Hi All,

I recently bought a classical/nylon string guitar and I 'm currently practising using fingerstyle and a few different patterns. I would like to start making my arrangements of really simple of easy songs like Happy Birthday and twinkle ...etc.

I 'm a little confused on a few things and they are as follows

1) For a given song does the right hand always play the same finger pattern from start of the song to the end which leads to my second question

2) so if the right hand is always playing the same pattern does  this mean we have to find a required note on what ever string that is being plucked at a given time and chord fretted by the left hand

3) Does the left hand always have to play chords regardless of the melody . I have  noticed the left hand always forms chords ? Is this necessary or does it make it easier for one to remember

4) What is the right way of strumming on  a nylon string finger. My index finger and thumb nails keep getting caught in the strings.

5)I think all my questions might be basic and could someone recommend me a good beginner's finger style book for chord & melody arrangements

Apologies for my long post but thanks in adv
Chib

Greetings and welcome  to chordbook chib. I'll answer as best i can, though I still consider myself a beginner.

1. The short answer is no.

2. Since 1. above is no, 2. is also no.

3. Yes and no. You'll see why in my explanation at the end of this post.

4. There are any number of ways to strum any guitar. If your nails catch, with whatever way
    you're strumming/picking, maybe cutting them shorter would be a good idea.

5. No apologies necessary chib and you don't need to buy books....everything you need to know 
    about fingerstyle is online and can be had for free. All you need to do is ask questions here or google
    'fingerstyle guitar instruction' for example. There are ppl here that know a lot about all styles of guitar   
    playing, some more than others. I practice fingerstyle and i'm getting better at it but i'm prolly not qualified   
    to teach you. I'll say what i know though.

Assign certain fingers to certain strings. For example, a popular way is to use the thumb for strings 6 5 and 4,
the index for 3, middle for 2 and ring for 1. That's one way and you wouldn't necessarily play the strings in order.
That's where finding the notes comes in. Remembering that chords come from the notes in a scale, shaping chords
then playing the notes for the melody from within them is a good way to reference the notes physically.

That's about all i have for now chib, maybe some of the other more experienced and versed players will jump in tomorrow.

GuitarZen

Hey Chib,

I'm relatively new with the guitar but I primarily play finger style.  Zen is right on point, from what I've read in books I've purchased assigning strings to ea finger is the way to go. 

In many instructional pieces they make reference to the thumb being assigned to the two bass strings (6, 5) with the index, middle, ring and pinky on your higher string(4,3,2,1 respectively)  Many call this position “home base”.  I’ve noticed there are times when “home base” moves and my thumb covers the 6th, 5th, and 4th just as Zen indicated. 
I've learned there really was no need to bother; I get most of my information from this site and others like it. 

A friend of mine once told me that finger style is so challenging because there are numerous ways to finger a song. I'm glad to hear of more people utilizing the style, I find it to be a more intimate experienceplaying finger style. 

This site and the people on it have been an life saver for me ... hopefully it will be helpful to you as well, good luck with the songs!