FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Celtic Guitar

Question:
I've been playing around with some traditional Celtic fingerstyle guitar for a few months now, and I have a quick question about technique for the right (picking) hand. When playing a faster tune, such as the Blarney Pilgrim (a jig), and you are playing a run of identical bass notes with your thumb, and a run of identical bass or treble notes with your index/middle fingers, what's the most affective way of using your two fingers?  Use the same one quickly?  Alternate between the two?  Use the same one, but in an up or down motion (using the tip and the back of the tip)?  

Answer:
I'd suggest alternating the fingers. If you're playing my published arrangement, don't hesitate to cheat a little--I do.... That’s a good question and there is not one answer. Depending on whether your crossing strings of not will affect your right hand choice. Often, for fast single line passages I alternate between thumb and first finger. This takes a lot of practice but ultimately your can really play fast AND rhythmically, which is imperative to capture the spirit of a lot of traditional music. Classical guitarists would generally either use the thumb alone or first and second finger, but generally not thumb and fingers...on a scaller passage, that is. If you are playing in open tunings (DADGAD or G sus) you may  find that those runs will comfortably fall on adjacent strings. This is ideal as you can really get a good rhythmic bounce employing the thumb and first finger. As an exercise practice scales using thumb, (I assume you use a thumb pick?) and first finger. GO SLOW at first and be deliberate. Strive for a solid attack on each note. You can create unlimited variations on this. 2 notes per scale step, 4 notes per scale step...It's a worthwhile technique to master.