Fingerstyle

Hi,

could you describe what is horrible about the sound in more detail? It would help us to provide an accurate answer. Are you using distortion/overdrive on the amplifier when playing the arpeggio? Can you make the movements of the arpeggio smoothly, or is your fretting hand hitting unwanted notes when you try to play the arpeggio? Stuff like that will help us to advise you.

Scrybe

I don't use distortion. My amp is set on clean.

If I play with the pick the sound is great but when I use the fingertips of my fingers the sound is suffocated and irregular. I need to play with the nails? Or there is another solution ....

I hope this help you. if you need more infos please let me know.

Excuse me for my English. Thanks.

Ciao Isacco! 8)

Benvenuto a GN! Non ti preocupare per il tuo inglese, è migliore che il mio italiano! ;)

You don't have to use the nails necessarily. Here there are teachers and more experienced players which can help you better myself but probably the problem is the practice. The pick generates a louder sound than the fingers initially do. Try to play as slow as possible and play open chords. Practice every day and you will get it in a couple of weeks!

yup, agreed with nuno - you find that the fingers can be very inconsistent at first - e.g. your index strikes the string hard, then your middle finger barely makes a sound - it does take practise.

also, you might want to experiment with how you position your hand - in my opinion, you shouldn't play the arpeggios the way a bass player would play bass, but thats just my opinion and there could very well be people who can do this really well. I'd google some images of jeff beck, mick taylor, mark knopfler, davey graham, and classical guitarists like stepan rak, then copy their hand positions until you find one that works for you. depending on the guitar you use, your personal preference, and a whole bunch of other things, some hand positions will be really uncomfortable while others will work well. you might want to use your thumb to rest against the guitar body, or use one of your fingers to perform this task.

I use my fingernails when I have them, but I use them more on acoustics and my classical guitar than on my electric. on my electric, I tend to use the fleshy bit of my finger. but I have to practise this more myself, as practise will help callouses to form, like they have done/will do on your fretting hand, giving you more accuracy and control. right now, if I use my fingers (not my nails) I ound pretty terrible, because that part of my hand isn't used to frequent contact with bits of wire.

hope this helps

I tend to use the fleshy bit of my finger

I do the same thing only on acoustic guitar. Once you get better you'll find you can get a reasonable sound out of it. I could never get used to picks even though I continue to try as it does give more volume as mentioned earlier.

Not only do fingerpicks give more volume, they give a much brighter tone. The sharper the tip of the pick, the brighter. That adds a lot of perceived volume, too, with more of the higher harmonics being present.

ricochet has a very god point, one I always forget about since I've never found fingerpicks/thumbpicks which will fit my, um, slender fingers. I figured it was just my age when I first began, but its just my genes instead. :roll: makes robert johnson impersonations pretty easy tho'. :lol: thats why I try to use my nails...manicurists love me. :wink:

Thanks for the great advices. :lol:

It also might depend on how your guitar is set up - I could never play fingerstyle on my Stratocaster since it had light (9) strings. I switched to 10s and had it set up and now it will work - I use the tips of my fingers rather than nails.

My acoustic and my Gretsch (both with thicker strings) are easier to play fingerstyle though.

I have a Cort EVL-K4 with 046-010. I'm happy to know that you use the fingertips because in this moment it's seems impossible for me to obtain a good sound with this technique ....