Fingerstyle guitar

Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings
directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed
to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectrum, commonly
called a "pick"). 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, although fingerpicking can also refer to a
specific tradition of folk, blues and country guitar playing in the US. The terms Fingerstyle guitar
"fingerstyle" and "fingerpicking" also applied to similar string instruments such
as the banjo.

Music arranged for fingerstyle playing can include chords, arpeggios (the notes of a chord played one after the other, as opposed to
simultaneously) and other elements such as artificial harmonics, hammering on and pulling off notes with the fretting hand, using the
body of the guitar percussively (by tapping rhythms on the body), and many other techniques. Often, the guitarist will play the
melody notes, interspersed with the melody's accompanying chords and the deep bassline (or bass notes) simultaneously. Some
fingerpicking guitarists also intersperse percussive tapping along with the melody, chords and bassline. This enables a single guitarist
to provide all of these important song elements. This enables singer-guitarists to accompany themselves, and it enables smaller
groups which have only a single guitarist to use one guitarist to provide all of these musical elements. Fingerpicking 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 guitars, except in the heavy metal music virtuoso style of lead guitar playing known as
shred guitar. The timbre of fingerpicked notes is described as, "result[ing] in a morepiano-like attack,"[1] and less like pizzicato.

Contents
Technique
Advantages and disadvantages
Nylon string guitar styles
Classical guitar fingerstyle
Notation
Alternation
Tone production
Flamenco guitar fingerstyle
Bossa nova
North American tradition
Ragtime guitar
Carter Family picking
Travis picking
Clawhammer and frailing
American primitive guitar
Other acoustic styles
Folk baroque
"New Age" approach
Percussive approach
Funky approaches
African fingerstyle
 Slide, steel and slack-key guitar
Slide guitar
Slack-key guitar
Electric guitar
Fingerstyle jazz guitar
Electric blues and rock
Notes
References

Technique
Because individual digits play notes on the guitar rather than the hand working as a single unit (which is the case when a guitarist is
holding a single pick), a guitarist playing fingerstyle can perform several musical elements simultaneously. One definition of the
technique has been put forward by the Toronto (Canada) 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 (the chord progression), melody, and percussion can all be played simultaneously when playing
Fingerstyle.[2]

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
Doyle Dykes and Canadian guitaristDon Ross.

Advantages and disadvantages

Players do not have to carry a plectrum; but fingernails may have to be maintained at the right length and in good
condition.
It is possible to play multiple non-adjacent strings at exactly the same time. [3] This enables the guitarist to play a very
low bass note and a high treble note at the same time. This enables the guitarist to play double stops, such as an
octave, a fifth, a sixth, or other intervals that suit the harmony
.
It is more suitable for playingpolyphonically, with separate, independent musical lines, or separatemelody, harmony
and bass parts, and therefore more suitable to unaccompanied solo playing, or to very small ensembles, like duos in
which a guitarist accompanies a singer. Fingerstyle players have up to four (or five) surfaces (fingernails or picks)
striking the strings and/or other parts of the guitar independently; that does not equate to four plectrums, since
plectrums can strike strings on both up and a downstroke easily , while fingers can only achieve alternation with hard
practice.[4] (an exception to this may be found in theflamenco technique of rasgueado.
It is easy to play arpeggios; but the techniques fortremolo (rapid repetition of a note) and melody playing are more
complex than with plectrum playing.
It is possible to play chords without anyarpeggiation, because up to five strings can be plucked simultaneously .
There is less need for fretting hand damping (muting) 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 andrasgueados 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 (but this does not apply to fingerpicks, or when the flesh of the fingers is used rather than the nail, as is the
case with the lute.)

Nylon string guitar styles

Nylon string guitars are most frequently played fingerstyle
.
Classical guitar fingerstyle
The term "Classical guitar music" can refer to any kind of art music played 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 maximise the degree of control over the musical dynamics, texture, volume and
timbral characteristics of the guitar. Careful attention is paid to the physical posture of the
player. Thumb, index, middle and ring fingers are all employed for plucking. Chords are often
plucked, with strums being reserved for emphasis. The repertoire varies in terms of keys,
modes, rhythms and cultural influences. Altered tunings are rarely employed, with the
exception of dropped D.

