Hi,
I'd very much like to get some opinions on what fingers you personally use when you strum along to something like 'Folsom Prison Blues' as in Beginner's Lesson 33 ( https://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/folsom-prison-blues-your-cheating-heart/ ).
I use the thumb to pick the root note (as you generally would), then use (the nail of) my index finger to do the up-down strum. This has always worked ok for me, but I see lots of people using the thumb for their first down stroke, then the index finger for the up-stroke. It often sounds quite effective, more so on electric guitar when some players can get an absolutely beautiful bluesy tone. Whenever I use my thumb for the downstroke, it sounds weak and dull, hence my tendency to use the nail of the index finger.
I was wondering how you generally play these songs, or how you do strum in general, with the thumb, index or other fingers? Do you use your nails, or the fleshy part?
- And my apologies if this has been covered before, I briefly checked the titles but didn't come across anything similar -
I personally play acoustic guitar just like you. If I am fingerpicking, I use my thumb on the bass strings, then assign my index finger to the G string, middle to the B string, and ring finger to the high E string. Now, this was how I learned practicing Ragtime guitar many years ago, but that's how I do it. When strumming, I will often pluck the bass line with my thumb, but strum both up and down using my index finger. And if if have to play a little single note run I pinch my thumb and index together just as I would do holding a pick, and pick with the tip of my index finger.
Now, that's how I do it, there is no right or wrong to this stuff. I agree 100% with you that strumming with the thumb sounds muffled, I do not like that sound either. I have always preferred my index for strumming, plus it is far quicker than my thumb. Believe it or not, when I want to do some super-fast alternating strumming, I use my middle finger, it is even faster than my index.
So, don't be overly concerned what others think. There are guitarists that use every combination possible to pick and strum. Often, it is those that use their own unique method that have very unique style.
I know this is electric guitar, but look at Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. Probably 99% of electric guitarists use a pick, but not Mark. He said in an interview once that using his fingers is when he finally found his own sound. And he is awesome. Look at all the different ways he picks and strums.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
I use the thumb and also the fingers for upstrokes and also downstrokes. I mean sometimes I use the thumb nail and also the thumb flesh, and the same for the fingers. You can get different tones. It depends on the song, the part of the song, and the way I play it at each moment. Practically I never use a pick for strumming although I do it sometimes.
On Knopfler. Once I read he developed that technique because his first guitar was very bad and he had to play in this way in order to avoid unwanted noises, he tries to obtain the best possible sound.
