finger picking

I use only my thumb, index, and middle fingers: I tend to keep my thumb on the E, A, and D strings, my index finger on the G and B strings, and my middle finger on the high E string. There are times, though, when it may be easier to break those rules and maybe use the thumb on higher strings, like on Simon and Garfunkle's "Bookends." If I have to pluck two of the G, B, or E strings, I find it easier to use my thumb on the lower of the two strings. That's just how I do things :D .

If I remember right from my lessons, classical fingerstyle does not assign fingers to certain strings.
In practical application it is good to be able to play with any finger anyhwere.
I play mostly fingerstyle myself and I pick with whatever finger combinations are easiest and flow the most smoothly depending on what song I am playing.
Examples:
House of the Rising Sun I play with assign fingers just like you mentioned.
Cats in the Cradle my fingers move all over the strings.

There's a definate difference between classical (let's call that FS for Finger Style) and folk (let's call that FP for Finger Picking). The majority of rock and pop finger guitar pieces use FP.

In FP, you assign a finger to a string. Thumb (P in picking hand notation) gets the 3 bass strings, index (I) the G, middle (M) the B, and ring (A) the E.

That gives you the advantage of always having your fingers in one place. You'd finger a chord, and the picking pattern you choose simply replaces a strumming pattern. You'd play a pattern like P-I-M-A-M-I or P-I-M-I-A-I-M-I, and you're there. You can become a fair FP player with just a few weeks practice - even mixing up the patterns with alternating bass notes etc.

In FS there aren't regular patterns. The fingers are picking individual melody notes, and assigning fingers to strings won't share the work evenly. Let's say you've got a pattern that's bass note followed by three notes on the same string - trying to contract and replace the same finger in rapid sequence just doesn't work.

A classical guitarist might play a figure like that using PIMI, PMIM, PMAM, PAMA, PIMA, or PAMI picking, depending on what note sequences come before/after it. Since there are so many different possible ways to pick a phrase fluidly, and each finger 'floats' to any string, it takes a lot longer to learn... I've heard that developing good classical guitar picking technique requires an average of five years' practice.

Some styles will mix techniques from the two general apporoaches. I do some finger pieces in blues and ragtime styles that use PIM for a bass pattern, and MA for melody notes at the same time. This is a little tricky at first, but the learning curve is months, not years

thanks for the replys guy's, right now i'm focused on reading the staff playing the string and being on the right fret :oops: . it is pretty much what ever finger plays the string and my teacher seems to be ok with that.. man some times it's like multi tasking on steroids more than my 46 yr old graymatter can handle....

I'd stick with it - the Grade exams for classical guitar requre you to play scales using i-m-i-m- or m-i-m-i, at entry level, and higher grade can ask for them to be played m-a-m-a or i-m-a- so don't give up on it. It's a great warmup routine, too.

Best,

A :-)