Originally Posted by: SusanMWWhat is the best way to determine what fingerpicking pattern to use when it comes to playing arpeggios?[/quote][p]There are a few different styles of fingerpicking. There are only a few common elements they all share:
1. Thumb plays the lower, bass notes & strings of any given chord.
2. Fingers play upper, treble notes & strings. Usually each finger is dedicated to a certain string for at least any given chord shape.
3. Notes are rhythmically separated.
There are some common styles. Lisa has a great set of lessons on what she calls the 4 step pattern in this tutorial.
https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=596
The distinctive features in this style are:
1. Stay on one bass note for any given chord.
2. All the notes of each chord are rhythmically separated.
If you like that you can go to her directory & scroll down the fingerpicking sections there are a ton of other tutorials that build on that one.
https://www.guitartricks.com/instructor.php?input=311296
Anders teaches the same general approach in Acoustic 1 starting here:
https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=29206&s_id=2480
And then gets into alternating bass notes here:
https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=29243&s_id=2484
The distinctive features here are:
1. Bass notes changing strings within a chord.
2. Playing more than one string at the same time, sometimes a bass note & treble note, sometimes 2 treble notes.
Anders gets into the more advanced Travis picking here:
https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=29320&s_id=2495
This is essentially taking the simultananeous note playing & alternating bass notes to the next level.
Finally I have this fingerpicking tutorial that combines elements from the tutorials mentioned above but applying them to classical style.
https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1036
[quote=SusanMW]I'm thinking you might look at the time signature to determine how many beats/strings to play?
Yes, the time signature will be a factor to consider. But it depends on what rhythmic subdivisions you want to use (1/4 notes, 1/8 notes, etc.) in applying one of the above basic styles.
Hope that helps!
