Talk:Guitar picking: Difference between revisions

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It's great that somebody contributed an article on "guitar picking," but the article, as it stands, has a good number of issues.

The "pros and cons" section lists only "pros" -- no "cons". In any case, I wouldn't characterize flatpicking versus fingerpicking as having "pros and cons" when compared to each other -- that's rather like comparing the "pros and cons" of staccato notes versus slured notes. Fingerpicking and flatpicking are simply two general categories of techniques for producing different kinds of sounds from the guitar.

Rather than "overcoming" the "cons" of the various playing methods, one needs to study them both sufficiently to be able to choose the method most appropriate to a given musical context. And practice is a good recommendation for /any/ playing method or style.

The article several times refers to the "five picks" available with fingetstyle playing. This is a bit misleading, since it is pretty rare to find a guitarist who plays with all five fingers of the right hand, and fewer stilll use the fifth finger independently. Indeed, the only common usage of the little finger in a particular fingerstyle occurs is some /rasguedo/ strums of Flamenco players. Classical technique uses only four fingers (the thumb and three fingers), and a lot of country picking uses only three. John Fahey is an excellent example of this: if you try to play some of his tunes with a four-finger technique you're going to end up with your fingers tied in knots. But if you use a three-finger banjo-style picking, a lot of his stuff is not that complex.

It is incorrect that there is only "one style" of flatpicking; there are a number of them. Frailing (all down strokes) and alternate picking are two of them.

It is quite possible to play two non-adjacent strings while flatpicking. ONe can do a fast "skip" over the middle string, or one can simply mute the intermediate strings with the left hand, while the pick plays across the muted and non-muted strings alike.

"Fingerstyle classical guitar" -- which is an odd phrase in itself -- can handle far more than just "two melodies". A skilled player can handle several voices at a time; the Bach Violin Partitas are played by classical guitarists, and some of them include 4-voice fugues. (And if a 4-voice fugue can be played on a 4-string violin, why not upon a 6-string guitar?)

The selection of examples, while all good tunes, is a bit idiosyncratic. If I wanted to give a range of fingerstyle examples, I would have included a range of players from Blind Blake, Robert Johnson, and Doc Watson; to Andreas Segovia, Julina Bream and John Williams; John Fahey, Leo Kotke; and Peter Lang; Happy Traum; Stefan Grosman; Jorma Kaukonen; Michael Hedges, and several others. For flatpicking, at least a few jazz examples: Charlie Christian; John McLaughlin; Barney Kessel; etc; some blues players like B.B. King; Roy Buchanan; etc., but what "flatpicking" usually brings to mind in the kind of fast playing of country and traditional "fiddle tunes" (some of which now gets called "celtic" guitar) by a host of pickers from David Bromberg to Roy Clark. Finally, since "hybrid" playing is mentioned, the master of that method should probably be mentioned somewhere: Chet Atkins.

At any rate, the range of styles covered by the examples should be broader.

It's a start, but it needs work.

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 * Rather than "overcoming" the "cons" of the various playing methods, one needs to study them both sufficiently to be able to choose the method most appropriate to a given musical context.  And practice is a good recommendation for /any/ playing method or style.
-* The article several times refers to the "five picks" available with fingetstyle playing.  This is a bit misleading, since it is pretty rare to find a guitarist who plays with all five fingers of the right hand, and fewer stilll use the fifth finger independently.  Indeed, the only common usage of the little finger in a particular fingerstyle occurs is some /rasguedo/ strums of Flamenco players.
+* The article several times refers to the "five picks" available with fingetstyle playing.  This is a bit misleading, since it is pretty rare to find a guitarist who plays with all five fingers of the right hand, and fewer stilll use the fifth finger independently.  Indeed, the only common usage of the little finger in a particular fingerstyle occurs is some /rasguedo/ strums of Flamenco players.  Classical technique uses only four fingers (the thumb and three fingers), and a lot of country picking uses only three.  John Fahey is an excellent example of this:  if you try to play some of his tunes with a four-finger technique you're going to end up with your fingers tied in knots.  But if you use a three-finger banjo-style picking, a lot of his stuff is not that complex.
-    Classical technique uses only four fingers (the thumb and three fingers), and a lot of country picking uses only three.  John Fahey is an excellent example of this:  if you try to play some of his tunes with a four-finger technique you're going to end up with your fingers tied in knots.  But if you use a three-finger banjo-style picking, a lot of his stuff is not that complex.
 * It is incorrect that there is only "one style" of flatpicking; there are a number of them.  Frailing (all down strokes) and alternate picking are two of them.