Right hand technique

The thumb and three largest fingers of the right hand pluck the strings. The normal position is for the hand to be shaped as if it were loosely holding an apple with the wrist slightly bent, the forearm resting on the upper large bout of the guitar, and the fingers near the strings.

The thumb is held at the side of the other fingers, so that it can work independently of them. The height of the wrist and hand depends on thumb: It is such that the fingers can comfortable move - the wrist is normally not too low, but bent.

Plucking the strings usually involves making contact first with the fleshy part of the fingertip and then letting the string glide over the tip of the fingernail as the string is plucked. The two primary plucking techniques are:

  • Rest-stroke (apoyando), in which the finger that plucks the string rests on the next string afterwards; and
  • Free-stroke (tirando), in which the finger hits nothing after plucking the string.

Rest-stroke produces a more "deliberate" sound and may be used for bringing the melody out in music where the harmony competes for attention. Free-stroke sounds "lighter" and makes it possible to play fast passages more easily, though some guitarists (esp. with long nails) use the free-stroke exclusively and are able to produce a strong sound with it.

Some guitarists with rather long nails avoid the rest-stroke altogether; others avoid it when they feel they have more control over the free-stroke. The free-stroke is the more natural stroke, since it can always be used. When two neighbouring strings are to be plucked simultaneously, the rest-stroke cannot be used. Also, arpeggios are usually played free-stroke, except possibly for the thumb or if appropriate (effective and possible due to nail-length / hand position) the annular finger if it plucks a melodic line. In the free-stroke, a finger's motion is not brought to an abrupt stop on the following string, as is the case in the rest-stroke.

Guitarists that use both free-stroke and rest-stroke require nails of the correct length: if the nails are too long, a well-sounding rest-stroke is no longer possible.

An important factor for a well sounding stroke is the angle that the overstretched finger would make with the strings. This angle is usually not held at right angles to strings, but at a more natural angle, where the outstretched fingers would point slightly to the left: this has the benefit of a warmer tone and less noise due to nail-contact, since the string can glide over the rounded nail, rather than being hooked/caught by it.

Holding the fingers and hand perpendicular to the strings may cause difficulties, since the string is aligned with the groove between fingertip and nail: this may cause clicking noises or double-sounds (fingertip sound, then nail sound). By holding the fingers and hand to the left (as opposed to perpendicular), it is impossible for the string to land in the groove, since the left side of the nail will touch the string first (often together with the tip of the finger; possibly aiding an additional minimization of clicking noise). The nail will be at an angle to the string and the string may glide smoothly over the nail's left side until it is released.

One of the tenets of right hand technique in scale passages is alternation. That is, no right hand finger should be used to play two notes in a row (excluding the thumb, which is often called upon to play a sequence of bass notes). Typically, for scale-like passages the index and middle fingers alternate. When an arpeggiated harmony is being played with the thumb (p), index (i) and middle (m) fingers, the ring finger (a) may play a melody above the harmony. In the tremolo technique the thumb plays a bass note followed by the fingers which play the same treble note three times: pami, pami, pami etc (Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega is a famous example of this technique).

The position of the right hand can be used to influence the tone of the sound produced by a classical guitar. The wealth of sonic possibilities enables performers to add contrast and color to their performances well beyond the simple volume changes available to, say, pianists. When the strings are plucked close to the bridge the position is called sul ponticello and the notes sound "twangy" and "nasal". When the strings are plucked over the fingerboard of the guitar the position is termed sul tasto and the tone becomes fuller and "sweet" (termed dolce in Italian, see List of musical terminology page). The angle at which the fingers hit the strings can also affect the timbre of the sound.

The term pizzicato simply refers to plucking the strings in music for bowed instruments. In classical guitar however, it refers to placing the side of the hand below the little finger across all of the strings very close to the bridge and then plucking the strings with the fingers. This produces a muted sound and is referred to as palm-muting in electric guitar parlance. Tambour is the technique where many or all of the strings are played at once by hitting them (usually near the bridge) with the side of the (outstretched) thumb. Both tambor and pizzicato can be heard in Aconquija by Barrios.

The right hand fingers are used to stop notes from ringing past their duration as indicated by the music. This is more often an issue with open string bass notes which tend to ring on for some time. To stop the notes the right hand thumb (usually) rests on the ringing string to stop it. This can pose a significant challenge to the guitarist as he or she needs to attend to each bass note twice, once to start it and once to stop it. The same technique can be used to create a staccato effect.