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 John Williams
hand fingers are given as numbers, plucking hand fingers are given as letters

Finger Notation Finger Notation

Thumb T Thumb p
Index 1 Index i
Middle 2 Middle m
Ring 3 Ring a
Little 4 Little c or x or e

In guitar scores, the five fingers of the right-hand (which pluck the strings) are designated by the first letter of their Spanish names
namely p = thumb (pulgar), i = index finger (índice), m = major finger (mayor), a = ring finger (anular), c = little finger or pinky
(chiquito).[5]

The four fingers of the left hand (which stop the strings) 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 thumb of the left hand is never used to stop strings from above (as is done on the electric guitar): 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 (contrary to tablatures) do not systematically indicate the string to be plucked (although in most cases the choice is
obvious). When an indication of the string is required the strings are designated 1 to 6 (from the 1st the high E to the 6th the low E)
with figures 1 to 6 inside circles.

The positions (that is where on the fretboard the first finger of the left hand is placed) are also not systematically indicated, but when
they are (mostly in the case of the execution of barrés) these are indicated with Roman numerals from the position I (index finger of
the left hand placed on the 1st fret: F–B♭–E♭–A♭–C–F) to the position XII (the index finger of the left hand placed on the 12th fret:
E–A–D–G–B–E; the 12th fret is placed where the body begins) or higher up to position XIX (the classical guitar most often having
19 frets, with the 19th fret being most often split and not being usable to fret the 3rd and 4th strings).

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".
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: Another tremolo pattern.
p–m–p–m: A way of playing a melody line on the lower strings.

Tone production
Classical guitarists have a lot of freedom within the mechanics of playing the instrument. Often these decisions with influence on
tone and timbre – factors include:

At what position along the string the finger plucks the string (This is changed by guitarists throughout a song, since it
is an effective way of changing the sound (timbre) from "soft" (dolce) plucking the string near its middle, to "hard"
(ponticelo) plucking the string near its end).
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. Andrés
( Segovia is often credited with popularizing this technique.)Playing
with either fingertips alone (dita punta) or fingernails alone (dita unghis) are considered special techniques for timbral
variation.
Concert guitarists must keep their fingernails smoothly filed and carefully shaped[6] 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-stroketirando (plucking the string without coming to a rest on the next string).

Flamenco guitar fingerstyle

Flamenco 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. They often strengthen
their fingernails artificially.

Some specialized techniques include:

Paco Peña Picado: Single-line scale passages performedapoyando 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 (although there are a great many variations on this). The rasgueado or "rolling" strum is
particularly characteristic of the genre.
Alzapua: A thumb technique with roots inoud 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.

Bossa nova
Bossa nova is most commonly performed on the nylon-string classical guitar, played
with the fingers rather than with a pick. Its purest form could be considered
unaccompanied guitar with vocals, as exemplified by João Gilberto. Even in larger,
Basic bossa nova accompaniment
jazz-like arrangements for groups, there is almost always a guitar that plays the
pattern Play
underlying rhythm. Gilberto basically took one of the several rhythmic layers from a
samba ensemble, specifically the tamborim, and applied it to the picking hand.

North American tradition

 Fingerpicking (also called thumb picking, alternating bass, or pattern picking) is
both a playing style and a genre of music. It falls under the "fingerstyle" heading
because it is plucked by the fingers, but it is generally used to play a specific type of
folk, country-jazz and/or blues music. In this technique, the thumb maintains a
steady rhythm, usually playing "alternating bass" patterns on the lower three strings,
while the index, or index and middle fingers pick out melody and fill-in notes on the
high strings. The style originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as
southern blues guitarists tried to imitate the popular ragtime piano music of the day,
with the guitarist's thumb functioning as the pianist's left hand, and the other fingers
Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham
functioning as the right hand. The first recorded examples were by players such as
playing an amplified acoustic guitar
using fingerpicking technique Blind Blake, Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie and Mississippi John Hurt. Some
early blues players such as Blind Willie Johnson and Tampa Red added slide guitar
techniques.

