Man I love this because i have been going crazy about this over the years....i started playing the thumb under technique when i was younger and self taught...it just felt the most natural and then when i started classical and flamenco I started playing the thumb forward technique....i can do both now but because of the discipline that comes from either flamenco and classical I always feel weird going back to my original technique like i'm doing something that your not supposed to.
@@mdub2000 Refer to 4:45 where I talk about the mental conflict. That "you're not supposed to..." is ghosts in your head that could be holding you back!
Thank you. I’ve often struggled with getting my nails to work because of the classical right hand technique. So the option generally is... grow em longer. Play like a lute player. Ha! I’m adopting this... I love Abanico’s and rasgueados.
usually my littlefinger touching on guitar top body but when I use ring finger, my little finger leaving from the top. anyway, rythm is most important thing as U saying👍
yeah liked your column. I studied classical and varied my hand position from the traditional technique right hand is so critical to good guitar playing thanks
This makes sense. The 'ukulele virtuoso Elof Tobias uses the same hand and finger position to the uke. I find him playing relaxed compared to others who uses the "standard" - - though I still look up to the classical and flamenco guitar wizards. Adam Rafferty gives us options. Thanks Adam 👍
I learned Travis picking as a teenager, using metal or plastic thumb- and two finger-picks, to accompany myself or another singer. About 5 years ago, I discovered fingerstyle in the Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, and Adam style and had . First, the finger-picks had to go, so I found how to get my fingernails to stand up to everyday playing and learned to get a variety of sounds from them. Next I realized that thumb and two fingers wouldn't do for more complex pieces; I needed three fingers. I looked to classical guitarists for technique, and after 2-3 years I'm playing with all 3 equally. At the end of that, I found that my hand naturally assumed a position very similar to Adam's. I'm very pleased with the results. The main difference is my thumb is not as far back as Adam's, being more aligned with the fingers than tucked behind them like Adam's. I think the difference is due to physiology; I'm more "short and stubby" vs. Adam's "long and lanky". Neither my fingers nor my thumb are anywhere close to the length of his.
MY first time on the channel. Looking for Ideas. After trying to grow nails,, trying finger picks, I'm a committed bare finger picker now after 5 years of playing. This reminds of Tony Emanuel hand position. His tip is play Canonball Rag for 1 hour. As a warm up.
I never realized this but this is about the same technique I use! I don't have formal education on the subject but I only wanted to make my (crappy) guitar sound as good as possible
I just saw your video promoted on my home page and had to click on it, because, you see, I'm a lutenist. And then you mentioned Pat O'Brien and put up his picture, and my heart stopped. I studied with him for years, even though it was mostly intermittent as I moved to North Carolina a few months after starting to work with him. Thank you for acknowledging him and explaining so clearly what you learned from him about lute technique. Your own comments were very interesting and your story made clear how important it is for every musician to pursue their instrument as a journey of exploration. And, I couldn't agree more that it's the rhythm, not the speed.
Hello Adam and thanks for a great tutorial. I just discovered you on Amazon and purchased your book. I read the intro and answered yes to all the questions - and then screamed out in joy that "... at least someone understands!". The part about me finding the book and the book finding me was quite true considering that I was browsing jazz guitar books at the time. I learned to Travis pick in my early twenties and developed some chops over the years but it could be said that my development has been choppy and not often inspired. I'm looking forward to reading your book and browsing your lessons here on YT. I noted that you didn't discuss anchoring your right hand at all - another controversial topic I know. I use a Fred Kelly thumb pick and all three fingers but don't anchor except a light touch of my wrist on the bridge pins. I tried anchoring as many claim it as foundational to improvement - Tommy Emmanuel being an ardent proponent. I failed because I just couldn't use my ring finger to sound notes quickly or accurately while my pinky was anchored to the guitar top. It feels awkward to not use my ring finger now that I am able to use it in so many wonderful ways. Then I recently saw a video by Justin Sandercoe (YT, Guitar Techniques) who claimed that he was never able to anchor his pinky either and explained that it was because his pinky was quite short. As it turns out that's the reason I'm unable to anchor my pinky as well. Any suggestions for developing accuracy while not anchoring?
Aw man thank you. I use 2 positions. 1) Anhor pinky and use P,I,M on RH. Ring is not usable. or 2) No anchor, use all 3 right hand fingers The more heavyweight thing though is to not get stuck on this. Go deep into your groove and tone. Looking and trying to imitate someones RH from optics is fruitless - trust me, I spent my life trying :-) Follow the groove, the flow, the melody and stay loose above all. There should be zero physical pain and don't fall into the "I should do this..." that's a trap. Reach out to me anytime!