Trills are usually played on one string using various combinations of left hand slurs, also known as legados or hammer-on and pull-offs. Cross-string trills utilising two or three strings are also possible. In this case the trill usually takes the form of low-high-low and can be executed thus: The left hand stops, say the D# on the fourth fret of the second string, the right hand middle finger plays that note then the index finger "strums" the first and second strings producing: D#-E-D#. The difference between a cross-string trill and an ordinary trill is that the cross-string trill allows both notes to sound against each other. This technique is often used in Baroque music although it is debatable as to whether it was the most common practice of the period.

There may be different hand positions depending on the motion of fingers/hand/arm and effect that is aimed at. Standard positions might include the following (or variations thereof):

  • "arpeggio position", with the thumb playing bass strings and the index, middle and annular finger plucking a pattern on 3 upper strings respectively.
  • Scale playing: Usually an alteration of the index and middle finger; however other alterations using the annular finger (or even an alterations with the thumb) are common as well
    Factors that influence the choice might be the speed of the scale and the progression of the melody over strings, e.g. a scale usually starts one once string and is then continued on another.
    On the other hand, during slower movements (especially of contrapuntal music) guitarists occasionally do not alternate the fingers strictly, if this facilitates the interpretation through tonal similarity: An example of this might be when the index finger (possibly the thumb) is used to play one melody-line on the 3rd string while the annular finger might be used for a melody one the first string. However the melody lines very often move over various strings so that many adaptations and a flexible approach is needed. Moreover, there is no common rule or guideline - there is no predefined guitaristic technique: a guitarist will experiment and use the pattern of finger pluckings that personally suit the player best.

It is important to note that not only the fingers are involved in the plucking of the string, but the hand is also held comfortably loose and may move slightly as well - even the arm is involved. For example when playing scales (usually with alternating fingers, e.g. index, middle, index, middle, ...) and moving from the top strings down, or the bottom strings up, the hand moves up and down as well in order to adjust the placement of the fingers to be at an optimum.

Main stroke types

There are two main ways a string can be plucked with the finger:

  • with preparation
  • without preparation ("in full flight", "speed-stroke") e.g. tremolo

This separation is distinct from the so-called rest-stroke and free-stroke: both the rest-stroke and free-stroke can be used with preparation and without.

Stroke with Preparation

"Preparation" is the placing of the left side of the nail (and often also finger) on the string, before a plucking motion is made.
This is the standard way of plucking a string and used in most "slow to moderately fast" pluck-progressions: Before plucking, usually both the left side of the nail and the finger touch the string; this enables the finger (and hand) to rest on the string in a balanced way. When the plucking motion is made, only the nail-contact remains: The curvature of the nail (starting from its left side) allows the string to be pulled back while the string slides towards the tip of the nail where it is released. This occurs so quickly that the gliding of the string over the fingernail is not perceived (but: a smoothly filed nail is necessary).

The act of "preparation" is quickly followed by the plucking of the string, so that this stroke can be used (is usually used) without a break in sound becoming noticeable. For practice purposes, the playing of staccato (on a single string) can be used to accentuate the "preparation": here the finger is placed on the vibrating string to stop its sound, and only after a delay this finger plucks the string. (Finger alteration is usually used: i, m ; or different patterns )

Preparation is essential for guitarists to get an intrinsic feeling for the location and position of the strings.

Stroke without Preparation ("fast repetitive plucking", "speed-stroke")

The "stroke without preparation" occurs in fast note progressions, e.g. in tremolo. Here the the nail plucks the string without any preparation: an impulse is shot into the string: there is no time for "preparation". Most often this occurs when a finger/nail re-plucks an already vibrating string so that it maintains its motion, e.g. tremolo: this is where fingers strike the same note on the same string in rapid progression. On the other hand this "stroke without preparation" is also used in fast scales. Fast scales have the additional complication of requiring the coordination of the left hand (placing fingers on the correct fret) with the plucking tone-production of the right hand.

Comparison

It must be mentioned that this split into two plucking-groups is not strict. Every variation exists between a full preparation before the plucking, and an immediate pluck without preparation. A guitarist will individually choose which stroke to use, depending on personal choice and the effect that is to be produced. Most guitarists make this choice intuitively and vary and adjust strokes when playing; but for pedagogical/analysis purposes the distinction may be important.

