Hi all, i've been cruising through quite a few youtube vids of mark knopfler, and his personal thumb and fingers picking style really fascinates me, as something different than standard? finger picking styles i have seen elsewhere. He says he uses a pick for playing rythm guitar, however mostly the finger picking style of his is the part i dig. Are there any of you here that use that method, or any variant of it? It seems to have merit, as he attains some pretty impressive speeds in his riffs. I also really dig the idea of having no pick to drop! I'm considering learning that method, so i wonder if any of you have done that already and if so, could offer any input as to wether it is a good idea or not.

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I believe in Christianity as i believe that the sun has risen. not only because i see it, but because by it, i see everything else. C.S. Lewis

I rarely use a pick, as well. It takes it toll on my nails, though.
I'll often feel hendered by picks and like to feel the strings
with my fingers. I find I'm able to get more expression from my
playing/sound without picks.

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Hi davemercier: my right-hand style is pretty much the same as Knopfler's, though I've noticed there are passages he can pick faster than me... If speed is your goal then it ain't the way to go: I can't think of any pickless shredders...

I arrived at my style independently of Knopfler's influence, partly by not being taught properly (or at all) and making it up for myself, and partly because it just felt right. Mark Knopfler is a left-hander who plays guitar right-handed, and it so happens I am too. I have wondered if that is part of what makes that technique attractive - certainly, holding a pick has never felt natural to me. Like trying to write with the pen in the wrong hand.

On the other hand, there are other left-handed guys who play the guitar right-handed and yet do use a pick - Gary Moore, for example. And there is also Jeff Beck who as far as I know is right-handed but gave up using a pick decades ago for "tone" reasons, and uses a picking technique not quite the same but not too dissimilar from Knopfler's.

So there's all possibilities.

BTW: I have seen Knopfler live many times and never once seen him use a pick, either for lead or rhythm. I once saw him demonstrate something to an interviewer on a TV program and he used a pick for a moment for that - and then put it back in his pocket not to be seen again.

Cheers - C

I started out with fingers cos I kept losing plectrums. This past two years I've gone back to fingers. Only because of tone. I'm still not good enough to use fingers live, but thats ok the plectrums there. I just cant be doing with the plastic klunk of the plectrum when I'm on my own. It doesnt really come to the fore when your using drive.
The Knopfler technique is based on Claw Hammer Banjo playing.

Lots of info on google.

Claw Hammer info click here

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No no and no

Years of playing flamenco guitar have contributed to a fairly interesting right hand... on a nylon-string guitar. When I apply it to my Strat, it just feels all wrong. I'd like to get some sort of hybrid picking thing happening, as I really like a plectrum for single-note lines and could imagine employing it more for bass notes while I did some impressive fiddly stuff with my spare fingers — but I think part of the problem is that my thumb is trained to revert back to a resting position on the 6th string whenever it's not in use. It seems quite happy playing walking bass lines while I comp on the upper strings, but Knopfler- and Beckisms seem out of my reach at the moment.

OK, I've just gone off and played around for a bit... I'm going to do my best to stick to fingers on electric guitar for as long as I can handle it. If my nails chip, I'll file 'em down — I never had the gumption to go without nails (á la Fernando Sor, reputed to have produced some of the loveliest tones in the classical guitar realm), but perhaps now is the time. Carpe diem and all that. I think my plectrum... erm... "technique"... has evolved as far as it's ever going to anyway, so I can always revert to my current status if required. I'm not going to look like the coolest guy around with my fey little picado, but I'm getting a bit old for such concerns...

You can do a search on Youtube for Jim Deeming, he shows some basic finger picking skills with a thumb pick and using your other fingers.

i can go both ways, pick or fingerstyle. depends on what i'm playing. i'm in a few bands and i play a wide range of styles. i usually only need a pick if i'm playing rock/blues and need to hit the strings hard. if i play any other style, then finger picking is open game, and i find i often use it. sometimes i find myself using a pick AND finger style in the same song. not simultaneous, i never got used to hybrid picking. but for example i'll probably be using the pick for chords and heavy picking, then when i'm playing longer leads, i might tuck the pick inside my ring and pinky fingers, and use the other 3 fingers to finger pick some stuff. its cool because it changes the whole feel of the song, i typically do this when i can afford to lighten the mood, and play a bit softer. I find myself strumming with the fingernails too sometimes.

i guess i use the Travis style. i typically have each finger dedicated to a string, sans pinky (dont use it much). the thumb handling the 3 on bottom. really helps for multi-string leads, such as R&B or country style

fingerpicking really lends itself to some great dynamics. you can get a wider range of tones that way. i found that fingernails will actually produce a brighter sound compared to most picks. maybe the plastic picks and skin create a more muted sound in comparison? that might explain Jeff Beck's "tone" reason.

All i can say, is WOW!!! Thanks SO much guys! I had no idea that there were so many out there that had equally as many truly inventive approaches to making a guitar sing! This knowledge is absolutely awesome!

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I believe in Christianity as i believe that the sun has risen. not only because i see it, but because by it, i see everything else. C.S. Lewis

Mark has a unique picking style all his own. Greg Koch was giving a clinic a few years back and he explained exactly how it is done. If I remember correctly he used both a pick and his thumb. The same note is sounded with both the pick and the thumb very close together. An up stroke followed by a down stroke. That's where the signature Mark Knopfler "pa-diddle" sound came from. Of course that was years ago and I could have hallucinated the whole thing

Not to high-jack the thread. But, has anyone listened to some of the stuff Mark Knopfler did with Chet Atkins and his recent project with Emmy Lou Harris?

Well I am 90% pick and only use my middle and ring sometimes for hybrid picking. The bottom line is it all boils down to what is most comfortable for you as all players mentioned are greats. Becks finger tips must be partially petrified by now as he can strum with the authority of having a pick where we would all be bleeding and maybe a few digits short.

Can I hijack slightly, for some advice?

I am teaching myself, and have only been able to perform the standard p-i-m-a finger-style picking. In essence, I am playing one bass note and 3 treble notes (say in a regular chord). I can sometimes, picking fast, put in a pattern of the treble notes to fit in 4/4 time; but I just cannot come up with a method to pick 2 bass notes (especially 2 different ones) in one 4/4 bar.

Can you speak about it here, or point to some youtube's that will demo it? I have been tryin "Travis"-style picking, and frankly, my fingers are in knots. Sounds cool when I hit it though, once out of every 4 chords.

msvolpe's hand position as described above is probably the best for general use: index, middle and annular (don't you love that?) fingers take the G,B, and E strings, while thumb roves across the E, A and D strings. After playing a bass note with your thumb, leave it resting on the next string down until it's needed again. That way, it's anchoring your hand but still free to move to wherever it needs to be.

Thumbs are very propulsive digits... with a bit of work you should be able to do up/downstrokes with your thumb on those three strings as rapidly as alternate picking with a plectrum, if not more so.