I'm just starting to learn fingerstyle guitar - although I have done some "fingerpicking". I just play fingerstyle (with a thumb pick, usually) in a way that feels good - natural for me. I've seen many different fingerstyle guitarists on RUclips & in person using different techniques, yet all sounding great. Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Thanks Adam. We all get obsessed doing what we ‘should’ be doing. Great advice to try different positionings that give you the result you’re after - and what suits you personally. The trio of a naturally relaxed hand, a great sound and keeping the groove is proven when listening to how you play. I’m still a beginner, and it’s refreshing to hear that it’s ok to search out what works for you and the sound you’re going for. B
I play no fingerpick and flesh fingers. With regards to wrist position my right wrist is more aligned than Adam’s so this means there is some muscle activity used to maintain a flatter wrist but I have learned to do this with no tension.
I love your technique & thank you for sharing this info! I've spent years in college and grad school working on technique. It's great to hear others' perspectives. Thanks for sharing 🙏
Adam, I love your discussion (and disposition during the video)! Although I play using the “thumb outside” look, I definitely agree with your observations on the thinness of the sound/volume with the thumb purely parallel to the strings. Unfortunately for me, I have a hard time getting enough “punch” with the thumb without a pick-but, I can’t control unwanted sustain with a thumbpick! Very interesting and informative! Thanks for sharing!
Nice video, Adam! I have been into fingerstyle guitar for years being a self-taught when I was an high school student. After that, 5 years ago, I managed to get into classical guitar in conservatory. I struggled a lot for the right hand technique, especially at the beginning, because I was used to thumb pick and the pinky near the soundhole. I always heard from my colleagues and sometimes teachers things like: "You have to play like this", "that thumb position is wrong" and stuff like you showed in your comments. That was partly true because in some cases I realized I couldn't play smoothly some fast arpeggios or some section of classical music but... I'm glad I didn't give so many attention to them and the "classical guitar rules" in general. I fixed those hard sections of music keeping focusing on MY WAY to play with right hand because I'm different from them, from my teacher and from everyone else. As you said, there may be something that works on you and something which is not working (for example, you showed us that you weren't happy about your tone i,m,a fingers and your thumb was not playing comfortable). I have passed the right hand obsession after years of hard practice (which is not over yet, of course) developing two right hand positions for my playing: one for classical and one for acoustic fingerstyle and I can pretty easily switch them now :) I'm happy of my choice because classical guitar is helping me a lot understanding music, analyzing it, improving my technique and my self control during my playing but, beside this, I really don't like these rules which sometimes struggle people like me. Thanks for sharing your story, I didn't know you were a classical student too! I hope these thoughts could help some other people. Also, thanks a lot for your content on this channel. I cannot wait to finish my academic course and start again playing fingerstyle daily exploring new genres because you were and are still one of that player that made me fall in love with acoustic guitar! :D
Hey Adam - wie immer gut, gründlich und genau auf den Punkt: Danke für Deine vielen Anregungen, die Du hier so freigiebig mit allen Interessierten teilst!
@@adamrafferty "Yes - you can..." ;-) I know it since your inspirating lessons, you gave to me during the "Neuenburger Gitarrentage". (At that time you called me "the fugue man", because of my guitar duo "autumn's song", which was performed on the 'Neuenburg Stage' at that time ;-)
What a great video. I can’t quite get used to the way you hold your hand but it makes total sense and I fell like I’ve seen this evolve over the years I’ve been watching you. The position of the thumb really does make an enormous difference in the tone and that’s all that should matter when it comes to technique.
John, if I saw anyone doing what I was doing, I'd cringe and tell them they were doing it all wrong - I remember teaching proper technique to all my studenst:-) LOL. It's really a series of steps that brought me to this - primarily wrestling an ultra-clear squeaky & steel string through a PA. You know - the axe and amp combination often push the direction of what your hands start to do, and of course the music does too...i.e. jazz vs country sounds. Look up Larry Graham - and look at his right hand. When I watch him I feel "yeah that's what I'm trying to do!!! " Groove on!
I always wondered about your right-hand position/technique. When you said you were a long, lanky guy it made A LOT of sense. haha. Once again, thanks for the informative video. And your Jazz guru is right: it's all about groove.
Interesting. My classical guitar teacher tells me « listen to the sound » and that should guide your hand position and angle (within certain boundaries). He doesn’t believe at all in overly fixed hand position theories. For instance, when I play the bass chords with i and m, I need to change the angle of my hand somewhat to prevent my nails from making too much of a scratching sound.
I played lute for a few months before I realised I didn’t have enough time to focus on it, and learned to be quite handy with thumb under but never applied to guitar. Maybe I should give it a try.
No professional here and I'm not anywhere close to your level, Adam! But I guess playing guitar is an eternal quest that involves "polishing" and experimenting with your playing skills... And your sound is as clear as it gets! I've been using my thumb more lately instead of the thumbpick and you're one of the reasons for that... Huge brazilian fan here! Hope u get to arrange another brazilian song soon!
Interesting stuff. I'm mostly a hybrid picker and I've been working on trying to pluck and sustain a melody note and then play a chord underneath . This might be worth checking out for me. Thanks.
Hi Adam, wow, I experimented with these technic and it feels very uncommon, but the sound is really better. Hope I can emproove my groove ;-) your are very inspiring!!!
