Sooner or later, most guitar students find themselves wanting to learn how to strum guitar without a pick. This technique is very useful if acoustic guitar strumming is your main priority and it has a kind of magical effect in that you feel very... 'earthy' and in touch with a pure tradition of wood and music. There aren't any electronics around to help you, only your musical talent and a desire to express yourself.

The tone you achieve when using only your fingers is more subdued and mellow when compared to playing with a guitar plectrum. The sound is more true and authentic. This is probably the main reason why it's such an appealing way to learn to play guitar.

One of the most important things to understand is how to assign your fingers. Speaking in general terms, the thumb's responsibility is to take care of anything happening on the 6th, 5th and 4th strings. Your index finger is assigned to the 3rd string, your middle finger to the 2nd string and your 3rd finger takes care of the 1st string. This represents the classic and most widely adopted style of strumming guitar without a pick.

The idea is to make those finger assignments so automatic that anytime you need to play something on the 3rd string, your 1st finger will immediately take responsibly for it. This takes time and patience to achieve but it's absolutely critical that you do it as a first step. Otherwise you'll find yourself unable to progress into more advanced levels of strumming guitar without a pick further on down the road.