Don’t skip working on your right hand. Finger picking is easy once you get the hang of it. You don’t need long nails or finger picks, you can if you want, but the pads of your fingers will work just fine.
Now when I say finger picking, I’m not talking about hybrid picking, etc. I’m talking about your thumb, index, middle and ring fingers. There are many techniques and styles, tons of great players, but I’m just going to cover the basics. Where you go from there is up to you.
Fingers are referred to:
P – Thumb
I – Index
M – Middle
A – Ring
Just remember PIMA. Those are the fingers we will be referring to from here on out. Typically, when finger picking the thumb will cover the lowest 3 strings and index, middle and ring will cover the highest strings. There are exceptions to this rule and you should break it. But for learning, stick to this rule.
Thumb
The thumb is the most important of them all. He is the timekeeper. He is the bass line. He thumps, he slaps, he alternates and makes things magical. Let’s focus on the thumb for now.
The first thing we will do is play quarter notes on the low E string with our thumb. Use a metronome and play the open E string for every click. Count aloud as you play 1-2-3-4. The count is below each bar. The letters across the top of the bar indicate which right hand finger you should be using to play the note.
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
E-----------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------
E--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0--
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Do the same for the G (3rd fret) on the low E string.
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
E-----------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------
E--3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3--
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Now move to the A string play it open. Same thing quarter notes.
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
E-----------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------
A--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0--
E-----------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Play the C (3rd fret) on the A string one note per click.
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
E-----------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------
A--3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3--
E-----------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Move to the D string play it open.
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
E-----------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
D--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0--
A-----------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Play the E (2nd fret) on the D string one note per click.
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
E-----------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
D--2-2-2-2---2-2-2-2---2-2-2-2---2-2-2-2--
A-----------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4