Great video and people need to try several approaches. If it isn’t working after X time try something else. But love that you make sure to try it in isolated difficult passages to put to the test. And yes- this is pretty much exactly how life players play. Wonder if a guitar could be made easier to pick with just widening the string spacings.
Wes Montgomery came to mind when you were talking about your previous jazz teacher and then you said his name. Wes was one of the best and it didn’t matter that his technique was unorthodox. He did what was right for him and got a great sound.
Thanks, that was really really interesting! Always wondered how I could get more refined bass notes and bigger and warmer sounding melody notes at the same time...Now I Know :). Just wonder if it is possible to include palm muting the bass notes into this approach.
ADAM!!!! See, I told you that this was an unorthodox method.....Did I just spell that wrong? Anyway, you even referred to it in this video as the "Unforbidden" position. Look, I love your playing and your style and you are certainly among my top ten favorite guitarists, but keep in mind I am a bit partial to a couple of friends of mine, but this really is what I was referring to earlier. Your style is definitely different, however very effective. I wish I played as well as you do and I have been playing a LONG time.
Interestingly, when I started playing fingerstyle (self-taught), I played similar to your way, with my fingers pointed forward (it just felt natural to do it that way). But when I noticed no one else played like that, I decided I must be doing it wrong and worked hard to crook my hand into a fingers pointed down position, which is far less relaxed in my opinion. I think it's time I go back and revisit my original technique.
Great stuff! Now I can stop beating myself up about not being perfectlly traditional..now i play what works for me witjout feeling im doing it wrong. I get better tone and groove doing my own thang!! 🎸👍😎
Good video! I've always been more of a "clawhammer" picker... kind of a Mark Knopfler style. I've always been mystified by folks who pick as demonstrated in this video - although I've always admired the style. John McEuen (albeit banjo) demonstrates this pretty good in his technique.
Different hand positions work differently for different people. After experimentation, Whatever feels most natural is the one to use. Kind of like thumbpicks. I love them. Other players hate them :)
Rich segment, thanks! Seems like technique needs to be driven by aspirational factors. How loud (unamplified) do you need to be? How funky do you need to be? What timbre makes you sigh with happiness?!? I play with short fingernails (some high end then, and my nails are not strong), prefer the thumb sound for bass on fingerstyle jazz and song accompaniment (but would probably break out the thumbpick to play Cannon Ball Rag or something like that, just wouldn't sound right otherwise). There is something so intuitive about bare fingers that connects to the core of rhythm. I studied with the remarkable (pre-electric) jazz stylist Teddy Bunn, and his self-taught technique resembled yours, Adam. Lots of thumb and lines sometimes executed with flattened strong rest strokes, i & m, like a string bass player, or alternating thumb & i. Very long fingers, a la Mark O'Connor/Michael Howell...
Thank you so much - clearly you’ve given it a lot of thought. No technique is “it” but as you say one must feel a “yes” and happiness with the timbre using a technique. What practically no one addresses and I this k is important is rhythm. Quarter notes are not just quarter notes. I can’t walk a Bassline with a thumb pick and be convinced regarding the touch time and tone. But playing Cannonball Rag with a bare thumb is like trying to cut a steak with a wooden spoon! It really gets down to one’s vision of sound, timbre, orchestration and the flavor of music one plays. I mess with it thumbpicks every day in private. For any kind of Chet stuff (which is not my specialty) it sounds great. I also long for clearer sounds sometimes like what Tommy gets on “Over the Rainbow” - so sometimes my thump lines just bugs me!!! And without zingy sounds playing can sound less exciting and dull - which concerns me! But for Mas Que Nada, Misty, Yesterday and many of my tunes this is the only way I can do it. Thanks for chiming in!!!! And by the way I started playing bare fingers on electric with my band and love it.
I can actually do all the stuff you do but with the sort of Jerry Reed / Leo Kottke / Mark Knopfler like thumb position with my hand really close to the strings and my thumb left of my index finger. The coordination between the thumb, index and hand position is probably the key to this. It is a game of millimeters though, and I wouldn't be surprised if some peoples hand anatomy (like having really lanky fingers) would make it significantly harder.
It's not weird to me Adam. When I emailed you I clumsily referred to 'thumbpicking' as a goal I struggle to master. You corrected me saying you don't thumbpick. But actually it's your cool technique I was referring to that I admire in your playing. Rock on. 😉
I’ve taken lessons from you at Swannannoa and enjoyed them. You didn’t talk about this in those lessons but they were great lessons. I realize that I have been using the same thumb technique when doing fingerstyle but have been keeping my fingers behind the thumb. You are right that the sound is too thin. I will try using the technique of putting my fingers in front of the thumb. Currently, like you said, I’m not getting the volume I need. Looks like I have some practice to get used to it, but it will improve my playing.
