Guitar finger picking is a technique which involves plucking the guitar strings with your fingers,or sometimes with picks attached to the fingers. Guitar styles played this way include classical, flamenco, fingerstyle and a lot of heavy metal ballds (think Metallica - Nothing Else Matters),

Guitar fingerpicking uses all the common flat picking techniques including hammer ons, pull off, bends, harmonics etc. They also use Arpeggios (where the notes of the chord are played individually),sweeps and bass runs to add complexity to the pieces.

The basic rules of guitar fingerpicking are simple:

1. Thumb play the 3 bass strings D,A and Low E

2. Index, middle and ring handle the three treble strings

3. The pinkie is not used unless there is no other option

To get started, bend your wrist a little so that the index, middle and ring fingers naturally fall onto the three bottom strings of the guitar -High E, B, G.The thumb should now be in a position to play the three bass strings easily.

It is best to pratice simple patterns first, as sometimes it is difficult to get the hang of using you thumb and fingers together. There are loads of patterns and when you get good you'll be making your own up on the fly. For now try repeating this simple pattern to get your hands working together.

Some guitar fingerpicking notation follows this format just in case your wondering what this means when you see it. T indicates Thumb, I is Index, M is middle, and R is Ring. Most tab will just assume you know the basic fingerpicking rules though.