Fingerpicking was soon taken up by country and Western artists such as Sam
McGee, Ike Everly (father of The Everly Brothers), Merle Travis and "Thumbs"
Carllile. Later Chet Atkins further developed the style and in modern music
musicians such as Jose Gonzalez, Eddie Vedder (on his song Guaranteed) and David
Knowles[7] have utilized the style. Most fingerpickers use acoustic guitars, but some,
including Merle Travis played on hollow-body electric guitars,[8] while some
modern rock musicians, such as Derek Trucks and Mark Knopfler, employ
traditional North American fingerpicking techniques on solid-body electric guitars
such as the Gibson Les Paul or the Fender Stratocaster.

Ragtime guitar
As mentioned above, fingerpicking has similar roots to and may have been inspired
by ragtime piano. An early master of ragtime guitar was Blind Blake, a popular
recording artist of the late 1920s and early 1930s. In the 1960s, a new generation of
Mark Knopfler, performing with his
guitarists returned to these roots and began to transcribe piano tunes for solo guitar.
band Dire Straits in 1981,
demonstrates his fingerpicking style One of the best known and most talented of these players was Dave Van Ronk, who
on a Fender Stratocaster solid-body arranged St. Louis Tickle for solo guitar. In 1971, guitarists David Laibman and Eric
guitar Schoenberg arranged and recorded Scott Joplin rags and other complex piano
arrangements for the LP The New Ragtime Guitar on Folkways Records. This was
followed by a Stefan Grossman method book with the same title. A year later
Grossman and ED Denson founded Kicking Mule Records, a company that recorded scores of LPs of solo ragtime guitar by artists
including Grossman, Ton van Bergeyk, Leo Wijnkamp, Duck Baker, Peter Finger, Lasse Johansson, Tom Ball and Dale Miller.
Meanwhile, Reverend Gary Davis was active in New York City, where he mentored many aspiring finger-pickers.[9] He has
subsequently influenced numerous other artists in the United States and internationally
.

Carter Family picking

Carter Family picking, also known as "'thumb brush' technique or the 'Carter lick,' and also the 'church lick' and the 'Carter
scratch'",[10] is a style of fingerstyle guitar named for Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family's distinctive style of rhythm guitar in
which the melody is played on the bass strings, usually low E, A, and D while rhythm strumming continues above, on the treble
strings, G, B, and high E. This often occurs during thebreak.[11]

Travis picking
This style is commonly played on steel string acoustic guitars. Pattern picking is the use of "preset right-hand pattern[s]" while
fingerpicking, with the left hand fingering standard chords.[12] The most common pattern, sometimes broadly (and incorrectly)
referred to as Travis picking after Merle Travis, and popularized by Chet Atkins, Marcel Dadi, James Taylor[13] and Tommy
Emmanuel, is as follows:

Middle | X X - | X X - |
Index | X X - | X X - |
Thumb | X X X X - | X X X X - |

The thumb (T) alternates between bass notes, often on two different strings, while the index (I) and middle (M) fingers alternate
between two treble notes, usually on two different strings, most often the second and first. Using this pattern on a C major chord is as
follows in notation and tablature:

Travis picking.[14] Play

However, Travis' own playing was often much more complicated than this example. He often referred to his style of playing as
"thumb picking", possibly because the only pick he used when playing was a banjo thumb pick, or "Muhlenberg picking", after his
native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, where he learned this approach to playing from Mose Rager and Ike Everly. Travis' style did
not involve a defined, alternating bass string pattern; it was more of an alternating "bass strum" pattern, resulting in an accompanying
rhythm reminiscent ofragtime piano.