Stephen I'd have to see and hear what you are doing - there's no one size fits all solution. Experiment and remember - what fits the rhythm and musical concept? That's the question. For example, if I wanted to play bluegrass - EVERYTHING would have to change,
Great video Adam. Viewed from above, your right hand makes perfect sense now, thanks! My hand position is closer to a classical position. I need to bend my thumb to play your lute style so I'm not sure it suits my hand anatomy, but I'm sure gonna try it.
Interesting. I adapted to play with fingers after playing mostly with a pick. I still use picks but I instinctively go for fingers because I feel there's more freedom to it. The possibilities are endless!
Super vid as always, and great info. It seems your fingers are sometimes plucking more parallel to the string rather than perpendicular. Does that sometimes soften the tone? I’ve tried parallel fingers a bit and felt I was brushing the strings, not plucking, so the notes lacked definition. Cheers ARaff! Z
JZ thanks for your website link I will dive in and read. My hand position is the best way I have found my fingertips to be accurate and get a good tone. A by product is that the fingers look more perpendicular 😀
Great lesson, Senpai. A friend of mine’s, been teasing me to play the lute. Haha. Hey, what’s your thoughts on the double top guitars? Great camera angles! Do you have a video that talks about your cameras, camera stands & camera placement? God Bless.
Can't believe people bother to even call your hand position "names". Many times I put on the headphones and turn the phone down, especially on your channel. But it did make me search for one of your old videos and on the "I"ll be there cover" there is definitely more of a standard classical position. But at times you seem to just naturally move your thumb back to your current position. So you followed what felt and sounded good to you. Anyway, you were a groove master then and you are one now.
Since many years I play on Steelstring & Jazzbox in the same way like you! Sometimes I have a Strong Pick hidden in my little finger for soloing. On Flamenco guitar I nearly do the same but sometimes I change the right hand horizontal & vertical for different sounds & playing styles ... But - I never obey dogmatic Classic players ;-)) -sorry for my english- Keep grooving ...
I must say though that the greatest of them all in my opinion for fingerstyle jazz type arrangements , Joe Pass, did OK leading with the thumb out in front of the fingers...
I noted something now while watching you at position 5:16. Your index finger sounds a bit scratchier than the ring,middle finger. I have exactly the same issue since I stopped playing with nails. It is annoying for me and I thought I was doing something wrong, trying different hand positions. But now it looks like it I am not the only one 🙂
Yeah - but you can use the differences in tones to your advantage too! As well, you'd be amazed - if you play around with even a bare finger on one string, you can figure out how to get better / different tones. Thanks for commenting!
The attitude of your thumb to the strings is very similar to a flamenco guitarist when playing pulgar melody lines. And those guys can play the hell out of a guitar.
Dood! I've been trying to "correct" my thumb for a while now. Kind of got in the habit of doing a four finger chord pinch kind of thing from lack of co-ordination or something. My fingers are about as independent as my toes are! Having my thumb out front in classical/thumb pick position always feels like my thumbs gonna be late. Good to know it's not just me! And if anybody says something, I can blame it on you now! (jk) So yeah, let your freak thumb fly! Quick, somebody put that on a t-shirt!
Very interesting video, Adam! I checked my own right hand technique and realized that I am kind of halfway between strict classical technique and your hand position. (see ruclips.net/video/BcOBNfnWqfI/видео.html) I tried moving my thumb back a bit, like you do, but found it awkward. Then I realized that I hold the guitar in a more upright manner, while you hold the instrument rather horizontally. I think that makes a big difference. Keep the vids coming!!
Hey - What techniques do you use? Leave a comment and let me know! :-)
Man I love this because i have been going crazy about this over the years....i started playing the thumb under technique when i was younger and self taught...it just felt the most natural and then when i started classical and flamenco I started playing the thumb forward technique....i can do both now but because of the discipline that comes from either flamenco and classical I always feel weird going back to my original technique like i'm doing something that your not supposed to.
@@mdub2000 Refer to 4:45 where I talk about the mental conflict. That "you're not supposed to..." is ghosts in your head that could be holding you back!
Thank you. I’ve often struggled with getting my nails to work because of the classical right hand technique. So the option generally is... grow em longer. Play like a lute player. Ha! I’m adopting this...
I love Abanico’s and rasgueados.
usually my littlefinger touching on guitar top body but when I use ring finger, my little finger leaving from the top.
anyway, rythm is most important thing as U saying👍
@@adamrafferty true true....in the end its what gets you to play with the most freedom and get the sound you want. Thanks Adam!
Thanks Adam, very useful points. I use a free hand to make it less tired.
yeah liked your column. I studied classical and varied my hand position from the traditional technique right hand is so critical to good guitar playing thanks
It haunted me for a long time. This is really interesting. Thanks for the explanation.
