Guitar picking

Guitar picking is plucking or strumming the strings on a guitar. Picking can be done with one’s fingers, a guitar pick, or both. Picking with one’s fingers is known as finger picking, and with a guitar pick is known simply as picking. Picking with fingers and a pick is known as hybrid picking; however, because this uses a pick it is considered a sub-style of picking. Each style has pros and cons, as well as ways to overcome the cons. There are many different styles of finger picking, but only one variation to picking (hybrid picking).

Pros and cons for picking and finger picking

The pros of each guitar picking style are indirectly correlated to the cons of the other.

Pros of finger picking

• It’s possible to play multiple non-adjacent strings at one time
• Having a pick isn’t necessary
• Playing with five fingers is like having five picks playing at once, which can enable playing more than one melody and/or bass line and/or chord

Pros of picking

• Involves less multi-tasking which makes it easier to do; requires less practice
• Picking back and forth with a pick is much easier:
  • A finger bends, while a pick stays straight
  • A finger is soft while a guitar pick is hard, which is beneficial because if the string is touched with any minuscule part of the pick the string will make a sound; however, if a player touches the string with a finger it will be muffled unless done just right and with a larger portion of the finger than would be required from a pick.
  
  
  
  Overcoming the cons of finger picking
  
  
  A guitar player could overcome the con of not being able to move back and forth on a single string by using more than one finger on one string. With five fingers this could be more effective than using a pick. Playing 5 harmonies or 2 harmonies and three bass lines, etc., are also possible advancements, though it would take a lot of practice to be able to do this. To overcome the difficult multitasking of finger picking, a player simply needs to practice more.
  
  
  The only way to overcome the cons of picking is to use a pick and fingers, which is known as hybrid picking. This would enable a guitarist to play more than one string at a time that aren’t adjacent and a bass line with a harmony, or two harmonies, etc^. However, knowledge of finger picking is necessary to do this, and since two fingers are used to hold the pick, only four strings can be played as opposed to the five possible with finger picking.
  
  

  Styles of finger picking

• Fingerstyle classical guitar
  • Plays two melodies
• Travis picking
  • Plucks a different string with a different finger in a certain pattern
• American primitive guitar
  • Plucks an alternating bass line with chords
  • Uses alternate tunings
• "New Age" fingerstyle:
  • Plucks a bass line and plays arpeggios
• Slack-key guitar

_ • Plucks an alternating bass line while playing a melody on the higher strings
_ • Uses alternative tunings

• Fingerstyle jazz guitar
  • A mixture of any of the other finger picking styles. Some fingerstyle jazz is played with chords and a melody, with a bass line and chordal melodies, etc. Jazz guitar is characterized by the selective notes that are played and how they are played, but the actual technique of the finger picking is a culmination and mixture of all other styles of finger picking, often within a single song.

Alternate picking

Alternate picking is a picking movement going down/up/down/up and so on. This picking motion is normally more efficient then down strokes or up strokes, because of the economy of movement required to it the strings. When mastered correctly, alternate picking can be the player base foundation of speedpicking. Almoust every player known altenate picks, some of the most proficient ones in this technique are: John Petrucci, Michael Angelo, Rusty Cooley...

Directional picking

For ascending scales going higher in pitch, first do a down stroke, then upstroke, then downstroke, then repeat the downstroke when you go to the next higher string in pitch. This is similar to string sweeping, except the player will be executing scales. When going from higher pitched strings to lower pitched strings, upstroke, downstroke, upstroke, next lower string, upstroke, downstroke, upstroke. By repeating this pattern, excess motion is minimized. Additionally, this picking posture lessens tension in the hand and arm, giving more fluidity for scales.

Chiken Picking

Chiken Picking or Hybrid Picking is misture of pick picking and finger picking. Normally the player holds the pick with thumb and index finger, picking the string, and utilizing the middle and ring finger to finger pick adjacent strings.