Finger pickers: Single note lines?

I think using certain techniques limit what you can do. Maybe you should embrace that and make it your style.

I'm pretty sure Beck would use a pick if he had to play more rhythm but he's in a position to have someone else play rhythm and he can do his magic.

 

I like that JJ Nichols clip; that's not my favorite flavor of blues-rock, but I like the approach.

I play with my fingers, but it's not a refined technique, more catch as catch can. Picks just never worked for me, and all of my favorite blues guys played fingers-only, thumbpick, or pick and fingers; took me a while to figure that out back in the day. I mostly do thumb downstroke/middle finger upstroke, especially on double stops, but play a lot of chords thumb and fingers simultaneously, or strummed with my index nail. I'm not endorsing it, my right hand technique is gross, but that's how I do it. Using fingers lets you mute more easily.

Watch how Guy King plays--his thumb playing is very precise. He uses an ashtray on his Tele to rest his hand like Albert Collins did.

 

I play any guitar and bass with fingers (a-m-i) or 4 fingers (p-i-m-a/ch-i-m-a) since started with classical guitar (the 3rd movement of Manuel Ponce's Sonata III has the part which requires the fingering for the seamless transition between tremolo and rapid scales).
Just wonder why this technique (3 finger or 4 finger) is much more popular among bass players than guitar players...

 

Tremolo is a cool technique and I've been trying to find ways to incorporate it into non-classical playing and my improv, but I can't say I've had great success. As far as tremolos go, this guy is a bit uneven between his fingers.. not knocking him, I'm not familiar with him and maybe that's the effect he's going for. The Romero brothers have extremely smooth tremolos if you wanted to check them out.

@loopfinding I run into the same muting issues. I noticed Mateo Mancuso uses a mute that he pulls from behind the nut. I thought that was cheating, but after seeing him I'm reconsidering.

 

I started out as a classical guitarist , then got the blues i like the 30's stuff and i had a hard time until i figured there is a basic difference in approaching finger picking . In classical music single lines are done by alternating index and major (and 3rd) the thumb is some what at rest. In American music its up and down thumb down index up (Travis picking) . The key to be efficient is to not move the finger but moving your arm exactly as if you were playing rhythm but on one string , the up and down stroke are the same movement repeating , to go down twice you need to go up one use it .

Everybody has different size hands , arms and fingers , we each need to find the most appropriate way to use them , no book or teacher can do that only you. Practice is the answer.