This makes sense. The 'ukulele virtuoso Elof Tobias uses the same hand and finger position to the uke. I find him playing relaxed compared to others who uses the "standard" - - though I still look up to the classical and flamenco guitar wizards. Adam Rafferty gives us options. Thanks Adam 👍
I learned Travis picking as a teenager, using metal or plastic thumb- and two finger-picks, to accompany myself or another singer. About 5 years ago, I discovered fingerstyle in the Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, and Adam style and had . First, the finger-picks had to go, so I found how to get my fingernails to stand up to everyday playing and learned to get a variety of sounds from them. Next I realized that thumb and two fingers wouldn't do for more complex pieces; I needed three fingers. I looked to classical guitarists for technique, and after 2-3 years I'm playing with all 3 equally. At the end of that, I found that my hand naturally assumed a position very similar to Adam's. I'm very pleased with the results. The main difference is my thumb is not as far back as Adam's, being more aligned with the fingers than tucked behind them like Adam's. I think the difference is due to physiology; I'm more "short and stubby" vs. Adam's "long and lanky". Neither my fingers nor my thumb are anywhere close to the length of his.
MY first time on the channel. Looking for Ideas. After trying to grow nails,, trying finger picks, I'm a committed bare finger picker now after 5 years of playing. This reminds of Tony Emanuel hand position. His tip is play Canonball Rag for 1 hour. As a warm up.
I never realized this but this is about the same technique I use! I don't have formal education on the subject but I only wanted to make my (crappy) guitar sound as good as possible
I just saw your video promoted on my home page and had to click on it, because, you see, I'm a lutenist. And then you mentioned Pat O'Brien and put up his picture, and my heart stopped. I studied with him for years, even though it was mostly intermittent as I moved to North Carolina a few months after starting to work with him. Thank you for acknowledging him and explaining so clearly what you learned from him about lute technique.
Your own comments were very interesting and your story made clear how important it is for every musician to pursue their instrument as a journey of exploration. And, I couldn't agree more that it's the rhythm, not the speed.
Thank you thank you thank you!
Hello Adam and thanks for a great tutorial. I just discovered you on Amazon and purchased your book. I read the intro and answered yes to all the questions - and then screamed out in joy that "... at least someone understands!". The part about me finding the book and the book finding me was quite true considering that I was browsing jazz guitar books at the time. I learned to Travis pick in my early twenties and developed some chops over the years but it could be said that my development has been choppy and not often inspired. I'm looking forward to reading your book and browsing your lessons here on YT.
I noted that you didn't discuss anchoring your right hand at all - another controversial topic I know. I use a Fred Kelly thumb pick and all three fingers but don't anchor except a light touch of my wrist on the bridge pins. I tried anchoring as many claim it as foundational to improvement - Tommy Emmanuel being an ardent proponent. I failed because I just couldn't use my ring finger to sound notes quickly or accurately while my pinky was anchored to the guitar top. It feels awkward to not use my ring finger now that I am able to use it in so many wonderful ways. Then I recently saw a video by Justin Sandercoe (YT, Guitar Techniques) who claimed that he was never able to anchor his pinky either and explained that it was because his pinky was quite short. As it turns out that's the reason I'm unable to anchor my pinky as well. Any suggestions for developing accuracy while not anchoring?
Aw man thank you. I use 2 positions.
1) Anhor pinky and use P,I,M on RH. Ring is not usable.
or
2) No anchor, use all 3 right hand fingers
The more heavyweight thing though is to not get stuck on this. Go deep into your groove and tone. Looking and trying to imitate someones RH from optics is fruitless - trust me, I spent my life trying :-)
Follow the groove, the flow, the melody and stay loose above all. There should be zero physical pain and don't fall into the "I should do this..." that's a trap.
Reach out to me anytime!
Thank you Adam! Very interesting! I play on classical guitar and use classical position
I'm just starting to learn fingerstyle guitar - although I have done some "fingerpicking". I just play fingerstyle (with a thumb pick, usually) in a way that feels good - natural for me. I've seen many different fingerstyle guitarists on RUclips & in person using different techniques, yet all sounding great. Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Great lesson as always. God bless!
Your lesson blew my mind with the lute technique🤯
Great Video Adam. Lots to think about and work on!
Thanks Adam. We all get obsessed doing what we ‘should’ be doing. Great advice to try different positionings that give you the result you’re after - and what suits you personally. The trio of a naturally relaxed hand, a great sound and keeping the groove is proven when listening to how you play. I’m still a beginner, and it’s refreshing to hear that it’s ok to search out what works for you and the sound you’re going for. B
Thanks & groove on! 😊
I play no fingerpick and flesh fingers. With regards to wrist position my right wrist is more aligned than Adam’s so this means there is some muscle activity used to maintain a flatter wrist but I have learned to do this with no tension.
I love your technique & thank you for sharing this info! I've spent years in college and grad school working on technique. It's great to hear others' perspectives. Thanks for sharing 🙏
Very interesting , thanks for your time!!
Adam, I love your discussion (and disposition during the video)! Although I play using the “thumb outside” look, I definitely agree with your observations on the thinness of the sound/volume with the thumb purely parallel to the strings. Unfortunately for me, I have a hard time getting enough “punch” with the thumb without a pick-but, I can’t control unwanted sustain with a thumbpick! Very interesting and informative! Thanks for sharing!
