The Best Guitar Strings for Fingerpicking
Fingerpicking is a style of playing the guitar that focuses on playing patterns. The thumb plays the bass notes, and other fingers play the treble notes. Some musicians play with bare fingers, while others use thumb and/or finger picks. Both ways of playing are included in fingerpicking and depend on a musician's personal comfort. This style of playing evolved in the American South. Fingerpicking allows one guitar to play both the rhythm and melody of a song.
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Steel
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The best strings for fingerpicking are steel strings; some say the only strings for fingerpicking are steel strings. These strings produce a brighter sound than nylon or catgut strings. The style of fingerpicking requires the bass notes to be heard in addition to the treble notes. The steel strings allow a deep bass sound while still producing the bright melody above it.
Gauge
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Light-gauge strings are the best for most fingerpicking musicians. Beginners and infrequent fingerpickers will find these strings easy to play, as the lighter strings will not tire their fingers. More experienced fingerpickers will find that medium-weight strings produce a louder sound and do not fatigue their fingers. A thicker coating will reduce tone. Buy the thinnest coating available. These will wear out faster than the thicker-coated strings, but tone will be less affected.
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Coating
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Coated strings are gaining popularity among musicians. These strings are coated with a polymer, often a Teflon. This type of strings can be very beneficial to a fingerpicker, as the oils from a person's fingers will degrade the metal strings over time. Using strings with a coating will help strings last months longer before sounding "dead." Strings that are dead produce a flat sound and are undesirable.
Flexibility
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Guitar strings have different core material and this makes them more or less flexible. Fingerpicking strings need to be more flexible than strings made to be played with picks. This flexibility allows more finger control and makes playing the guitar in this style easier on the fingers of the musician. Flexibility also produces clear note separation, which is key for fingerpicking, which relies on hearing the melody over the bass line produced by the thumb.
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References
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