Clawhammer and frailing

Clawhammer and frailing are primarily banjo techniques that are sometimes applied
to the guitar.[15] Jody Stecher and Alec Stone Sweet are exponents of guitar
clawhammer. Fingerstyle guitarist Steve Baughman distinguishes between frailing
and clawhammer as follows. In frailing, the index fingertip is used for up-picking Clawhammer bum-ditty. Play
melody, and the middle fingernail is used for rhythmic downward brushing. In
clawhammer, only downstrokes are used, and they are typically played with one
fingernail as is the usual technique on the banjo.[16]

American primitive guitar

American primitive guitar is a subset of fingerstyle guitar. It originated with John Fahey, whose recordings from the late 1950s to the
mid 1960s inspired many guitarists such asLeo Kottke, who made his debut recording of 6- and 12-String Guitar on Fahey's Takoma
label in 1969. American primitive guitar can be characterized by the use of folk music or folk-like material, driving alternating-bass
fingerpicking with a good deal of ostinato patterns, and the use of alternative tunings (scordatura) such as open D, open G, drop D
and open C. The application or "cross-contamination" of traditional forms of music within the style of American primitive guitar is
also very common. Examples of traditions that John Fahey and Robbie Basho would employ in their compositions include, but are
not limited to, the extended Raga of Indian classical music, the Japanese Koto, and the early ragtime-based country blues music of
Mississippi John Hurt or Blind Blake.
 Other acoustic styles

Folk baroque
A distinctive style to emerge from Britain in the early 1960s, which combined
elements of American folk, blues, jazz and ragtime with British traditional music,
was what became known as 'folk baroque'. Pioneered by musicians of the Second
British folk revival began their careers in the short-lived skiffle craze of the later
1950s and often used American blues, folk and jazz styles, occasionally using open
D and G tunings.[17] However, performers like Davy Graham and Martin Carthy
attempted to apply these styles to the playing of traditional English modal music.
They were soon followed by artists such as Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, who
further defined the style.[18] The style these artists developed was particularly
notable for the adoption of D–A–D–G–A–D (from lowest to highest), which gave a
form of suspended-fourth D chord, neither major nor minor, which could be
employed as the basis for modal based folk songs.[19] This was combined with a
John Fahey
fingerstyle based on Travis picking and a focus on melody, that made it suitable as
an accompaniment.[19] Denselow, who coined the phrase 'folk baroque,' singled out
Graham's recording of traditional English folk song 'Seven Gypsys' on Folk, Blues and Beyond (1964) as the beginning of the
style.[20] Graham mixed this with Indian, African, American, Celtic, and modern and traditional American influences, while Carthy
in particular used the tuning to replicate the drone common in medieval and folk music played by the thumb on the two lowest
strings. The style was further developed by Jansch, who brought a more forceful style of picking and, indirectly, influences from Jazz
and Ragtime, leading particularly to more complex basslines. Renbourn built on all these trends and was the artist whose repertoire
was most influenced by medieval music.[21]

In the early 1970s the next generation of British artists added new tunings and techniques, reflected in the work of artists like Nick
Drake, Tim Buckley and particularly John Martyn, whose Solid Air (1972) set the bar for subsequent British acoustic guitarists.[22]
Perhaps the most prominent exponent of recent years has been Martin Simpson, whose complex mix of traditional English and
American material, together with innovative arrangements and techniques like the use of guitar slides, represents a deliberate attempt
to create a unique and personal style.[23] Martin Carthy passed on his guitar style to French guitarist Pierre Bensusan.[24] It was taken
up in Scotland by Dick Gaughan, and by Irish musicians like Paul Brady, Dónal Lunny and Mick Moloney.[25] Carthy also
influenced Paul Simon, particularly evident onScarborough Fair, which he probably taught to Simon, and a recording of Davy's Anji
that appears on Sounds of Silence, and as a result was copied by many subsequent folk guitarists.[19] By the 1970s Americans such as
Duck Baker and Eric Schoenberg were arranging solo guitar versions of Celtic dance tunes, slow airs, bagpipe music, and harp pieces
by Turlough O'Carolan and earlier harper-composers. Renbourn and Jansch's complex sounds were also highly influential on Mike
Oldfield's early music.[26] The style also had an impact within British folk rock, where particularly Richard Thompson, used the D–
A–D–G–A–D tuning, though with ahybrid picking style to produce a similar but distinctive effect.[25]

