Right Hand technique for Guitar Most of what makes a good guitarist is in the right hand. I know in the beginning you’re focused on getting your left-hand fingers into the chord shapes. But once you’ve got that mastered, it’s mostly right hand technique. In all that follows the goal is variety, having lots of possibilities in your toolkit. In general, whether picking single notes or strumming, the right hand is doing an up-down motion. (The exception is finger picking, and we’ll get to that in a moment.) When strumming you’ve typically got 8 beats per measure. If you strike every single stroke, you’ve got a recipe for boredom. You create a unique and appropriate pattern by which strokes you leave out. Here’s a straight pattern: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & . (The &s are the up strokes.) Here’s something different: 1 & 2 3 & &. You’ve left out two of the strokes. The point being there are 255 possible combinations. Find a pattern that fits that moment in the song. Keep in mind, the right hand keeps its up and down rhythm all the time. The only question is whether the pick or finger makes contact with the strings. Despite my feelings about adding variety to a strum, I find 8 unrelenting down-strokes per measure extremely effective in creating a driving rhythm. I will often mute the strings when doing so. Guitars ring out and sustain their notes. It’s one of their nice qualities. But if you want “driving rhythm,” sustain ruins the attack. So I will often let the outside edge of my right hand rest gently on the strings near the bridge as I strike the strings. It’s one of the coolest effects you can add to your repertoire. One final thought on strums. The most common strum is down. Sometimes I’ll throw in a slow up strum. It’s a totally different feel. One more tool. Should you use a pick or your finger? Pick up your guitar and play a single note with your finger. Now play the same note with a pick. Can you hear the difference? I love the sound of the picked string. When plucked with a finger-pad, it sounds duller to me. So I’m a devote of the pick. However, there are a number of good reasons for using finger-picking: You’ll never lose your picks. It’s easy to play something complex and delightful. And finally, I think it’s easier to avoid mistakes. If you plant a pinkie on the guitar and keep your fingers above the string they’re assigned to strike, it’s hard to go wrong when you’re playing in front of people. When flat-picking, that guitar pick is constantly moving between strings and if you’ve got the adrenaline of a live performance blasting your muscles, you can miss a string. If you decide to finger pick, you can still use picks (or fingernails if you can grow strong ones – some of us can’t), but the thumb-pick used by finger-pickers lacks the control of a flat-pick. Flat-picking uses a pick held between your thumb and first finger. For what it’s worth, the way beginner books typically show how the pick should be held is not at all the way the pros do it. Hold the pick with the point pointing toward your wrist. You’ll be striking the strings with one of the more curved edges. Now choke up on it a little. You should only be able to see a quarter of an inch sticking out below you fingers. The next piece of advice took me years to figure out. When I first went to flat-picking camp I couldn’t keep up with the bluegrass pickers. I couldn’t play that fast. I was using a lot of wrist motion to create the movement of the pick. I’ve found I can play faster by freezing my wrist and moving from my elbow. My only warning here is to listen to the sound of the guitar. There are many guitarists who unpleasantly bang on the guitar. And it’s easier to do that when you’ve got your wrist locked. Have enough flexibility in your fingers to create a quality tone. And again, develop a consistent up and down motion with the pick. Primary beats are down strokes. The & beats are up strokes. More than anything you want to have options when you play. If you’ve only learned one basic finger-picking pattern, that pattern won’t always fit the nature of the song. And over the course of several songs it will become tedious for the listener, and perhaps even for you. Sometime you want a consistent pattern in a song. But sometimes you’ll be better off constantly changing your approach such that there is no pattern. You’re picking out individual notes within the chord beneath your hand because they feel right. Let the line dictate how it’s played. Being able to do so takes time, and maybe you’ll have to learn a bunch of patterns to get there. But, to me, that’s the goal. One final option is a hybrid of flat and finger picking. I hold the flat-pick normally plus have picks on the middle and ring finger. I’ve never loved the sound of metal picks hitting the string in the moment before picking the string, so I use a brand called Alaska picks that don’t cover your finger pads and more perfectly match the way a nail works. This approach gives me three different picks I can call on at any moment. That’s one less than you’ve got available when finger-picking. But I find it more than adequate.
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