page_title: Fingerstyle guitar
section_title: Flamenco guitar fingerstyle
hierarchical_section_title: Fingerstyle guitar / Nylon string guitar styles / Flamenco guitar fingerstyle
caption_attribution_description: English: Paco Peña in the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos in Córdoba, 1984. Photo by Paul Magnussen.
context_page_description: Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking. The term "fingerstyle" is something of a misnomer, since it is present in several different genres and styles of music—but mostly, because it involves a completely different technique, not just a "style" of playing, especially for the guitarist's picking/plucking hand. The term is often used synonymously with fingerpicking except in classical guitar circles, although fingerpicking can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues and country guitar playing in the US. The terms "fingerstyle" and "fingerpicking" also applied to similar string instruments such as the banjo.
  Music arranged for fingerstyle playing can include chords, arpeggios and other elements such as artificial harmonics, hammering on and pulling off notes with the fretting hand, using the body of the guitar percussively, and many other techniques. Often, the guitarist will play the melody notes, interspersed with the melody's accompanying chords and the deep bassline simultaneously.
context_section_description: Flamenco technique is related to classical technique, but with more emphasis on rhythmic drive and volume, and less on dynamic contrast and tone production. Flamenco guitarists prefer keys such as A and E that allow the use of open strings, and typically employ capos where a departure is required.
  Some specialized techniques include:
  Picado: Single-line scale passages performed apoyando but with more attack and articulation.
  Rasgueado: Strumming frequently done by bunching all the right hand fingers and then flicking them out in quick succession to get four superimposed strums (although there are a great many variations on this). The rasgueado or "rolling" strum is particularly characteristic of the genre.
  Alzapua: A thumb technique with roots in oud plectrum technique. The right hand thumb is used for both single-line notes and strummed across a number of strings. Both are combined in quick succession to give it a unique sound.
  Tremolo: Done somewhat differently from the conventional classical guitar tremolo, it is very commonly played with the right hand pattern p–i–a–m–i.
caption: Paco Peña
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