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When to use pima vs. i and m, or other combinations

by Laurie
(NY )

Hi. I am new to playing classical guitar. I was instructed to use my thumb (p) for the bass strings, and then my i, m, and a fingers for the first three strings.

This I understand. What confuses me is that the exercises in my guitar book tell me to us i and m (and sometimes p) in several instances where I thought, according to what I was told, I should use my m and a fingers.

Often it is when the notes being played are on the same line of the scale. Aside from those instances, is there a rhyme or reason to when you use pima, and when you just use the i and m fingers?

Sorry for the long question and thank you in advance to anyone who can shed light on it. :0)

Hi Laurie,

I tend to use the thumb for the bass strings and the i.m.a. fingers for the trebles as a GENERAL rule. However, it doesn't always work out that way.

An example where this would differ is if I'm playing the Villa Lobos Prelude # 3 in A minor. The opening run of notes uses a combination of p+i & p+m going from the 6th string to the 2nd or "B" string. That is, your thumb will play these notes in succession: E open 6th string; A open 5th string; D open 4th string; G open 3rd string; B open 2nd string.

All this in eighth notes while i & m fingers are playing: C,B; F,E; Bb,A; D,C#; G,F in 16th notes.

And that’s just the first bar & a bit!

There are numerous examples in the classical guitar repertoire where this type of "unorthodox" fingering occurs.

The main thing to keep in mind, in my opinion, is to be able to play with all those fingers fluently when they are called upon to do so. I even play some of my own arrangements with slightly different fingerings at times to how I've stated it should be played on the sheet music.

All this doesn't bother me because I learnt how to play properly initially, and when my fingers gained the desired fine motor control, I was able to play with slight variations without problems.

So I guess what it boils down to is stick to the basics first - thumb on bass strings, other fingers on trebles - and when you're "fluent" you can vary it a little to suit the musical purposes of the piece.

This is where the studies and short pieces of the classical guitar masters really come into their own because they develop the fine motor control and movement of the individual fingers and thus give you much greater control over your musicality and expression.

Hope this makes sense and helps,

Kind regards,
Trevor M.