Let's look at some tips and tricks for improving your volume when playing fingerstyle guitar and get a louder fingerpicking sound from your acoustic guitar, even if you don't use nails.
Are you wondering why your fingerpicking is so quiet? Well, first off, fingerpicking technique produces a quieter sound compared to aggressive playing, especially if you play guitar with a pick.
But although fingerpicking technique produces a gentler sound than other styles of playing, you can get a louder fingerstyle sound by using proper finger picking technique, using nails and using an instrument with a louder sound.
You don't have to do all of these things for a louder sound, however. Sometimes a simple fix in your plucking hand technique will suffice.
However, even that may not be enough, depending on the situation. So, let's dive into 5 things you can do right now to get a louder fingerstyle guitar sound.
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Why Is My Fingerstyle Guitar So Quiet?
Is your fingerstyle playing barely audible, even to the person sitting right in front of you? Or perhaps your plucked notes are so feeble in sound that they are being drowned out by the drone coming from your purring cat.
If so, this is terrible, but usually a result of several factors which can be easily fixed. Let's look in more detail at 5 things that you can do right now to get a louder fingerstyle guitar sound.
1. Use Correct Fingerpicking Technique
In general, fingerpicking that is too quiet can usually be solved with a simple tweak to your technique. To get a louder fingerpicking sound, you'll want to have correct hand placement along with proper plucking technique.
Plucking Hand Placement
If you are looking to improve your fingerstyle guitar volume, first look carefully at where your hand is located on the guitar. It should be slightly over the sound hole, half covering it.
Your hand should also be closer to the bridge. If your hand is too close to the bridge of the guitar or if it's overtop the fretboard, your fingerpicking volume will be less.
Plucking Technique
Once you've placed your hand properly, before focusing on the other factors that go into a louder fingerpicking sound, the first thing you should change in order to finger pick louder is your plucking hand technique.
When we pluck a guitar string, we set the string in motion. This vibrating string causes the air around it to move, which creates the sound we hear. The amplitude (size) of the waving string determines the volume of our guitar sound.
Simply by plucking the string more aggressively, we can create a louder sound because we have put more energy into our vibrating string. In more technical terms, we have increased the amplitude of the wave hence, producing a louder sound.
Your plucking hand finger movement should come from the knuckle. If your wrist is too flat and you attempt to increase your volume by plucking harder, you may end up pulling on the string and producing a twangy sound.
To avoid this, raise your wrist and ensure the finger movement comes from the knuckle. The fingertip should pass through the string and finish underneath the palm of your hand.
2. Get A Louder Acoustic Guitar
When we pluck a string, the vibrations get transferred to the guitar body. It stands to reason that you can get a louder sound simply by increasing the number of strings that you set in motion.
But the construction of your guitar can influence the volume of your fingerstyle guitar playing. You'll get a louder fingerstyle guitar sound simply by playing a steel string guitar. The braces on a modern acoustic guitar, which are pieces of wood glued inside the guitar body, are constructed to transfer the vibrations of the string more efficiently to the guitar body and thus, increase the guitar's volume.
By the way, unless you have a parlor guitar, a guitar with a smaller body size (concert or auditorium) won't necessarily produce a softer sound compared to larger dreadnought or jumbo guitars.
3. Play More Aggressively
Tired of the same old gentle arpeggios? Use a more aggressive playing style on your guitar to instantly get a louder sound. Techniques such as percussion, nail attack or rasgueado will automatically produce a louder sound compared to regular finger picking.
Strumming chords with a pick will generally always produce a louder sound than fingerstyle guitar, simply due to the fact that we can put more energy into the string with this playing style. This isn't the only way to increase the volume of our guitar, however.
Fingernails and guitar volume
Playing with fingernails and especially, artificial nails will give you a brighter sound that will project more without necessarily increasing the volume. And you can adjust your playing style to play more aggressively without nails.
Because the nail isn't there to "snap" the string into the fretboard of the guitar, you can usually pluck deeper into the guitar. This means that you can engage more of the finger with the string without necessarily getting a twangy sound.
If you prefer to play fingerstyle guitar with flesh, try using a thumb pick to improve the sound of your bass notes. The thumb pick attaches to the thumb sideways, not on the fingertip like other fingerpicks.
You can also consider growing only your thumbnail and leaving your other fingernails short. I often find that my thumb nail naturally grows longer than my other fingernails and is more resistant to breaking.
4. Use Lighter Gauge Strings
It's contrarian, but true. Just because higher gauge strings are thicker and heavier than thinner strings with a lower gauge, this doesn't necessarily translate into getting a louder volume with fingerstyle guitar.
A gentle playing style will sound quiet on any guitar, regardless of the string gauge. In fact, light playing will sound at a lower volume on a guitar with thicker strings than, say, a classical guitar with lighter strings.
Higher or heavier gauge strings on fingerstyle guitar are only a good choice if you want to achieve a louder volume through more aggressive playing and you aren't concerned about wear on your fingernails. Furthermore, you must be willing to play through the pain that thicker strings will cause in your fingertips.
Also, if you are fond of using alternate tunings that are significantly lower than standard tuning, thicker gauge strings will help in improving the timbre of your instrument. But in general, you should stick to extra light gauge strings for the best volume possible when fingerpicking.
5. Amplify Your Guitar
Finally, you may come to a point where you are playing in front of a crowd or in an outdoor setting and you simply cannot get enough volume from natural methods of playing fingerstyle.
In that case, you don't need to change your repertoire entirely; you can simply amplify the sound of your acoustic guitar.
If your guitar doesn't already come with a built-in pickup system, the best option is to have a device which captures the sound of the acoustic guitar without modifying the sound quality.
Always remember that playing fingerstyle guitar at a louder volume doesn't mean sacrificing quality. By following the tips and techniques outlined in the program Play Fingerstyle Guitar Now!, you can become a better guitarist while improving your finger picking volume.
