Fingerpicking Styles

[nowhereismyhome]

There are many styles of fingerpicking, but I guess what I'm looking for here are patterns...here are some I know...

1) there's the "Julia" pattern: (numbers are strings)
5+1, 4, 3, 6, 2, 4

2) basic folk style: G (6, 2, 3, 1,) C (5, 2, 3, 1) D (4, 2, 3, 1)

3) arpeggiation: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4

I'm looking for more patterns...any you can think of are appreciated. Thanks.

[jester700]

Make up your own to fit various songs.

p,a,m,i or p,i,m,a are easy (where p=thumb, i=index, m=middle, a=ring - these are originally classical terms, IIRC). Once the pattern is established in your hand, it's easy to move the bass note among the lower 3 strings and shift the a,m,i group between strings 1-3 and 2-4 to accommodate the chord you play.

Does that make sense?

[nowhereismyhome]

Yeah, it does, totally, but I like the idea of the more complicated fingerpicking styles. I've made some up myself, but they're usually just in the moment and not particularly well thought out. I'm thinking along the lines of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, etc....along that kind of alt-folk line. Thanks for your help, though.

[schmuck]

Try to find some books on ragtime guitar playing. I know its sounds old and crap but they teach the basics such as the alternating bass thumb style. Believe me! if you can get your thumb to operate independantly to the other fingers on the same hand you are in a WHOLE NEW WORLD!!! Basically if you were playing piano, your thumb becomes the left hand and the other fingers become the right hand. Easy to emulate but hard to perfect - but once you are there you can play just about any style....Listen to Chet Atkins and an Aussie legend Tommy Emmanuel for examples...

[stratattack]

Travis style is pretty easy basic kind of fingerpicking. Good example is Dust in the Wind by Kansas

Strings:
m+p p i p m p i
2+5, 4, 3, 5, 2, 4, 3

Fun to mess around with.