"New Age" approach

In 1976, William Ackerman started Windham Hill Records, which carried on the Takoma tradition of original compositions on solo
steel string guitar. However, instead of the folk and blues oriented music of Takoma, including Fahey's American primitive guitar, the
early Windham Hill artists (and others influenced by them) abandoned the steady alternating or monotonic bass in favor of sweet
flowing arpeggios and flamenco-inspired percussive techniques. The label's best selling artist George Winston and others used a
similar approach on piano. This music was generally pacific, accessible and expressionistic. Eventually, this music acquired the label
of "New Age", given its widespread use as background music at bookstores, spas and other New Age businesses. The designation has
stuck, though it wasn't a term coined by the company itself.

Percussive approach
"Percussive fingerstyle" is a term for a style incorporating sharp attacks on the strings, as well as hitting the strings and guitar top
with the hand for percussive effect. Principally featuring, string slapping, guitar body percussion, alternate tunings and extended
techniques such as; tapping and harmonics[27] . Flamenco and Blues guitarists regularly feature percussive techniques and alternate
tunings, and arguably laid the foundations for playing in this way [28] Michael Hedges and Eric Roche developed and essentially
pioneered percussive techniquesforming a style of their own in the 80s' - 90's. Their progressive contribution played a significant roll
in influencing a new wave of percussive players including Andy Mckee, Preston Reed, Jon Gomm, Mike Dawes, Chris Woods
(guitarist), Don Ross, Declan Zapala, Erik Mongrain [29] .

Funky approaches
"Funky fingerstyle" emerged in the mid 2000s, as a style in which the sounds of a
full funk or R&B ensemble are emulated on one guitar. Uncommon sounds are being
discovered thanks to the technical possibilities of various pick-ups, microphones and
octave division effects pedals. Adam Rafferty uses a technique of hip-hop vocal
percussion called "human beat box", along with body percussion, while playing
contrapuntal fingerstyle pieces. Petteri Sariola has several mics on board his guitar
and is able to run up to 6 lines from his guitar to a mixing desk, providing a full
"band sound" – bass drum, snare, bass, guitar – as an accompaniment to his vocals.

Adam Rafferty

African fingerstyle

The six string guitar was brought to Africa by traders and missionaries (although there
are indigenous guitar-like instruments such as the ngoni and the gimbri or sintir of
Gnawa music). Its uptake varies considerably between regions, and there is therefore no
single African acoustic guitar style. In some cases, the styles and techniques of other
instruments have been applied to the guitar; for instance, a technique where the strings
are plucked with the thumb and one finger imitates the two-thumbed plucking of the
kora and mbira. The pioneer of Congolese fingerstyle acoustic guitar music was Jean
Bosco Mwenda, also known as Mwenda wa Bayeke (1930–1990). His song "Masanga"
was particularly influential, because of its complex and varied guitar part. His influences
included traditional music of Zambia and the Eastern Congo, Cuban groups like the Trio
Matamoros, and cowboy movies. His style used the thumb and index finger only, to
produce bass, melody and accompaniment. Congolese guitarists Losta Abelo and
Edouard Masengo played in a similar style.

Herbert Misango and George Mukabi were fingerstyle guitarists from Kenya.[30] Ali

Lionel Loueke, playing a skeleton Farka Toure (d. 2006) was a guitarist fromMali, whose music has been called the "DNA
guitar. of the blues". He was also often compared to John Lee Hooker. His son Vieux Farka
Toure continues to play in the same style. Djelimady Tounkara is another Malian
fingerstylist. S. E. Rogie and Koo Nimo play acoustic fingerstyle in the lilting, calypso-
influenced palm wine music tradition. Benin-born Jazz guitarist Lionel Loueke uses fingerstyle in an approach that combines jazz
harmonies and complex rhythms.[31] He is now based in the US.

