How to Play Classical Music on an Acoustic Steel Guitar
- 1). Place your thumb on the low E string on the guitar. The index finger should be on the G string, the middle finger on the B string, and the ring finger on the high E string. This is standard fingerstyle position. The pinky is not used as often as the other fingers.
When playing in this position, the fingers are referred to as "PIMA." The thumb is "P," the index finger is "I," the middle finger is "M," and the ring finger is "A." Some classical music may notate that certain melodies will be played "PMIA," "PAMIA" or "PIMI." This simply refers to the order in which the strings are plucked. The thumb is used to play bass notes on the low E, A, and D strings. - 2). Pluck with your thumb on the strings. The other three fingers play melody notes on their respective strings. Pluck upward with these fingers.
- 3). Practice a PIMA finger roll. Pluck downward with the thumb, followed by an upward motion with the index, middle and ring fingers. Try holding different chords when doing this finger roll---an E chord will work well. You'll begin to hear a classical sound as you switch through the chords.
- 4). Move your thumb to the corresponding root notes as you switch between chords. Pluck the A string on the third fret for a C chord, an open D string for a D chord, etc. Start stringing chords together in this fashion. The ultimate goal is to achieve independence between your thumb and fingers.
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