pizzicato.

Technique

Because individual digits play notes on the guitar rather than the hand working as a single unit, a guitarist playing fingerstyle can perform several musical elements simultaneously. One definition of the technique has been put forward by the Toronto Fingerstyle Guitar Association:
Physically, "Fingerstyle" refers to using each of the right hand fingers independently to play the multiple parts of a musical arrangement that would normally be played by several band members. Deep bass notes, harmonic accompaniment, melody, and percussion can all be played simultaneously when playing Fingerstyle.

Many fingerstyle guitarists have adopted a combination of acrylic nails and a thumbpick to improve tone and decrease nail wear and chance of breaking or chipping. Notable guitarists to adopt this hardware are Ani DiFranco, Doyle Dykes, Don Ross, and Richard Smith.

Advantages and disadvantages

  • Players do not have to carry a plectrum, but fingernails may need to be maintained at the right length and angles, and kept in good condition if the player has a preference to use the nails of their fingers over the pads of their fingertips.
  • It is possible to play multiple non-adjacent strings at exactly the same time, enabling the guitarist to play, for example, a very low bass note and a high treble note simultaneously, or double stops, such as an octave, a fifth, a sixth, or other intervals that suit the harmony.
  • It is more suitable for playing polyphonically, with separate, independent musical lines, or separate melody, harmony and bass parts than using a plectrum, and therefore more suitable for unaccompanied solo playing, or small ensembles like duos, in which a guitarist accompanies a singer. Fingerstyle players have up to four surfaces striking the strings and/or other parts of the guitar independently.
  • It is easy to play arpeggios; but the techniques for tremolo and melody playing are more complex than with plectrum playing.
  • It is possible to play chords without any arpeggiation, because up to five strings can be plucked simultaneously.
  • There is less need for fretting hand damping in playing chords, since only the strings that are required can be plucked.
  • A greater variation in strokes is possible, allowing greater expressiveness in timbre and dynamics.
  • A wide variety of strums and rasgueados are possible.
  • Less energy is generally imparted to strings than with plectrum playing, leading to lower volume when playing acoustically.
  • Playing on heavier gauge strings can damage nails: fingerstyle is more suited to nylon strings or lighter gauge steel strings

    Nylon string guitar styles

Nylon string guitars are most frequently played fingerstyle.

Classical guitar fingerstyle

The term "Classical guitar" can refer to any kind of art music played fingerstyle on a nylon string guitar, or more narrowly to music of the classical period, as opposed to baroque or romantic music. The major feature of classical-fingerstyle technique is that it enables solo rendition of harmony and polyphonic music in much the same manner as the piano can. The technique is intended to maximize the degree of control over the musical dynamics, texture, articulation and timbral characteristics of the guitar. The sitting position of the player, while somewhat variable, generally places the guitar on the left leg, which is elevated, rather than the right. This sitting position is intended to maintain shoulder alignment and physical balance between the left and right hands. Thumb, index, middle and ring fingers are all commonly employed for plucking, with occasional use of the pinky. Chords are often plucked, with strums being reserved for emphasis. The repertoire varies in terms of keys, modes, rhythms and cultural influences. Classical-guitar music is performed/composed most often in standard tuning. However, altered tunings such as dropped D are common.

Notation

Fingerings for both hands are often given in detail in classical guitar music notation, although players are also free to add to or depart from them as part of their own interpretation.
Fretting hand fingers are given as numbers, plucking hand fingers are given as letters
FingerNotationFingerNotation
Thumb5Thumbp
Index1Indexi
Middle2Middlem
Ring3Ringa
Pinky4Pinkyc, x, e or q

In guitar scores, the five fingers of the right-hand are designated by the first letter of their Spanish names namely p = thumb, i = index finger, m = middle finger, a = ring finger, and when used, often c = little finger or pinky. There are several words in Spanish for the little finger: most commonly dedo meñique, but also dedo pequeño or dedo auricular; however, their initials conflict with the initials of the other fingers; c is said to be the first half of the initial letter ch of dedo chiquito, which is not the most common name for the little finger; the origin of e, x and q is not certain but is said to perhaps be from extremo, Spanish for last or final, for the e and x, and meñique or pequeño for q.
The four fingers of the left hand are designated 1 = index, 2 = major, 3 = ring finger, 4 = little finger; 0 designates an open string, that is a string that is not stopped by a finger of the left hand and whose full length thus vibrates when plucked. On the classical guitar the thumb of the left hand is never used to stop strings from above : the neck of a classical guitar is too wide and the normal position of the thumb used in classical guitar technique do not make that possible. Scores do not systematically indicate the string to be plucked. When an indication of the string is required the strings are designated 1 to 6 with figures 1 to 6 inside circles.
The positions are also not systematically indicated, but when they are these are indicated with Roman numerals from the position I to the position XII or higher up to position XIX.

Alternation

To achieve tremolo effects and rapid, fluent scale passages, and varied arpeggios the player must practice alternation, that is, never plucking a string with the same finger twice.
Common alternation patterns include:
  • i–m–i–m: Basic melody line on the treble strings. Has the appearance of "walking along the strings".
  • a–m–i–a–m–i: Tremolo pattern with a triplet feel
  • p–a–m–i–p–a–m–i: Another tremolo pattern.
  • p–i–p–i or p–m–p–m: A way of playing a melody line on the lower strings.

    Tone production

Classical guitarists have a large degree of freedom within the mechanics of playing the instrument. Often these decisions influence tone and timbre. Factors include:
  • At what position along the string the finger plucks the string from "soft" plucking the string near its middle, to "hard".
  • Use of the nail or not: Modern classical guitar playing uses a technique in which both the nail and the fingertip contact the string during normal playing. Playing with either fingertips alone or fingernails alone are considered special techniques for timbral variation.
Concert guitarists must keep their fingernails smoothly filed and carefully shaped to employ this technique, which produces a better-controlled sound than either nails or fingertips alone. Playing parameters include:
  • Which finger to use
  • What angle of attack to hold the wrist and fingers at with respect to the strings.
  • Rest-stroke apoyando; the finger that plucks a string rests on the next string—traditionally used in single melody lines—versus free-stroke tirando.

    Flamenco guitar fingerstyle

technique is related to classical technique, but with more emphasis on rhythmic drive and volume, and less on dynamic contrast and tone production. Flamenco guitarists prefer keys such as A and E that allow the use of open strings, and typically employ capos where a departure is required.
Some specialized techniques include:
  • Picado: Single-line scale passages performed apoyando but with more attack and articulation.
  • Rasgueado: Strumming frequently done by bunching all the right hand fingers and then flicking them out in quick succession to get four superimposed strums. The rasgueado or "rolling" strum is particularly characteristic of the genre.
  • Alzapua: A thumb technique with roots in oud plectrum technique. The right hand thumb is used for both single-line notes and strummed across a number of strings. Both are combined in quick succession to give it a unique sound.
  • Tremolo: Done somewhat differently from the conventional classical guitar tremolo, it is very commonly played with the right hand pattern p–i–a–m–i.