The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #90566   Message #1718291
Posted By: GUEST,Larry Meyer
14-Apr-06 - 03:56 PM
Thread Name: Chord Req: Guitar method
Subject: RE: Chord Req: Guitar method
If you're starting out with bare fingertips, results can be disappointing. Try using a thumbpick and metal fingerpicks to start with. You get better volume and precision. Otherwise your nails must be right length for clean sound. I finger picked for 2 years or so with metal fingerpicks before I switched to just nails. And still use them for banjo.

Right hand position is critical. Put your hand flat on table, palm down. Stick your thumb out at right angle to fingers. Lift hand from table and let your fingers drop straight down. Then swing your thumb down to your index finger. That's how your right hand should look on the strings. Your four fingers should point straight into the soundhole, while your thumb runs parallel to the strings. I now use 3 fingers, but when I break a nail, I'll leave off using that finger and hit the string I normally hit with that finger with the next finger. Fingers pick up. Thumb picks down. Generally, they alternate: thumb on bass and the 3 fingers on 3 treble strings. For starters, just use thumb and index finger. Finger a D chord: Thumb on 5 string, index on 1 string, thumb on 4 string, index on 2 string. When you can do that, add middle finger: T, Index, T, middle finger. It's all repetition and muscle memory.

I taught my daughter to do a pretty good travis within a month of starting on the guitar. There are dozens of complex patterns, involving syncopation, plucks, and pinches.

Keep your chords simple. Finger picking can make 3 simple chords sound like a whole bunch more. Don't mess with barre chords, for example. A is a good key for finger picking as chord changes can be done fast.