One of the first exercises in classical guitar technique is just practicing scales with alternating free strokes with the index and middle finger. So let’s do just that, but remember we are treating the pick as if it were the thumb, so we are going to alternate with the middle and ring finger.

This was my first departure from the traditional hybrid picking exercises I’d been doing. Every exercise until now had started with a pick stroke or had at least used the pick somewhere in the sequence. This resulted in a lot more effective practice… remember… if its your fingers that need work then work the fingers.

Another thing to note is that you may have the temptation to change the angle of the right hand to get better leverage with the fingers. You should aim to keep your right hand in a position where you are still able to use the pick if you want to. Changing the hands position for optimal finger plucking can result in putting the pick in an unusable position, this defeats the effectiveness of the exercise.