Tony Cox (b. 1954) is a Zimbabwean guitarist and composer based in Cape Town, South Africa. A master of the Fingerpicking style
of guitar playing, he has won the SAMA (South African Music Awards) for best instrumental album twice. His music incorporates
many different styles including classical, blues, rock and jazz, while keeping an African flavour. Tinderwet is a versatile guitarist of
the three and sometimes four fingers playing style (thumb, index, middle and ring); he plays several different African styles,
including soukous or West African music. He often flavours his playing with jazzy improvisations, regular fingerpicking patterns and
chord melody sequences.
Slide, steel and slack-key guitar
Even when the guitar is tuned in a manner that helps the guitarist to perform a certain type of chord, it is often undesirable for all six
strings to sound. When strumming with a plectrum, a guitarist must "damp" (mute) unwanted strings with the fretting hand; when a
slide or steel is employed, this fretting hand damping is no longer possible, so it becomes necessary to replace plectrum strumming
with plucking of individual strings. For this reason,slide guitar and steel guitar playing are very often fingerstyle.

Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing
the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings,
while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the
necks of glass bottles. Instead of altering the pitch of the strings in the normal
manner (by pressing the string against frets), a slide is placed on the string to
vary its vibrating length, and pitch. This slide can then be moved along the
string without lifting, creating continuous transitions in pitch.

Slide guitar is most often played (assuming a right-handed player and guitar):

with the guitar in the normal position, using a slide called a Example of a bottleneck, withfingerpicks
bottleneck on one of the fingers of the left hand; this is known as and resonator guitar.
bottleneck guitar;
with the guitar held horizontally, with the belly uppermost and the
bass strings toward the player, and using a slide called a steel held
in the left hand; this is known aslap steel guitar.

Slack-key guitar
Slack-key guitar is a fingerpicked style that originated in Hawaii. The English term is a translation of the Hawaiian kī hō‘alu, which
means "loosen the [tuning] key". Slack key is nearly always played in open or altered tunings—the most common tuning is G-major
(D–G–D–G–B–D), called "taropatch", though there is a family of major-seventh tunings called "wahine" (Hawaiian for "woman"), as
well as tunings designed to get particular effects. Basic slack-key style, like mainland folk-based fingerstyle, establishes an
alternating bass pattern with the thumb and plays the melody line with the fingers on the higher strings. The repertory is rooted in
traditional, post-Contact Hawaiian song and dance, but since 1946 (when the first commercial slack key recordings were made) the
style has expanded, and some contemporary compositions have a distinctly new-age sound. Slack key's older generation included
Gabby Pahinui, Leonard Kwan, Sonny Chillingworth and Raymond Kāne. Prominent contemporary players include Keola Beamer,
Moses Kahumoku, Ledward Kaapana, Dennis Kamakahi, John Keawe, Ozzie Kotani and Peter Moon and Cyril Pahinui.

Electric guitar

Fingerstyle jazz guitar

The unaccompanied guitar in jazz is often played in chord-melody style, where the guitarist plays a series of chords with the melody
line on top. Fingerstyle, plectrum, or hybrid picking are equally suited to this style. Some players alternate between fingerstyle and
plectrum playing, "palming" the plectrum when it is not in use. Early blues and ragtime guitarists often used fingerstyle. True
fingerstyle jazz guitar dates back to early swing era acoustic players like Eddie Lang (1902–1933) Lonnie Johnson (1899–1970) and
Carl Kress (1907–1965), Dick McDonough (1904–1938) and the Argentinian Oscar Alemán (1909–1980). Django Reinhardt (1910–
Tears.[32]
1953) used a classical/flamenco technique on unaccompanied pieces such as his composition

