Strings to play

I have noticed that often when people are singing and playing the guitar they pluck a base string then pluck strings with their index, middle, and ring finger. They then pluck another base string and then three stings again. Do you always pick the three stings under the base you are plucking or do does it change with the cord you are playing? Do you just pluck the base and then pick the three stings and then a base again or do you pluck the base and then pick three stings and come back up?

Thanks
Joel

Originally Posted by: RCJC333I have noticed that often when people are singing and playing the guitar they pluck a base string then pluck strings with their index, middle, and ring finger. They then pluck another base string and then three stings again. Do you always pick the three stings under the base you are plucking or do does it change with the cord you are playing? Do you just pluck the base and then pick the three stings and then a base again or do you pluck the base and then pick three stings and come back up?

Thanks
Joel

To answer plainly, no - you don't always do this.

And the strings you played (underneath the root note) will change depending on what chord you're playing.

This is basically a finger-picking technique that a lot of players use in varying forms. The concepts is to (like you mentioned) grab the root note with your thumb then played a select grouping of intervals from the same chord.

It can really look however you want it to.

A tab might look like this:

E|-----------------0--
B|-----3-----1-----3--
G|-----0-----0-----2--
D|-----------2--0-----
A|--------3-----------
E|--3-----------------

In this instance, the three low notes would be picked by your thumb, while segments of the rest of the chords are picked afterwards.

It's a fairly open-ended technique.

Hope this helps!