From: ryanr@beethoven.CS.ColoState.EDU (richard ryan)
Subject: Re: Playing with fingernails
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1992 19:56:54 GMT
	<RYANR.92Aug13122539@beethoven.CS.ColoState.EDU>
	<1992Aug13.231548.11344@cs.rochester.edu>
Organization: Computer Science Department, Colorado State University

>>>>> On 13 Aug 92 23:15:48 GMT, steyn@cs.rochester.edu (Gavin Steyn) said:

Gavin> In article <RYANR.92Aug13122539@beethoven.CS.ColoState.EDU> ryanr@beethoven.CS.ColoState.EDU (richard ryan) writes:

Gavin> The usual flamenco one is a-m-i-a-m-i.  It's much harder than using your
Gavin> thumb as an anchor, but it can be done.

I think I've tried a-m-i-m-a-m-i...  It's OK but not as smooth as a
flat picked tremolo.  Narciso Yepes advises against the a-m-i-m-a
style for speedy picking that I use because of the repititious use of
the middle finger, but Segovia has included that pattern in his book
on scales so I'm more than sure it's OK.  I still use a-m-i as you've
mentioned, too.

For something that's smoother, but perhaps too difficult for a clod
like myself to master, I use (to a lesser extent) a-i-a-m.  You'll
find this picking pattern in one of the studies in Segovia's "Studies
for the Guitar by Fernando Sor."  I don't know where you can get a
recording of Segovia's performance of this particular piece, but I've
heard it and Segovia performs it just wonderfully!  I don't know if
even Sor himself knew if that piece could have so much humor and
sparkle.  (It's estudio 10 for those of you who must try it.  Off of
the paper, it seems hard to get out of it what Segovia puts into it,
but that's a study in itself, one of interpretation.  And for those of
you who accuse Segovia of re-interpretation, so be it!  I would rather
hear his re-interpretation than anybody else's perfectly historically
accurate interpretation.)

>Also, how about a fingerstyle technique for tremolo on adjacent double
>stopped strings?  Although the p-i free stroke technique and the i-m
>rest stroke technique (alternately drag each finger over the two
>strings) produce beautiful effects, it is not the same as as a tremolo
>where both strings are picked almost simultaneously which I find is
>probably a more useful effect simply because it has a sound that's
>more plain.

Gavin> Hmmm...I'm not sure what sound you have in mind here, but I just brush 
Gavin> my i finger back and forth over the two strings.

I use that too because there's a certain sound that can be obtained
from brushing the finger past two adjacent strings.  I don't really
use it for tremolo because I think it would sound a little rough.  I
learned a little about this technique by listening to Merle Travis and
Blind Arthur Blake.  Merle Travis only brushes two or more strings on
the upstroke of the index because he wears finger picks (it's not easy
to pick in both directions with fingerpicks).  Blind Blake doesn't use
fingerpicks so he brushes in both directions.  I've heard Blind Lemon
Jefferson use this technique for tremolo, come to think of it.  As far
as I know, all these players use a two finger technique.  This gives
their style more room to spice up their rhythms and man-oh-man do they
ever use it!  (For those of you who know how to play Paul McCartney's
"Blackbird," try forcing a two finger pick and brush technique on it.
It gives the tune a really neat flavor.  I've never tried putting the
ragtime rhythm with it that's often associated with two finger style,
but if you're out of control and want to try that, I guess there's no
stopping you.)

Gavin> My examples are certainly not meant to disprove your point.  There are
Gavin> definitely some things that can be done with a pick that can't be done
Gavin> with fingers. (Although I don't use a pick, since I don't get enough
Gavin> practice time for my fingers, so I don't want to branch out to something
Gavin> else yet).

Mostly, I was looking for the kind of suggestions you posted (thanks!).
My sideline, however, was that even when you can do something with finger-
picking that is normally associated with flatpicking, it's not going to
necessarily be the effect you're going to get with the analogous flat-
picking technique.  True, in some cases it might even be better than what
you started out looking for, but there are also going to be many times
when you realize it's not quite clean enough for the effect you're going for.

Again, I realize that ther are a lot of guitarists out there who can
execute these techniques smoothly, but it's significantly more
difficult than just flatpicking.  And when you make one thing more
simple, it gives you more room for the next thing.

I just want to insert something here that almost goes contrary to that
last point I made concerning simplicity, and that is, flatpicking
arpeggios.  Arpeggios are so much easier to fingerpick than flatpick,
and fingerpicking gives each note a much more consistent color relative
to the preceding and following note, but try flatpicking arpeggios
anyway.  The inconsistent colors you get from flatpicking arpeggios
give the guitar a really shimmering sound.  This effect might not be
of any use to you, but you never know until you try.

Thanks,
Richard,

p.s.  For the record, I'm mostly a fingerpicker myself.