Although often overlooked, fingerpicking is an essential skill for any guitar player. By learning to use your fingers individually, you can open up a world of new possibilities on the guitar. While essential to such musical styles as folk, classical and flamenco, fingerpicking can be effectively applied in a wide range of musical contexts, from jazz fusion to indie rock.
Lessonface guitar teachers Leah Kruszewski and October Crifasi have written several introductory articles about fingerpicking for the Lessonface blog. Although these two teachers represent different schools of guitar playing--Ms. Kruszewski's approach is rooted in the Spanish flamenco style, and played primarily on nylon-string guitar, while Ms. Crifasi deals more with the folk tradition, played on steel strings--there is a definite common thread between their respective views on fingerpicking. In particular, both teachers focus on using the four-finger "p i m a" system to play arpeggios fluidly across the strings (if you don't know what those words mean, don't worry--you're about to find out!).
Take a look at the blog posts via the links below, and consider the similarities and differences between Ms. Kruszewski's and Ms. Crifasi's approaches to fingerpicking. What features are common to both approaches? In what ways do the two approaches differ? Do you find one approach more effective, and if so, which one? Be sure to leave your answers and any additional questions in the comments!
Leah Kruszewski's article: https://www.lessonface.com/content/build-your-own-classical-guitar-warm-part-2-arpeggios
October Crifasi's article: https://www.lessonface.com/content/introduction-fingerpicking-video-tutorial