Fingerstyle jazz on the electric guitar was pioneered by George van Eps (1913–1998) who was respected for his polyphonic
approach, sometimes using a seven string guitar. Wes Montgomery (1925–1968) was known for using the fleshy part of his thumb to
provide the bass line while strumming chordal or melodic motives with his fingers. This style, while unorthodox, was widely
regarded as an innovative method for enhancing the warm tone associated with jazz guitar. Montgomery's influence extends to
modern polyphonic jazz improvisational methods. Joe Pass (1929–1994) switched to fingerstyle mid career,making the Virtuoso
series of albums. Little known to the general public Ted Greene (1946–2005) was admired by fellow musicians for his harmonic
skills.[33] Lenny Breau (1941–1984) went one better than van Eps by playing virtuosic fingerstyle on an eight string guitar. Tommy
Crook replaced the lower two strings on his Gibson switchmaster with bass strings, allowing him to create the impression of playing
bass and guitar simultaneously. Chet Atkins (1924–2001) sometimes applied his formidable right-hand technique to jazz standards,
with Duck Baker (b. 1949), Richard Smith (b. 1971), Woody Mann and Tommy Emmanuel (b. 1955), among others, following in his
footsteps. They use the fingerpicking technique of Merle Travis and others to play wide variety of material including jazz. This style
is distinguished by having a steadier and "busier" (several beats to the bar) bass line than the chord melody approach of Montgomery
and Pass making it suited to up-tempo material.

Fingerstyle has always been predominant in Latin American guitar playing, which Laurindo Almeida (1917–1995) and Charlie Byrd
(1925–1999) brought to a wider audience in the 1950s. Fingerstyle jazz guitar has several proponents: the pianistic Jeff Linsky (b.
1952), freely improvises polyphonically while employing a classical guitar technique.[34] Earl Klugh (b. 1953) and Tuck Andress
have also performed fingerstyle jazz on the solo guitar. Briton Martin Taylor (b. 1956), a former Stephane Grappelli sideman,
switched to fingerstyle on relaunching his career as a soloist. His predecessor in Grappelli's band, John Etheridge (b. 1948) is also an
occasional fingerstyle player.

Electric blues and rock

The solid-body electric guitar is rarely played fingerstyle, although it presents no major technical challenges. Slide guitarists often
employ fingerstyle, which applies equally to the electric guitar, for instance Duane Allman and Ry Cooder. Blues guitarists have long
used fingerstyle: some exponents include Jorma Kaukonen, Hubert Sumlin, Albert King, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Derek
Trucks, Joe Bonamassa, and Buckethead. Exponents of fingerstyle rock guitar include: Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck (after years of pick
playing), Stephen Malkmus, Bruce Cockburn (exclusively), Robby Krieger, Lindsey Buckingham, Mike Oldfield, Patrick Simmons,
Wilko Johnson, J.J. Cale, Robbie Robertson, Hillel Slovak, Annie Clark, Kurt Vile, David Longstreth and Richie Kotzen.[35]