Just feel your way to the right sound!
Nice video, Adam! I have been into fingerstyle guitar for years being a self-taught when I was an high school student. After that, 5 years ago, I managed to get into classical guitar in conservatory. I struggled a lot for the right hand technique, especially at the beginning, because I was used to thumb pick and the pinky near the soundhole. I always heard from my colleagues and sometimes teachers things like: "You have to play like this", "that thumb position is wrong" and stuff like you showed in your comments. That was partly true because in some cases I realized I couldn't play smoothly some fast arpeggios or some section of classical music but... I'm glad I didn't give so many attention to them and the "classical guitar rules" in general. I fixed those hard sections of music keeping focusing on MY WAY to play with right hand because I'm different from them, from my teacher and from everyone else. As you said, there may be something that works on you and something which is not working (for example, you showed us that you weren't happy about your tone i,m,a fingers and your thumb was not playing comfortable). I have passed the right hand obsession after years of hard practice (which is not over yet, of course) developing two right hand positions for my playing: one for classical and one for acoustic fingerstyle and I can pretty easily switch them now :)
I'm happy of my choice because classical guitar is helping me a lot understanding music, analyzing it, improving my technique and my self control during my playing but, beside this, I really don't like these rules which sometimes struggle people like me. Thanks for sharing your story, I didn't know you were a classical student too! I hope these thoughts could help some other people.
Also, thanks a lot for your content on this channel. I cannot wait to finish my academic course and start again playing fingerstyle daily exploring new genres because you were and are still one of that player that made me fall in love with acoustic guitar! :D
Hey Adam - wie immer gut, gründlich und genau auf den Punkt: Danke für Deine vielen Anregungen, die Du hier so freigiebig mit allen Interessierten teilst!
Danke Ulrich. Gut das ich kann Deutsch lesen 😎
@@adamrafferty "Yes - you can..." ;-) I know it since your inspirating lessons, you gave to me during the "Neuenburger Gitarrentage". (At that time you called me "the fugue man", because of my guitar duo "autumn's song", which was performed on the 'Neuenburg Stage' at that time ;-)
Thanks for this very interesting style. So I will try something.
What a great video. I can’t quite get used to the way you hold your hand but it makes total sense and I fell like I’ve seen this evolve over the years I’ve been watching you. The position of the thumb really does make an enormous difference in the tone and that’s all that should matter when it comes to technique.
John, if I saw anyone doing what I was doing, I'd cringe and tell them they were doing it all wrong - I remember teaching proper technique to all my studenst:-) LOL.
It's really a series of steps that brought me to this - primarily wrestling an ultra-clear squeaky & steel string through a PA. You know - the axe and amp combination often push the direction of what your hands start to do, and of course the music does too...i.e. jazz vs country sounds.
Look up Larry Graham - and look at his right hand. When I watch him I feel "yeah that's what I'm trying to do!!! " Groove on!
I always wondered about your right-hand position/technique. When you said you were a long, lanky guy it made A LOT of sense. haha. Once again, thanks for the informative video. And your Jazz guru is right: it's all about groove.
Interesting. My classical guitar teacher tells me « listen to the sound » and that should guide your hand position and angle (within certain boundaries). He doesn’t believe at all in overly fixed hand position theories. For instance, when I play the bass chords with i and m, I need to change the angle of my hand somewhat to prevent my nails from making too much of a scratching sound.
I played lute for a few months before I realised I didn’t have enough time to focus on it, and learned to be quite handy with thumb under but never applied to guitar. Maybe I should give it a try.
No professional here and I'm not anywhere close to your level, Adam! But I guess playing guitar is an eternal quest that involves "polishing" and experimenting with your playing skills... And your sound is as clear as it gets! I've been using my thumb more lately instead of the thumbpick and you're one of the reasons for that...
Huge brazilian fan here! Hope u get to arrange another brazilian song soon!
Very interesting ! Can't argue - it works and makes sense
Unexpected. Interesting. Must try. Thanks!
Hope you like it!
Interesting stuff. I'm mostly a hybrid picker and I've been working on trying to pluck and sustain a melody note and then play a chord underneath . This might be worth checking out for me. Thanks.
Hi Adam, wow, I experimented with these technic and it feels very uncommon, but the sound is really better. Hope I can emproove my groove ;-) your are very inspiring!!!
Check out Alzapua technique on Flamenco Guitar 👍🌝
Great video and people need to try several approaches. If it isn’t working after X time try something else. But love that you make sure to try it in isolated difficult passages to put to the test. And yes- this is pretty much exactly how life players play. Wonder if a guitar could be made easier to pick with just widening the string spacings.
Wes Montgomery came to mind when you were talking about your previous jazz teacher and then you said his name. Wes was one of the best and it didn’t matter that his technique was unorthodox. He did what was right for him and got a great sound.
