How to do guitar plucking

Philippines
April 19, 2010 7:16am CST
I've been playing the guitar for quite some time now (my mother taught me) but I'm still figuring out how to do the plucking thing. What I only know is the usual strumming. I want to learn the plucking thing because some songs are nicer to be played that way. Is there any techniques on how to do it? I badly want to learn :-)
1 person likes this
7 responses
@JAYMAR777 (840)
• Philippines
19 Apr 10
Hmmm. I suggest you buy a good book for different plucking patterns. Different music has different way of doing the plucking aka finger picking technique. Like the country, bossanova, platters, bye bye, and many others they really need to be learned. Anyway you may start with positioning the heel of your hand (plucking) resting on the guitar. Your thumb is used for the bass strings 6-5-4. your index finger for 3rd string, the middle finger for the 2nd string, and the ring finger for the 1st string. these fingers as much as possible should only be used for the assigned strings to begin with. Start a slow song. start to use the thumb first for the bass like if your song is in key of G, strike the 6 string in the 3rd fret, and the fingers using 3-2-1 pattern, then thumb again and the strings. when the chord changed to C the thumb strike the 5th strings on the 3rd strings. and the 3-2-1 strings again. I hope i helped you somehow hahah. and by the way repetition is the mother of learning. So when I started, I repeated a certain song for than 50 times so that my finger gets accustomed to this way of playing.
• Philippines
20 Apr 10
Wow! Thanks for the free lesson there, JAYMAR777. Hehe. I'll start practicing later after work what you told me. And JerusalemFolk, thank you also. I'll try your advice. Hope I'll learn quick. Thanks guys!
• Philippines
20 Apr 10
Your welcome. you can ask us from time to time. Thank you JerusalemFolk
• Malaysia
21 Apr 10
Plucking is generally what JerusalemFolk said, each finger is assign to a particular string except the pinky and the thumb which dominates three strings. I trained myself how to play the guitar and I used to practice the chords and pluck them in different orders. After that, I tried learning an entirely plucking song. I recommend Canon in D which took me quite a long time to master because I was a beginner trying to learn a song that was waaaay outta my league at the time. I would also recommend playing Boegershausen's arrangements.
@TheAdvocate (2392)
• Philippines
19 Apr 10
My nephew taught himself. He just surfed the net for free lessons and music sheets. He use to drive me crazy practicing all day long, his guitar constantly attached to him. Now I hear him play the guitar and I am impressed with his performances.
@laydee (12798)
• Philippines
19 Apr 10
All I can tell you right now is start right. There are many people who just study on their own but few would be really good at it. As a rule of thumb in any musical instrument, you should first seek an expert to show you the basics. It will help you establish a good habit of playing the musical instrument, from the posture, to the tuning and everything else. After the sessions on basic things, you could self study. But if you think you could afford to just get on with it (where most actually regret in the end for not starting out right) there are a lot of videos on youtube.
@stanley777 (9402)
• Philippines
19 Apr 10
Use the tips of your finger and yes- observe others too and do online research.. Good Luck
@acey76 (1276)
• Philippines
19 Apr 10
hi! you could by a tablature at national bookstore. it shows different song chords and how to pluck and strum them. you could also search and surf at video sites... hope this will help you do the trick .=)
@knicnax (2233)
• Philippines
19 Apr 10
The rick is starting with simple chords and just pluck away. I learned it with the D-A-G-A chords (like leaving on a jet plane and a variation of when you say nothing at all) then I pluck the 3rd to the last string, then the 2nd to the last, the last, then second to the last. The mix of string plucking depends on you since you're still starting out. Find a song that has easy chords and play away :) Hope this helps
@jeeyah (1092)
• Philippines
19 Apr 10
Hi! Plucking really depends on the song. Different songs have different plucking patterns. Maybe you can research online, or purchase a book. There are a lot of books in National Bookstore that can teach you how to pluck. It's really easy, but you need to have a good hearing ear so you'd know if the kind of plucking you're doing is the same with the sound of the original song you're trying to perform. :)