Top 5 Fingerpicking Guitar Mistakes [And How To Avoid Them]

[@stuartarnold4495]

All good advice Simon, I’m sure my mistakes will haunt me but bit by bit thanks to videos like this I can correct things. Thanks.

[@acousticguitarlessons]

You are welcome Stuart! Yes, any deficiency in technique can be corrected and in a lot less time than you may think. It is about the discipline needed to make the change. Many opt to continue doing whatever feels easiest in the moment. This is rarely ever the best way to do something.

[@mookytc]

I have had trouble finding a thumb pick that fits. Lots of good tips here thank you.

[@acousticguitarlessons]

You are welcome Mookytc :) I really like the Fred Kelly bumble bee thumbpicks, you could try those. I am not affiliated in anyway, but they are a great thumbpick. Also, putting a thumb pick in hot water will have it expand if it is too tight

[@mookytc]

@@acousticguitarlessons Thanks Simon! I will check those Fred Kelly picks out (assuming these are the ones - The Bumblebee is a unique combo of a flat pick and thumb pick all rolled into one). Really enjoy your lessons. - Dave

[@acousticguitarlessons]

@@mookytc yes, those are the thumb picks. There are other kinds of thumb picks available too that are worth trying

[@andrewjaramillo]

I would like to learn Travis picking. However I'm still a beginner. Is it too soon for me to learn this technique?

[@acousticguitarlessons]

Hi Andrew, not necessarily too soon. By beginner, do you mean you can play basic chords to a basic level (open chords)?. If so, you could begin with basic Travis Picking techniques

[@tsiiphsycoii]

Thanks for the video :) Do you have any videos on alternative fingerings of chords for fingerstyle?

[@acousticguitarlessons]

Can you clarify/elaborate on what you mean by "alternative" fingerings of chords for fingerstyle?

[@tsiiphsycoii]

@@acousticguitarlessons the thumb over F or the G with ring finger on 6th string?

[@acousticguitarlessons]

@@tsiiphsycoii can you point me to the specific part of the video, like a time stamp where your question relates? Are you asking for alternate ways to fret the F and G chord as opposed to using your thumb/ring finger etc?

[@tsiiphsycoii]

@@acousticguitarlessons I'm asking if you have a video where you go over alternative ways to fret chords which are better suited for fingerpicking.

[@acousticguitarlessons]

@@tsiiphsycoii no I don't. There aren't really any ways to fret chords for fingerpicking specifically. How you fret a chord, whatever style you play, comes down to the context. I could do a video on this as I think it's a good topic you have brought up :)

[@bustercherry8734]

I noticed that i rarely use my middle finger when fingerpicking. Mostly just thumb, index and ring finger. But one problem i have and it's super annoying is my ring finger always clips the high E string by accident. Like, at least a couple times per song. And it still manages to happen somehow even if i trim that fingernail until it's bleeding. It's really annoying and i can't stop it.

[@acousticguitarlessons]

@bustercherry8734, it sounds like you need to adjust the positioning of your picking hand perhaps. This will take discipline to do. You need to spend time really focusing on it. Maybe if you used your middle finger it might help?

[@bustercherry8734]

@@acousticguitarlessons Yeah, i probably just need to practice more. I just started fingerpicking/travis picking a few months ago when i discovered Blaze Foley. Best songwriter ever in my opinion. And practically nobody knows who he is. I've learned a few songs of his now including Clay Pigeons (which is one of the best songs ever. Simple but great), Small Town Hero and i'm just starting to learn Oval Room. Both of those songs are amazing as well. But it's weird, after learning those songs, i didn't even realize i wasn't using my middle finger literally not once. I should probably start to try and use it. Might help lol.

[@JimBranch-n9h]

@@bustercherry8734 I too rarely use my middle finger. I almost always use my ring finger when playing Clay Pigeons and all other songs. If I notice I'm not using my middle finger I try to sneak it in there in place of the ring finger. I want to use 4 fingers. Maybe when I get a little better. I've only been playing since I was 15. I just turned 73. I took 30 years off (life gets in the way) but have played at least every other day for 13 straight years.

[@bustercherry8734]

​@@JimBranch-n9h Nice. I'm kinda the same in the sense that i took a bunch of time off from playing too. I started when i was 15 i think. 43 now. I pretty much stopped altogether from around 27 til just a couple years ago. Just kinda lost interest, i guess. The whole time, i picked up the acoustic once every few months or so for about 10 minutes and played the few things that i remembered. Been playing quite a bit i guess now, but still get lazy with it and don't play for days sometimes. Been working on getting a decent cover of Clay Pigeons done. I had one uploaded but deleted it cause it was too fast. I find it hard to play it as slow as Blaze plays it. But i've been getting it down better lately. Hopefully have a cover up soon. I'll put the link to my other channel i upload my stuff to in another reply if you ever want to check it out. KZbin might hide this reply if there's a link in it. And if you don't see the reply with the link, you'll have to sort comments by newest first then scroll down to my comment. I do mostly death metal vocal covers on my channel though so you'll have to sift through those to get to the acoustic/singing covers lol. And i'm still never using my middle finger either. Unless it's to flip off the neighbors lol jk.

[@bustercherry8734]

@@JimBranch-n9h And sorry for the late reply and the short story lol