His technique was the best IMHO. He himself regretted he couldn’t play faster he said but he liked the feel!
Thanks, that was really really interesting! Always wondered how I could get more refined bass notes and bigger and warmer sounding melody notes at the same time...Now I Know :). Just wonder if it is possible to include palm muting the bass notes into this approach.
ADAM!!!! See, I told you that this was an unorthodox method.....Did I just spell that wrong? Anyway, you even referred to it in this video as the "Unforbidden" position. Look, I love your playing and your style and you are certainly among my top ten favorite guitarists, but keep in mind I am a bit partial to a couple of friends of mine, but this really is what I was referring to earlier. Your style is definitely different, however very effective. I wish I played as well as you do and I have been playing a LONG time.
Interestingly, when I started playing fingerstyle (self-taught), I played similar to your way, with my fingers pointed forward (it just felt natural to do it that way). But when I noticed no one else played like that, I decided I must be doing it wrong and worked hard to crook my hand into a fingers pointed down position, which is far less relaxed in my opinion. I think it's time I go back and revisit my original technique.
If you can get a good sound and stay relaxed, go for it! All depends what style of music you ;lay and what sound you need.
Great stuff!
Now I can stop beating myself up about not being perfectlly traditional..now i play what works for me witjout feeling im doing it wrong. I get better tone and groove doing my own thang!! 🎸👍😎
Steve - thank you so much 😊
Love your play so much Adam, since I saw you twice at Music Village Brussels a few years ago, Thank you, gratitude !
Thank you!
Man(Adam) your the best, thanks for sharing your great knowledge wit us ,love your tone and musical expression.blessings
Thanks & groove on! 😊
Good video! I've always been more of a "clawhammer" picker... kind of a Mark Knopfler style. I've always been mystified by folks who pick as demonstrated in this video - although I've always admired the style. John McEuen (albeit banjo) demonstrates this pretty good in his technique.
Jeff it’s physics. If anyone cut off this nails and picks, they might likely land on a similar solution.
Different hand positions work differently for different people. After experimentation, Whatever feels most natural is the one to use. Kind of like thumbpicks. I love them. Other players hate them :)
Rich segment, thanks! Seems like technique needs to be driven by aspirational factors. How loud (unamplified) do you need to be? How funky do you need to be? What timbre makes you sigh with happiness?!? I play with short fingernails (some high end then, and my nails are not strong), prefer the thumb sound for bass on fingerstyle jazz and song accompaniment (but would probably break out the thumbpick to play Cannon Ball Rag or something like that, just wouldn't sound right otherwise). There is something so intuitive about bare fingers that connects to the core of rhythm. I studied with the remarkable (pre-electric) jazz stylist Teddy Bunn, and his self-taught technique resembled yours, Adam. Lots of thumb and lines sometimes executed with flattened strong rest strokes, i & m, like a string bass player, or alternating thumb & i. Very long fingers, a la Mark O'Connor/Michael Howell...
Thank you so much - clearly you’ve given it a lot of thought. No technique is “it” but as you say one must feel a “yes” and happiness with the timbre using a technique.
What practically no one addresses and I this k is important is rhythm. Quarter notes are not just quarter notes.
I can’t walk a Bassline with a thumb pick and be convinced regarding the touch time and tone. But playing Cannonball Rag with a bare thumb is like trying to cut a steak with a wooden spoon! It really gets down to one’s vision of sound, timbre, orchestration and the flavor of music one plays.
I mess with it thumbpicks every day in private. For any kind of Chet stuff (which is not my specialty) it sounds great.
I also long for clearer sounds sometimes like what Tommy gets on “Over the Rainbow” - so sometimes my thump lines just bugs me!!! And without zingy sounds playing can sound less exciting and dull - which concerns me!
But for Mas Que Nada, Misty, Yesterday and many of my tunes this is the only way I can do it.
Thanks for chiming in!!!! And by the way I started playing bare fingers on electric with my band and love it.
I can actually do all the stuff you do but with the sort of Jerry Reed / Leo Kottke / Mark Knopfler like thumb position with my hand really close to the strings and my thumb left of my index finger. The coordination between the thumb, index and hand position is probably the key to this. It is a game of millimeters though, and I wouldn't be surprised if some peoples hand anatomy (like having really lanky fingers) would make it significantly harder.
Yes!
It's not weird to me Adam. When I emailed you I clumsily referred to 'thumbpicking' as a goal I struggle to master. You corrected me saying you don't thumbpick. But actually it's your cool technique I was referring to that I admire in your playing.
Rock on. 😉
Just make sure you find the feel good place of your thumb and how it plays, above all. That’s the boss, fingers obey the boss 😀
I’ve taken lessons from you at Swannannoa and enjoyed them. You didn’t talk about this in those lessons but they were great lessons. I realize that I have been using the same thumb technique when doing fingerstyle but have been keeping my fingers behind the thumb. You are right that the sound is too thin. I will try using the technique of putting my fingers in front of the thumb. Currently, like you said, I’m not getting the volume I need. Looks like I have some practice to get used to it, but it will improve my playing.
