Play Acoustic Blues Guitar With Finger Picks Or Bare Fingers?
There are virtually hundreds of thousands and perhaps of acoustic guitar players around the world. It’s the most well-known music instrument by far, because of it’s portability and the fact that you can get a simple tune out of it in a couple of weeks.
I’m going to discuss ‘acoustic blues guitar’ simply because this is my primary interest and I want to discuss finger picking strategies. Commonly, electric guitarists use a plectrum of some type to pluck the strings in and up down motion. Of course, there are often exceptions, such as Mark Knopfler, who utilizes his bare fingers to play both electric and acoustic guitars.
His unusual style caused Chet Atkins to say “I don’t know how he’s doing, but he can sure do it! ” You don’t have to follow the norm – we can generate our own rules, but we have to start off somewhere. This starting point is commonly focused on prior master players. In the genre of acoustic blues guitar, this indicates individuals like Robert Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Doc Watson, Reverend Gary Davis and quite a few others.
Of course there are quite a few versions in style, but pickers can be broadly divided into two categories – those who wear finger picks and individuals that don’t. We’ll ignore how many picking fingers they employed for now. I’ve witnessed ragtime blues artists perform competently with up to three finger picks on the right hand, that didn’t include the thumb! At the other end of the spectrum, some master pickers only use one, either steel or plastic.
Finger Picks
I favor a steel pick, as it can be bent over so that the tip of the pick corresponds with the contact point of a bare finger striking a string. This signifies there’s no realignment necessary for the angle of attack. Plastic finger picks are commonly thicker and protrude a bit more, so an adjustment in picking style is required. This is vital if playing some songs which require picks, and some that don’t, for example.
Thumb-pick vs bare thumb.
Generally, the pick makes a sharper, harder sound and amplifies substantially. Some techniques are much easier to attain in this way, like ‘throwing’ the thumb onto the string making a percussive sound. A substantial advantage is that it saves the thumb from becoming sore. Naked finger guitarists need to play very regularly to grow a heavy callous so these folks can play in comfort. Generally, picks are much easier to get between the strings, so are good for plucking individual strings in quick succession.
Naked fingers style.
A bare thumb can hook underneath a string, pull it up from the body of the guitar and let it snap back, creating an accented note which can be attractive in several kinds of blues. Generally, bare fingers are quite accurate and can produce a wonderful bouncy style when performing ragtime music, either in the style of Scott Joplin-type piano rags or old ragtime blues in the fashion of Blind Blake. The thumb rolls and triplets highlighted in the latter’s music make it very hard to play with finger picks.
Some of the later stylists, such as Chet Atkins, applied strengthened finger nails. I question if any legendary blues guitarists used this method, but who can say? A lot of Texan guitarists favored a plastic thumb pick and bare fingers, usually simply employing one finger of the picking hand with exquisite dexterity. Blind Blake appeared to have used naked fingers and and some older blues men recollected that he had a hole in his picking hand thumb, exactly where it was worn away by the bass strings of his guitar.
The legendary Willie Walker, who just recorded two sides in the 20s, seemed to be a real master of the ragtime technique. His tunes feature lightning fast single string runs that seem tricky if utilizing the thumb and first finger alternately hitting the strings. It looks probable that he employed a plectrum gripped between thumb and forefinger, employing this to alternate the bass line while picking with one or two fingers.
There are many styles of finger picking and we can draw on the lessons of the great guitar masters to help us to create our own method as we look for the best blues guitar lessons.
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