Guitarists often intuitively use a combination of "stroke with preparation" and "speed-stroke" (without preparation) when playing arpeggio patterns: Usually the pattern of finger pluckings is such that it begins with the fingers resting on the strings as follows - thumb on a bass-string and index, middle, annular finger each on one of the 3 tremble strings respectively. Then the arpeggio motion may be a consecutive plucking of the strings, e.g. thumb, then index, then middle, then annular - this means that one by one the fingers are removed from the strings on which they were resting (due to the plucking motion): The pluckings up to now, were then made "with preparation", since the fingers were resting on the strings. However often the arpeggio pattern then continues with the middle, and index finger pluck the string - the complete pattern then is: pimami. This means that if the pattern is played very quickly, the last m and i have to pluck their respective strings "without preparation".
Of course it is actually possible to play the whole pattern (pimami) "without preparation" - and it may be didactically beneficial for guitarists to actively experiment with these strokes (and practising variations), rather than just plucking the string in any way.

This separation is distinct from the so-called rest-stroke and free-stroke: both the rest-stroke and free-stroke can be used with preparation and without.

Consequences

Angle of attack (the following discussion presents points that may differ from guitarist to guitarist. In any case the angle of the right hand's fingers (when outstretched) to the strings is not varied greatly.)

  • Slow: More parallel angle (right-hand fingers more to the left)
    The hand is usually held at such an angle, that the outstretched fingers point slightly to the left (rather than perpendicular) to the strings. But this angle can be actively varied (albeit only slightly) and results in different tones, but also has some consequences:
    The more the fingers point to the left of the strings (the more parallel they are to the strings), the longer the fingernail is in contact with the strings, since the string glides over more of the fingernail: This angle requires preparation - placing the nail (and finger) on the string, and then following through in a controlled manner. This angle creates a warmer tone, but because the string glides over more of the nail, this is not good for fast repetitive plucking.
  • Fast: More perpendicular angle (right-hand fingers)
    For fast repetitive plucking, the vibrating string is immediately plucked again with the nail: an impulse is shot into the string so that it maintains its motion - there is no time for "preparation".
    At high speeds it is not easily possible to produce a strong clear tone, if the fingers are angled too far to the left, since there is no time for "preparation": "preparation" is the placing of the left side of the nail (and often also finger) on the string.
    The faster the plucking, the more a gliding over the nail (more parallel) delays the sound.
    Thus for fast plucking the guitarist may choose to hold the right-hand fingers at a more perpendicular angle to the strings (though the fingers might still point slightly to the left) and strike them more with the tip of the nail.

The above discussion was mainly focused on the angle as a dependency on the speed of plucking. Even more important is the dependency of the angle on the tone. As usual there is always some sort of trade-off involved and the ultimate details depend on each individual guitarist separately, as well as the players fingers/nails.

  • Consequences on practising speed build-up
    When practising at slow speeds, the hand position and stroke used should ideally be the same as the one for the fast tempo.
    Usually the hand might be in different positions for fast and slow playing. More importantly a different stroke may be intuitively used for slower playing (i.e. stroke with preparation) than for faster playing (stroke without preparation). This means that when building up accuracy and evenness by practising pluckings (such as tremolo) at slow speeds, the hand position and stroke used during this slow practice should be identical to the hand position and stroke that will be used when the pluckings are performed up to speed.
    This means that slow tremolo practice (for example) requires the practising of "stroke without preparation"! This may be difficult since most guitarists intuitively choose a stroke with (at least) a bit of preparation during slower playing. However in this respect, the practice-method of playing with short speed bursts in-between slow practice, can prove useful, by reminding the guitarist of the correct hand position and stroke (without preparation).

    On the other hand, tremolo (etc.) should not be exclusively practised with "speed-stroke", but also at slower speeds with a normal "stroke with preparation": the reason is that this normal stroke aids the guitarist in getting a better intrinsic feeling for the location of the strings.

Nails

Modern practice generally makes use of the nails of the right hand in combination with the flesh of the fingertips in order to pluck the strings. During the 19th century many players, including celebrated guitarists such as Fernando Sor, Francisco Tárrega and his pupil Emilio Pujol played using the flesh of the fingertip, in common with lute technique.

Strumming (4 types)

  • Rasgueado or rasgueo is a technical strum in flamenco and classical guitar that includes the use of the back of the fingernails in sequence to give the impression of a very rapid strum. There are several types of rasgueado that employ differing combinations of fingers and thumb allowing for a variety of rhythmical accentuations and subdivisions of the beat.
  • Use the palm-side of the thumb joint to lightly strum strings, producing a soft, low sound.
  • Use the thumb nail to produce a bright sound.
  • A simple combination of both fingers and thumb, the thumb striking the lowest strings and fingers picking the upper notes of the chord from lowest to highest strings in rapid succession.