Stephen I'd have to see and hear what you are doing - there's no one size fits all solution. Experiment and remember - what fits the rhythm and musical concept? That's the question. For example, if I wanted to play bluegrass - EVERYTHING would have to change,
Great video Adam. Viewed from above, your right hand makes perfect sense now, thanks! My hand position is closer to a classical position. I need to bend my thumb to play your lute style so I'm not sure it suits my hand anatomy, but I'm sure gonna try it.
Go with what FEELS right, copying how someone else's looks has proven (for me) to be a fruitless endeavor! Rock on!
@@adamrafferty Thanks Adam.
Hey Adam,,, I always wondered about your right hand. Thanks for explaining it. Does the position change if you're using a thumb pick or not?
Of course it would change Brandon! The head bones connected to the neck bone, etc! 😀
Interesting. I adapted to play with fingers after playing mostly with a pick. I still use picks but I instinctively go for fingers because I feel there's more freedom to it. The possibilities are endless!
Go with what feels right, trust me.
@@adamrafferty 😁🙏🏻
Super vid as always, and great info. It seems your fingers are sometimes plucking more parallel to the string rather than perpendicular. Does that sometimes soften the tone? I’ve tried parallel fingers a bit and felt I was brushing the strings, not plucking, so the notes lacked definition.
Cheers ARaff! Z
JZ thanks for your website link I will dive in and read. My hand position is the best way I have found my fingertips to be accurate and get a good tone. A by product is that the fingers look more perpendicular 😀
Interesting video, Adam. Perhaps I didn't quite get the point. I saw many classical players using a hand position similar to yours.
Great lesson, Senpai.
A friend of mine’s, been teasing me to play the lute. Haha.
Hey, what’s your thoughts on the double top guitars?
Great camera angles! Do you have a video that talks about your cameras, camera stands & camera placement?
God Bless.
Joe no idea about those axes! I need to redo a tech video for sure!
Can't believe people bother to even call your hand position "names". Many times I put on the headphones and turn the phone down, especially on your channel. But it did make me search for one of your old videos and on the "I"ll be there cover" there is definitely more of a standard classical position. But at times you seem to just naturally move your thumb back to your current position. So you followed what felt and sounded good to you. Anyway, you were a groove master then and you are one now.
Since many years I play on Steelstring & Jazzbox in the same way like you! Sometimes I have a Strong Pick hidden in my little finger for soloing. On Flamenco guitar I nearly do the same but sometimes I change the right hand horizontal & vertical for different sounds & playing styles ... But - I never obey dogmatic Classic players ;-)) -sorry for my english- Keep grooving ...
Perhaps it was said: same technique as well as Skip James Crow Jane rare video .
Wow yes, very similar!
I must say though that the greatest of them all in my opinion for fingerstyle jazz type arrangements , Joe Pass, did OK leading with the thumb out in front of the fingers...
I noted something now while watching you at position 5:16. Your index finger sounds a bit scratchier than the ring,middle finger. I have exactly the same issue since I stopped playing with nails. It is annoying for me and I thought I was doing something wrong, trying different hand positions. But now it looks like it I am not the only one 🙂
Yeah - but you can use the differences in tones to your advantage too! As well, you'd be amazed - if you play around with even a bare finger on one string, you can figure out how to get better / different tones. Thanks for commenting!
Also keep in mind, the index finger is on a WOUND string, M and A are on the trebles....
The attitude of your thumb to the strings is very similar to a flamenco guitarist
when playing pulgar melody lines. And those guys can play the hell out of a guitar.
Dave Van Ronk played that way. 🤔
Interesting!
(03:13)... "I'm like a praying mantis"...
(03:18)..."not everybody is built like this"
You're a funny guy...;-)
Thanks for your video
Glad you enjoyed Daniel! :)
Dood! I've been trying to "correct" my thumb for a while now. Kind of got in the habit of doing a four finger chord pinch kind of thing from lack of co-ordination or something. My fingers are about as independent as my toes are! Having my thumb out front in classical/thumb pick position always feels like my thumbs gonna be late. Good to know it's not just me! And if anybody says something, I can blame it on you now! (jk) So yeah, let your freak thumb fly! Quick, somebody put that on a t-shirt!
Very interesting video, Adam! I checked my own right hand technique and realized that I am kind of halfway between strict classical technique and your hand position. (see ruclips.net/video/BcOBNfnWqfI/видео.html) I tried moving my thumb back a bit, like you do, but found it awkward. Then I realized that I hold the guitar in a more upright manner, while you hold the instrument rather horizontally. I think that makes a big difference. Keep the vids coming!!
Sound great Norm!
@@adamrafferty Thank you!!
Since being a nail person and now not being able to grow any I have quit playing. Thanks for the right hand information, Adam.
Tarrega decided not play with nails.