Fingerstyle guitar: Difference between revisions

 

==North American tradition==

[[File:Dire Straits 1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Mark Knopfler]], performing with his band [[Dire Straits]] in 1981, demonstrates his fingerpicking style on a Fender Stratocaster solid-body guitar]]

'''Fingerpicking''' (also called thumb picking, [[alternating bass]], or pattern picking) is a term that is used to describe both a playing style and a genre of music. It falls under the "fingerstyle" heading because it is plucked by the fingers, but it is generally used to play a specific type of folk, country-jazz and/or blues music. In this technique, the thumb maintains a steady rhythm, usually playing "alternating bass" patterns on the lower three strings, while the index, or index and middle fingers pick out melody and fill-in notes on the high strings. The style originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as southern African-American [[blues]] guitarists tried to imitate the popular [[ragtime]] [[piano]] music of the day, with the guitarist's thumb functioning as the pianist's left hand, and the other fingers functioning as the right hand. The first recorded examples were by players such as [[Blind Blake]], [[Big Bill Broonzy]], [[Memphis Minnie]] and [[Mississippi John Hurt]]. Some early blues players such as [[Blind Willie Johnson]] and [[Tampa Red]] added [[slide guitar]] techniques.