To combine strumming and fingerpicking, use hybrid picking, holding a pick between your thumb and index finger and plucking the treble strings with your middle and ring fingers, or strum the chord and then fingerpick the melody, alternating between the two in the same song.
How do you combine strumming and fingerpicking?
To combine strumming and fingerpicking, use hybrid picking, holding a pick between your thumb and index finger and plucking the treble strings with your middle and ring fingers, or strum the chord and then fingerpick the melody, alternating between the two in the same song. Hybrid picking lets you strum the bass with the pick and pluck the melody with the fingers, at the same time, so the guitar sounds full and rhythmic, with the bass and the melody together. Alternating lets you strum the verse and fingerpick the chorus, or strum the chord and fingerpick the melody, in the same song, so the song has contrast and variety. The combination is used in many styles, and it is the way most guitarists play when they want the best of both: the strum gives the rhythm, and the fingerpicking gives the melody, and the two together make the guitar sound like two instruments, not one. A song that is strummed all the way through can sound flat, because there is no contrast, while a song that alternates between strumming and fingerpicking has dynamics, with the strum loud and the fingerpicking soft, and the contrast makes the song alive. The C major guitar chord and the G major guitar chord are the chords most players first combine with, and the metronome keeps the beat steady.
How combining strumming and fingerpicking works
Hybrid picking works by holding the pick between the thumb and the index finger, and using the middle and ring fingers to pluck the treble strings, while the pick strums the bass strings. The pick plays the low strings, the 6th, 5th and 4th, with downstrokes, and the fingers play the high strings, the 3rd, 2nd and 1st, with plucks, and the two work together, with the pick giving the bass and the fingers giving the melody. The hand must learn to do two things at once, strum with the pick and pluck with the fingers, and the coordination builds with practice. Alternating works by strumming the chord for the rhythm, and then fingerpicking the melody, in the same bar, or in the same song, so the two techniques take turns. A common pattern is to strum down on beat one, and then fingerpick the arpeggio on beats two, three and four, so the bar starts with a strum and ends with a fingerpick, and the rhythm is the strum and the melody is the fingerpick. The D major guitar chord and the A major guitar chord are the chords the combination is built on, and the I–V–vi–IV progression in C major is a good progression to practise it with.
Worked example — hybrid picking on C major. Hold a C major chord, and hold a pick between your thumb and index finger, and pluck the 1st string with your middle finger, the 2nd string with your ring finger, and strum the bass strings with the pick, down, on the beat, and the pattern is pick, middle, ring, pick, middle, ring, with the pick giving the bass and the fingers giving the melody. The notes are C, E, B, C, E, B, with the pick playing C and the fingers playing E and B, and the guitar sounds full and rhythmic, with the bass and the melody together. Now try alternating: strum the C major chord down on beat one, and then fingerpick the arpeggio, P-I-M-A, on beats two, three and four, and the bar starts with a strum and ends with a fingerpick, and the song has contrast. The key of C major lists the chords the combination is built on.
How to practise combining strumming and fingerpicking
Practise combining strumming and fingerpicking slowly, learning hybrid picking first, and then alternating, so the two techniques work together cleanly.
- Practise hybrid picking on a C major chord, holding the pick between your thumb and index finger, and plucking the 1st string with your middle finger and the 2nd with your ring finger.
- Practise alternating on a G major chord, strumming down on beat one, and then fingerpicking the P-I-M-A pattern on beats two, three and four.
- Play the I–V–vi–IV progression in C major with hybrid picking, changing chords on beat one of each bar.
- Practise with the metronome at 60 beats per minute, and increase the tempo by 5 beats per minute when the combination is steady at the current tempo.
- Practise strumming the verse and fingerpicking the chorus of a song you know, so the song has contrast and the two techniques take turns.
Common mistakes
- Holding the pick too tightly for hybrid picking — Hybrid picking needs the pick to be held loosely, so the fingers can pluck the treble strings, and a pick held too tightly will make the fingers stiff, and the plucks will be uneven. Hold the pick loosely, and let the fingers move freely.
- Strumming and fingerpicking at the same time, badly — Combining the two techniques needs coordination, and doing both at once, badly, will make the rhythm uneven and the notes blur together. Learn each technique separately, until it is clean, and then combine them, slowly, until the combination is clean.
- Forgetting to keep the beat — The combination must keep the beat, with the strum on the beat and the fingerpick on the offbeat, or the rhythm will break. Use a metronome, and keep the hand moving, so the beat stays steady, even when the technique changes.
Quick reference
This table compares the two ways of combining strumming and fingerpicking, hybrid picking and alternating, so you can see the differences at a glance. Hybrid picking does both at once, with the pick and the fingers together, while alternating does one and then the other, with the strum and the fingerpick taking turns.
| Technique | Pick | Fingers | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hybrid picking | Strums the bass strings | Pluck the treble strings | Full, bass and melody together |
| Alternating | Strums the chord | Fingerpicks the melody | Contrast, strum then fingerpick |
Use the table to choose the combination for a song you know: if you want the bass and the melody together, use hybrid picking, and if you want contrast, with the strum loud and the fingerpicking soft, use alternating. When you can do both cleanly, you can combine strumming and fingerpicking in any song.
Frequently asked questions
How do I combine strumming and fingerpicking?
Use hybrid picking, holding a pick between your thumb and index finger and plucking the treble strings with your middle and ring fingers, or strum the chord and then fingerpick the melody, alternating between the two in the same song.
What is hybrid picking?
Hybrid picking is holding a pick between your thumb and index finger, and plucking the treble strings with your middle and ring fingers, while the pick strums the bass strings, so the guitar sounds full and rhythmic, with the bass and the melody together.
Can I strum and fingerpick in the same song?
Yes. Many songs strum the verse and fingerpick the chorus, or strum the chord and fingerpick the melody, in the same bar, so the song has contrast and variety, with the strum loud and the fingerpicking soft.
Is hybrid picking hard to learn?
It takes time, because the hand must learn to do two things at once, strum with the pick and pluck with the fingers, but the coordination builds with practice, and a beginner can learn it in a few weeks, with short, frequent practice.
When should I use hybrid picking?
When you want the bass and the melody together, with the pick giving the bass and the fingers giving the melody, and the guitar sounds like two instruments, not one. Hybrid picking is used in country, blues, and many other styles.