Strumming with fingers

[eddieboston2]

I play a lot of songs that go back and forth between fingerpicking and strumming. I've never been too happy with the sound I get by strumming with my fingers, though I've tried different approaches. Does anybody have a technique that they think works better than others?

[rjoxyz]

I try to get my thumb and index nails together as close as possible (like pinching something between the end of the thumb and forefinger). I am using the the index nail in the downstroke and the thumbnail coming back up.

[kkyle]

I try to get my thumb and index nails together as close as possible (like pinching something between the end of the thumb and forefinger). I am using the the index nail in the downstroke and the thumbnail coming back up.

 

Your fingernails turn black?

[guitarist21]

Your fingernails turn black?

 

 

Mine do!! Very annoying! My forefinger gets totally black everytime I play. It hits the strings when I'm flatpicking. People think I have, like, a disease or something. And it TOTALLY showed through my nail polish for prom. Not a fan of this! New strings, old strings- doesn't matter. Very gross.

 

Ellen

[angus_old]

whale at the strings with your middle fingernail

[rjoxyz]

I generally stick to either fingerstyle and if strumming chords, use a pick. Don't strum with fingernails that often, really. However, I don't worry about my nails...I last went to a prom in 1977!

[captain average]

chicken pick. pick the bassline with a flatpick and pick the other strings with your middle and ring (and pinky if it works). then you can strum with the pick. or just learn to pick in a way that sounds like fingerpicking.

[guitarist21]

I generally stick to either fingerstyle and if strumming chords, use a pick. Don't strum with fingernails that often, really. However, I don't worry about my nails...I last went to a prom in 1977!

 

 

I use a pick too, but for some reason I must have a weird strumming style, because my forefinger fingernail hits the strings when I strum.

 

I don't usually worry too much about my nails either (how CAN you with ugly callouses and short fingernails and stuff) but I probably should not have played too much before I started getting ready for prom. It was gross; my one nail was darker than the others. Wasn't a huge deal, really, but it got a lot of questions.

 

Ellen

[rjoxyz]

chicken pick. pick the bassline with a flatpick and pick the other strings with your middle and ring (and pinky if it works). then you can strum with the pick. or just learn to pick in a way that sounds like fingerpicking.

 

 

 

Oh, how I wish...easier said than done. Everytime I see hybrid picking done well, I just shake my head. The guy in my avatar is a master at it.

[drnihili]

I try to get my thumb and index nails together as close as possible (like pinching something between the end of the thumb and forefinger). I am using the the index nail in the downstroke and the thumbnail coming back up.

 

 

I do something similar, but I don't pinch my fingers together. Nails of my first three fingers going down, thumbnail coming back up. Sometimes I vary which nails on my first three fingers I use to alter the sound slightly. I keep my hand slightly open, so my thumb isn't touching the other fingers.

[DonK]

I do something similar, but I don't pinch my fingers together. Nails of my first three fingers going down, thumbnail coming back up. Sometimes I vary which nails on my first three fingers I use to alter the sound slightly. I keep my hand slightly open, so my thumb isn't touching the other fingers.

 

 

That's the way I do it too. I use a pick a good bit too, and use it to hybrid pick as well as strum, but I use the above style for songs that involve Travis or other fingerpicking along with strumming.

[fatback]

I use the back of may nails first three fingers on the down stroke, tips of the nails on the upstroke with some skin. thumb used for damping or provide bass notes. Tend to slip between finger picking and strumming a lot in any given song, but I do not play any song purely strumming.

Phil

[moctzal]

I strum bare-handed. When I strum down I use my index or middle finger and my thumb up. To get a better ringing sound, I angle the tip of my fingernail into the direction of the strum rather than away. I get a lounder more ringing sound.

[Verence]

I strum with the fleshy part of my thumb (if I have to strum without a pick). I don't like the soud of fingernail strumming except when used in certain ways.

[slodge]

I used a pick for years, and then, about five years ago, started finger strumming. I have kids, and originally I did it because it was quieter and it made it easier to play while they were sleeping (or to put them to sleep.)

 

I found myself liking the mellower sound, and now do it as a choice a lot more.

 

My "technique" is to hold an imaginary pick between the thumb and either the index or middle finger, but like everything else I've taught myself, it's probably wrong.

[garthman]

I fingerpick probably 75% of the time. I will occasionally intersperse the fingerpicking with some strumming - I tend to use the nails of my first three fingers and / or thumb (both nail and flesh). I use a plectrum for flatpicking.

[eddieboston2]

I guess for me the hard part is the upstroke. Maybe I'll trying growing that thumbnail a bit longer.

[MattSkibaIsGOD]

i do the imaginary pick between thumb and index and use the nail on my index finer to hit the strings. Or if I am playing something slow and mellow, i just use the side of my thumb.

[Bernie P.]

Have you tried just using a thumbpick?I recall reading something about one of them designed to wear on your thumb but also held with the index finger as well so it could work just like a flatpick a ways back.I think the idea behind it was to make it harder to drop while playing than the conventional type.

[fatback]

Have you tried just using a thumbpick?I recall reading something about one of them designed to wear on your thumb but also held with the index finger as well so it could work just like a flatpick a ways back.I think the idea behind it was to make it harder to drop while playing than the conventional type.

 

 

I think thats the bumble bee. I had one it was neither fish or foul.

 

Phil

[brahmz118]

Aimee Mann holds a flatpick against her palm with her ring finger and pinky, fingerpicks with 3 fingers, then whips out the pick for strumming. It takes some practice to do it smoothly, but when it works it's like a magic trick. Hey, where did that pick come from? And where did it go?

[Krash]

Have you tried just using a thumbpick?I recall reading something about one of them designed to wear on your thumb but also held with the index finger as well so it could work just like a flatpick a ways back.I think the idea behind it was to make it harder to drop while playing than the conventional type.

[zenbu]

I do most of my strumming with my thumb, rest my ring or middle finger on the top and volume depends on how much of my nail I use. These days I play mostly nylon Dynamics but even when I switch to steels I use the same...I hesitiate to call it...technique. There was a time at first when I had pain in the tip of my thumb but not any more...works for me.