Is Fingerstyle Guitar Hard?

It is said that a good guitarist makes playing the guitar look easy. Some stand (or sit) playing nonchalantly, playing with an ease that makes many people think that the guitar can’t be that hard to play.

Well, as with all instruments, to get to this point takes many hours of practice and dedication. 

We’ve all seen guitarists go about their work but have you ever noticed how they sometimes strum the strings with a guitar pick and at other times, pick at them with their fingers? Both styles of guitar playing are unique.

What we mean is that they both produce different sounds that suit different kinds of music.

Fingerstyle is widely used in folk music, classical music, or flamenco-style songs. While this style can be used on electric guitars, you will see it is mostly used on acoustics. But, the question remains – is fingerstyle playing hard?

We are going to answer this in today’s blog. Continue reading to find out what fingerstyle is and how it compares to strumming those 6 strings. It is worth noting that both styles should be learned by guitarists. You will open up a whole load of possibilities when you can perform both techniques over time.

Fingerstyle VS Strumming: The Differences  

Okay, first thing’s first, we need to discuss these two terms – fingerstyle and strumming. While strumming a guitar can be performed with a pick, we will assume (for the sake of this article) that it is done with a pick.

Fingerstyle is a particular style of music played on acoustic guitars. This utilizes the fingertips and fingernails with regular use of a thumb pick as well. 

Although the terms fingerstyle and fingerpicking are used synonymously, they are different. Fingerpicking is a technique used by guitarists while fingerstyle is, you guessed it, a style rather than a technique.

Fingerstyle is more of a collection of techniques for a completely different way of playing the guitar. 

Fingerstyle 

Fingerstyle guitar playing generally blends classical, jazz, flamenco, and folk. Compared to your standard fingerpicking, fingerstyle tends to allow you to be more aggressive.

Some famous guitarists who use fingerstyle are Paul Simon and James Taylor. In other words, some of the most relaxing music you’ll ever hear. 

Have you ever noticed that some guitarists have very long fingernails? This isn’t due to a lack of hygiene (maybe for some). No, fingerstyle guitarists will grow their nails, or use artificial nails, to gain volume and attack the guitar as they play.

With these extra lengths on the fingers, fingerstyle is certainly one of the more difficult styles of guitar playing. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you learn standard fingerpicking before jumping ahead into this challenging genre. 

Strumming 

Strumming a guitar is a lot more common than fingerstyle. Pass a guitar to someone and there is a higher chance that they will begin to strum the strings. When you strum a guitar, the pick is usually held between the thumb and index finger.

This is so it can be held securely without the player needing to grip too strenuously and find it uncomfortable. 

Strumming includes a range of combinations that use up and down strokes. This is how rhythms are created on the guitar. The overall tone can be greatly affected by the density and material of the pick.

Also, some players strum harder than others, which is why so many guitarists sound so different from the next. 

Many techniques are available to the guitarist. When playing acoustic guitar, flat-picking is one technique to pick individual notes within a melody or when you want to arpeggiate a chord (playing a series of ascending or descending notes). This is commonly used in the bluegrass genre. 

Then there is the strumming associated with Spanish guitar. This is an aggressive form of strumming using fast triplet rhythms that are bold and always a crowd-pleaser. This type of strumming is often used with nylon and steel-string guitars.

When we consider electric guitar, the pick can be used for a variety of techniques such as pick tapping, pick sliding, and pinched harmonics. Strumming is the most common style of playing on electric guitars but famous guitarists such as Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits made fingerstyle playing famous in the contemporary world of rock n roll. 

Is Fingerstyle Hard? 

So, fingerstyle must be harder as it is not performed as much as strumming, right? For a fresh beginner, this is certainly true.

Fingerpicking and fingerstyle guitar playing can be extremely difficult at first but, after learning a few chords and understanding the rhythms of the guitar, it becomes a lot easier.

Of course, it takes time and practice to get to a level where changing from strumming to fingerstyle becomes a smooth transition.

Being able to switch from strumming the guitar to fingerstyle is a great weapon to have in your arsenal. You will be able to play far more genres of music and ultimately become a better guitarist. 

Once the basics of fingerstyle are done and you feel pretty comfortable playing songs with this technique, then you should venture out and learn more finger styles. But, it takes a lot of focus and patience.

At first, your fingers will not know which finger is which as your brain tries to comprehend where each one is supposed to go. It is hard at first and you will fail at certain fingerstyle patterns.

And, you will probably want to go back to strumming the guitar as this style is easier but it still requires practice to achieve the right rhythms and tones. 

In Summary 

Fingerstyle is another beast. Whatever anyone says, it is not an easy technique to learn. If someone says it is easy, they have been using the fingerstyle technique for years and it has probably become second nature to them. 

However, just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean you should avoid it. Being able to fingerpick and strum widens your avenues when playing guitar. Learning anything new on an instrument is hard.

With time, patience, some swearing, and a dose of frustration, you will come out of the other end a much better guitarist.