Originally Posted by: faith83The problem with the "new skill/tension" theory is that when I consciously loosen my grip even a little bit, I don't get a clean tone. So clearly for some reason it's requiring more pressure on the strings to fingerpick than to strum. Which makes no sense to me.
Hi Faith, Same thing happens to me whenever I learn a new skill as well and fingerpicking is no exception. Because of the added concentration being placed on the right hand it's natural to sort of "fall back" a little on your fretting hand. Your might be looking at what your right hand is doing and not noticing that those fretting fingers arent quite where they're supposed to be and that's giving you some unclear notes so to compensate you press down a little harder than normal. Typical beginners we are huh.
Like you said, Fingerpicking requires plucking one or two string at a time so you will hear the tone of the strings much more than strumming. I've noticed it myself on some difficult chords I have to really focus on the placement of the fingertips to be exactly behind the frets. This will all start to take care of itself once your right hand develops those fingerpicking patterns into it's muscle memory to the point you won't even be looking or thinking about what your right hand is doing and your focus will switch back to the fretting hand again.
It could also be that your enjoying fingerpicking so much that the time flies so fast that your practice sessions are a little longer and your fingers are getting a longer workout. Thats a good thing :)
Enjoy,
Moe
