Hybrid picking

Hybrid picking means holding the pick as usual and also plucking with the middle and ring fingers. It lets you play notes on non-adjacent strings at the same moment, jump strings without missing, and pluck with the snap heard in country, funk and a lot of modern rock. It combines your fingerstyle skills with your pick.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Pluck with the middle and ring fingers while holding the pick.
• Play bass notes with the pick and treble notes with the fingers in a steady pattern.
• Play pinched double stops across non-adjacent strings.

Hybrid picking combines a flatpick with the fingers. The pick stays between thumb and index as usual; the middle and ring fingers (sometimes the little finger too) pluck the higher strings.

Why do it?

• Non-adjacent strings together. The pick and a finger can sound the low E and high e at the same moment. Pinches like this are impossible with a pick alone.
• Wide jumps. Instead of travelling the pick across several strings, a finger is already waiting on the far string.
• Snap. Plucking a string by pulling it slightly away from the guitar gives a percussive snap that is central to country and funk.

Think of it as fingerstyle with the pick acting as the thumb. The division of labour is usually: pick on the bass strings, fingers on the treble strings. The patterns you learned in the fingerstyle module, including Travis picking, all work this way.

The fingers will feel weaker than the pick at first. Even volume comes with practice; start slowly.

Setting up the hand.

1. Hold the pick normally. Let the middle finger rest on the B string and the ring finger on the high e, curled lightly.
2. Pick the D string with a downstroke.
3. Pluck the B string with the middle finger, moving from the knuckle, then the high e with the ring finger, then the B again.
4. Loop it slowly. The pick hand should not change its grip when the fingers move.

The snap. Hook the middle and ring fingers under the G and B strings, pull them slightly away from the body, and let go. The strings slap back against the frets. Use it sparingly, on off-beats, for the country sound.

Do these in order. Each one is small. Tick the ones you have practised.

• 1.Pick, middle, ring

  4 min · 60 → 90 BPM

  1. Hold the pick normally. Rest the middle finger on the B string and the ring finger on the high e.
  2. Pick the D string, pluck the B with the middle, pluck the e with the ring, pluck the B again.
  3. Loop this four-note pattern on open strings for a minute.
  4. Then fret a C chord and use the pick for the A string and D strings in turn.

  You have it when

  • The pattern is even and every note sounds at a similar volume.
  I practised this one

• 2.Pinches

  4 min · 60 → 80 BPM

  1. Hold G major. Pick the low E string and pluck the high e with the ring finger at the same moment.
  2. Alternate: a pinch on beat 1, a single bass note with the pick on beat 2.
  3. Do the same on C, using the A string for the bass.

  You have it when

  • Both notes of each pinch start together.
  I practised this one

• 3.Snap on the off-beat

  4 min · 60 → 90 BPM

  1. Hold a C chord. Pick the bass note (A string) on each beat.
  2. On each "&", pluck the G and B strings together with middle and ring fingers, pulling them away slightly so they snap.
  3. Change between C and G every bar, moving the bass to the low E for G.

  You have it when

  • The bass stays steady on the beat and the snapped chords land on the "&".
  I practised this one

Start at 60 BPM, two notes per beat. The fingers will feel weak at first; aim for evenness rather than speed, and stop before the hand tires.

• Loosening the grip on the pick when the fingers pluck. Hold the pick between thumb and index as usual. The middle and ring fingers move from the knuckle, independently.
• The fingers playing much more quietly than the pick. Pluck slightly into and away from the guitar. Short nails or a little flesh-and-nail contact help.

Hybrid picking is the standard technique for country and rockabilly lead, and it lets you play Travis patterns without putting the pick down. Try the alternating-bass pattern from the fingerstyle module using the pick for the thumb's part.

Short version (10 minutes)

One minute of the pick-middle-ring pattern on open strings, then pinches on G and C.

Standard version (about 30 minutes)

Do all three exercises, then play the Travis pattern from Module 4 with the pick on the bass and the fingers on top.

• Pick between thumb and index; middle and ring fingers pluck.
• Pick takes the low strings, fingers take the high ones.
• Pinches play non-adjacent strings together.
• Pulling the fingers away gives the country snap.

You are ready to move on when you can honestly say:

• I can play a steady pick-and-fingers pattern over a chord.
• I can play pinches on non-adjacent strings.
• I can play the off-beat snap pattern over C and G.