Strumming vs Fingerstyle

I love strumming but oh man I can not wait to start learning fingerstyle :drooling_face:. But I have to wait until I get there, it’s ok, I actually like this necessary patience when learning. Slowly getting better, like the XP on a game. Let’s keep going!

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I’ve tried a few but never long enough to make them work. Didn’t feel the need to. The thumb pick makes a big difference for me on some songs. I’m overall happy with my mixture of strumming and fingerstyle.

Like most dichotomies, e.g. ā€œstrum or pickā€:
 they typically proof false under examination.

We live in a multi hued universe that we sadly over simplify when reducing complex ideas to ā€œA or Bā€

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same here.
Maybe you can ask me to only take only one album or one guitar to a lonely island, but I won’t offend my fingers to do either, even hoping that I’ll learn more playing styles. fingerpicking, strumming, pick-strumming… :slight_smile:

Well said!
I think that while it’s human and often ok to simplify things, people should above all not forget about this and question things more often (and their feelings/beliefs).

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Well, it doesn’t hurt to start early with a few excercises if you can’t wait. I started before it came in Justin’s lessons and I was glad I did.
But if you want to strictly follow his schedule, it certainly doesn’t hurt either :slight_smile:

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I mean I can wait, it’s just an expression :smiling_face:

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I like to strum but I can do a little bit of fingerstyle. I tried to use youtube to help but I couldn’t find a good video. So all this to say stick with Justin guitar. It is the best!!!

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Justin is awesome.

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Agread! I enjoy guitar so much becouse of him!!! And you all😁!

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Since I don’t have to pick, I choose BOTH. and I practice both. They’re both required for me to become the player I want to be.

Both skills are required to play Blues the way I want to play it. Most electric Blues players use both methods, and use both a pick and fingers on the strings.

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I do both as well but I rarely do songs with a FP pattern through most and indeed never the whole song. Instead I do what I call ā€œsong arrangement half - —s FP’ing chord melodyā€ trying to capture the song’s vibe and reflect the melody line and points of emphasis in the lyrics or melody while still keeping some rhythm going. Since I sing along about 90% of the time and since most core melody notes (save passing tones) are almost always chord tones, it seems to ā€œsort ofā€ work. But it also means I almost never play the same song twice in exactly the same way.

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I have this weird (I think its weird?) thing where I have trouble picking ā€œNorwegian Wood / Wish You Where Hereā€ with a plectrum but have no problem finger picking ā€œHurt, Johnny Cashā€ ? Really irritating as I’ve been practicing ā€œWish You Where Hereā€ for ages and keep messing it up.

When you first learned the finger picking you programmed it correctly into your memory. When you learned with a plectrum you made too many mistakes and programmed the mistakes into your memory.

It’s not unusual, I fall into the same trap often. Here’s a suggestion for unlearning mistakes:
Isolate the section where you make a mistake, it might only be a few notes. Make that a practice exercise. Slow down and get it right. Try to get it right 5 times in a row. If you make a mistake the count goes back to 0 and start again.

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@Chris_m Thanks, I’ll do that. Hopefully I’ll sort out the mistakes I’ve learned.

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Hi Gordon, I also find picking with a plectrum much more challenging than fingerpicking. It feels to me that the movements needed for fingerpicking are more closely related to how we use our fingers daily (think of typing) than is picking with a plectrum. With a plectrum, we’re holding a tool and manipulating the tool to make contact with the (appropriate) strings.

The exercise Chris suggests (identifying a problem area and practicing just that) is sound for any guitar skill. Back to typing: I remember in school typing pairs of letters over and over until it became automatic. Boring, but very effective!

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Hi Judi, yeah it makes sense about slowing it right down and practicing. I did that yesterday its early days but it seems to be helping. I also see what you mean about the feel of finger picking being more like how we use our hands and fingers.