ByersMarco127

How To Strum A Guitar With no Pick

acoustic guitar lessons - How you can strum a guitar with no pick is really a question beginners and advancing guitarists often ask, specially as they become excited through the discovery of recent guitar styles. Meaning of strumming versus plucking

"The left hand may be the smart one, while the right executes"

This famous phrase was the response given by Paco de Lucia on the Spanish tv show several decades back. It did indeed cause him a lot of suffering when it comes to physical injuries. Those injuries were inflicted by a group of extreme right wing fanatics because they decided that Paco's response had political connotations.

The question resulting from the interviewer was: "As a guitarist, which of the two hands carries the biggest challenge?"

As with Paco's answer, yes, it is correct that the right hand executes the notes prepared (or fretted) through the left hand, in addition to open strings. (Please note the example covers right handed guitarists, obviously the opposite holds true for left handed guitarists).

To learn how to strum an instrument with no pick, there are various techniques by which this can be accomplished, however they all fit in with either of the following main groups:

Plucking and
Strumming

Plucking is when each string is picked individually. This can be done in succession, as with executing arpeggios, or concurrently, as in "claw hammer" style.

Strumming is when the strings of an instrument are took part in fast succession, one by one, inside a sweeping motion, which may be descending, ascending, or a mixture of.

Using the possible exception of some "rasgueado",( I'll come back to this later) strumming is always done over several strings consecutively. Plucking can be done either using claws and thumb picks, as in banjo styles, or with bare fingers or natural nails, as in classical and flamenco guitar styles.

Strumming can be done using a plectrum, aka pick, or with bare fingers or natural nails. We'll focus on this short article regarding how to strum a guitar with no pick.

Bare hand strumming styles

The fundamental finger strumming styles can be divided into three main groups:

Thumb strumming Index or index and thumb strumming "Rasgueado" or ripping style

Plus all mixtures of any of the three listed above.

Thumb strumming

Perhaps the most basic of the bare hand styles. Thumb strumming is done by resting either the small finger or both little and ring fingers of the right-hand on the body, underside from the strings and running the end from the thumb across the strings.

The motion could be descending only ( most common), ascending and descending (less common) and ascending only ( rare). If we grow the nails around the right-hand, the descending stroke will be done by the nail hitting the strings, which gives a far more percussive tone and sharp attack.

The ascending motion is definitely done by the nail striking the string. This method doesn't involve any wrist movement, hence the small finger sitting on the body of the guitar. Some typical uses are in playing jazz ballads, specially one chord per bar type songs. The very notorious jazz player Wes Montgomery used thumb strumming as his main right hand technique. To learn efficiently how to strum a guitar without a pick, it will likely be very beneficial that people observe such players and learn from them.

Index or index plus thumb strumming

Perhaps probably the most popular way of strumming a steel string acoustic guitar, although not necessarily exclusive to. The basic motion is, since it's names indicates, completed with the index finger alone, or both index and thumb pressed together.

acoustic guitar - When having fun with the index finger alone, the ascending stroke will attack the strings using the back tip of the finger, or nail, based on whether we've grown it.

The downward motion always requires the finger nail striking the strings. When using finger and thumb together, the ascending stroke will invariably attack the strings with the thumb's nail.

Again, nail attack is sharper and brighter. The most crucial thing about this way is the wrist movement. The correct ways of executing the strokes are: Before beginning the down stroke, the back of the hand is facing slightly upwards. To execute the down stroke, the arm must descend gently as the cuff is rotated inwards and the index finger attacks the strings starting in the The upstroke is done exactly reversing the down stroke, beginning to rotate the cuff first, then raisin the forearm while the finger begins attacking the strings We are able to choose to grow the finger nails based on what sound and tone we are attempting to accomplish

"Rasgueado" or ripping style

Probably the most difficult of the strumming techniques may be the "rasgueado". The reason behind the reason being it involves more muscles from the right-hand than the other styles, even though it does not require a rotation of the wrist for the down stroke.

The fundamental technique starts by making a fist using the thumb extended away from the hand. The palm of the hand holds the tip from the fingers, which are primed to spring out. Then, as the arm lowers the hand onto the strings, we spring each finger with force in rapid succession, beginning with the index. Some players will release the index first, as the most typical technique is to produce the little finger first and index last.

This creates a ripping effect since four fingers are hitting several strings, creating a very percussive, drumming and dry sound.

The upstroke, if required, is done usually using the upper part of the thumb, the nail, requiring then for that wrist to be rotated. Styles done with only the down stroke would be tango plus some flamenco "palos". Styles completed with both are mostly flamenco styles or "palos", rumba, and other South American styles such as milonga. Just about all players possess a firm foundation regarding how to strum an instrument with no pick.

Combinations of the above

guitar chord charts - Most flamenco guitar players, such as Paco de Lucia allow us very advanced right hand approaches to accessory for those explained above

This concludes the description from the basic styles based on how to strum an instrument without a pick.