Ry Cooder J. J. Cale Mark Knopfler Derek Trucks

Jeff Beck Robby Krieger Lindsey Buckingham Mike Oldfield

Richie Kotzen

Notes
1. Johnson, Chad (2012).Essential Rock Guitar Techniques ([Link]
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epage&q=%22hybrid%20picking%22&f=false) , unpaginated. Hal Leonard [Link] 9781476824994.
2. "Guitar Lessons: Fingerstyle"([Link] [Link].
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3. "Learn How To Travis Pick" ([Link]
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[Link]. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
4. "WebCite query result" ([Link]
g/[Link]). [Link]. Archived fromthe original ([Link]
tm) on October 26, 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
5. The little finger whose use is not completely standardized in classical guitar technique can also be found designated
by e or x. There are several words in Spanish for the little finger:dedo meñique, dedo auricular, dedo pequeño, but
their initials conflict with the initials of the other fingers;c is said to be the initial ofdedo chiquito, which is not the
most common name for the little finger;e and x are not initials but letters that were picked, either with its own
rationale, by people who didn't know what else to pick
6. Tennant, Scott (1996). Pumping Nylon. Alfred pub. co. ISBN 978-0-88284-721-4.
7. "David Knowles | UK Musician, Singer-Songwriter"([Link] [Link]. Retrieved
2016-01-19.
8. "Music Lessons from" ([Link]
ackboard/[Link]
p?ID=3594&tbID=49&tID=3593). [Link]. Archived fromthe original ([Link]
oard/[Link]?ID=3594&tbID=49&tID=3593) on 2007-12-31. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
9. Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues – From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 105.
ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
10. Sid Griffin and Eric Thompson (2006).Bluegrass Guitar: Know the Players, Play the Music
, p.22. ISBN 0-87930-870-
2.
11. Traum, Happy (1974). Bluegrass Guitar, p.23. ISBN 0-8256-0153-3.
12. Traum, Happy (1974). Fingerpicking Styles For Guitar. Oak Publications. ISBN 0-8256-0005-7.
13. Herbst, Peter (1979-09-06)."cover story features James Taylor" ([Link]
lor-the-rolling-stone-interview-19790906). Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
14. Traum, Happy (1974). Fingerpicking Styles For Guitar, p.12. Oak [Link] 0-8256-0005-7. Hardcover
(2005): ISBN 0-8256-0343-9.
15. "Basics of Clawhammer Guitar"([Link]
[Link]). [Link]. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
16. [1] ([Link] Archived ([Link]
.[Link]/)
January 12, 2010, at theWayback Machine.
17. M. Brocken, The British Folk Revival 1944-2002(Ashgate, Aldershot, 2003), p. 114.
18. B. Swears, Electric Folk: The Changing Face of English T
raditional Music (Oxford University Press, 2005) p. 184-9.
19. V. Coelho, The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar(Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 39.
20. D. Laing, K. Dallas, R. Denselow and R. Shelton,The Electric Muse (Methuen, 1975), p. 145.
21. B. Swears, Electric Folk: The Changing Face of English T
raditional Music (Oxford University Press, 2005) pp. 184-9.
22. P. Buckley, The Rough Guide to Rock: the definitive guide to more than 1200 artists and bands
(Rough Guides,
2003), pp. 145, 211-12, 643-4.
23. R. Weissman, Which Side are You On?: An Inside History of the Folk Music Revival in America(Continuum, 2005),
p. 274.
24. V. Coelho, 'The Cambridge Companion to theGuitar' (Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 39.
25. J. Henigan, Dadgad Tuning: Traditional Irish and Original Tunes and Songs (Mel Bay, 1999), p. 4.
26. J. DeRogatis, Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock(Hal Leonard, 2003), p. 173.
27. Woods, Chris (2013). Percussive Acoustic Guitar. Hal Leonard. pp. 6 – [Link] 9781458459640.
28. Bennett, edited by Andy; Dawe, Kevin (2001).Guitar cultures. Oxford: Berg. pp. 20 –[Link] 1859734340.
29. [Link] Uprising (2017)Fingerstyle Documentary
30. "Elijah Wald" ([Link] [Link]. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
31. "Lionel Loueke on Canvas (YouTube)" ([Link]
YouTube. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
32. "Michael Horowitz: The Unaccompanied Django" ([Link]
[Link]. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
33. "Robert Fripp interviews John McLaughlin"([Link]
Robert_Fripp_in_Musician). [Link]. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
34. [2] ([Link] Archived ([Link]
[Link]/Reviews/[Link])January 31, 2011, at theWayback Machine.
35. "Slowhand Blues Guitar"([Link] [Link]. Retrieved 2010-03-01.

References
Pearson, Wyn (2008). Hybrid Picking. Mel Bay Publications [Link] 978-0-7866-7607-1. Archived from the original
on 2009-02-07.

Retrieved from "[Link]

"

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