Walz Guitar - Finger Picking on Electrics

I've been working with a student doing fingerstyle. The situation is they only have an electric guitar. So there's two big issues I noticed. Well, besides not having an acoustic.

One: Posture is important. The students likes and uses the classical position with their electric. That helps. The problem is the thin electric body combating good right hand placement. It is very easy to have an acute hand angle instead of an angle closer to a right angle. Along with this position, keeping the thumb out--almost like the Fonz--is another part of position to be aware of. Something that worked to help this problem is to put the thumb on the upper edge of the neck pickup and aim the pinky toward the volume control.

Two: Volume should be carefully moderated. Popping the strings upward should not be done. With the thin body of the guitar, and this goes back to One above, it's easy to loose the mild arch in the wrist which causes fingers to naturally curl toward the palm which makes popping more likely. More on the volume topic, players used to using a pick are used to hearing a certain non-amped volume when they play. Then when using fingers you try to get that same volume and bad habits start. So, work toward a mild and even volume--this will be much softer than using a pick. This will be much, much softer. This matters if and hopefully when you play on an acoustic or archtop. These types of guitars allow for a wider range of dynamic expression and keeping good control volume with fingers makes transitioning to different guitars easier.

All in all, using fingers on an electric can add variety to your playing and open up some creative doorways. Be attentive and do it correctly so that you can carry that skill with you beyond the electric world.