Guitar picking
Encyclopedia
Guitar picking is a collection of techniques for setting a string into motion to produce an audible note; that is, plucking or strum
ming the strings on a guitar
. Picking can be done:-
Using p to indicate the thumb, i the index finger, m the middle finger and a the ring finger, common alternation patterns include:
In some genres, such as folk or county, the player can "lock in" to a picking pattern for the whole song, or even the whole performance, since these forms of music are based on maintaining a steady rhythm. However, in other genres, such as classical, flamenco or fingerstyle jazz it will become necessary to switch fluently between patterns.
- factors include:
.
In order to achieve speed, plectrum pickers must learn a method of mixing up- and down-strokes.
is a technique for playing a guitar
using a guitar pick (also called a plectrum
) held between two or three fingers to strike the strings. Although the term is used in other genres and with other instruments, it is probably best known in the context of playing an acoustic guitar with steel strings, particularly in bluegrass music
and old-time country music
. Probably starting around 1930, flatpicking was developed when guitarists began arranging old-time American fiddle
tunes on the guitar, expanding the instrument's traditional role of rhythm guitar
accompaniment
with an occasional run
on the bass strings.
The melodic style in bluegrass is often fast and dynamic, with slide
s, hammer-on
s, pull-off
s, powerful strum
ming and rapid crosspicking
. Bluegrass flatpickers usually prefer guitars with a flat top rather than an arch top, and steel strings rather than nylon. The archetypal flatpicking guitar is the 'Dreadnought' series made by C.F. Martin & Company.
is a guitar
playing technique that employs strictly alternating downward and upward picking strokes in a continuous run, and is the most common method of plectrum
playing. If this technique is performed on a single note at a high speed, then it may also be referred to as tremolo picking
.
is combined with a matching fret hand technique in order to produce a specific series of notes which are fast and fluid in sound. Despite being commonly known as sweep picking, both hands essentially perform an integral motion in unison to achieve the desired effect.
involves using alternate picking except when changing strings. In this case the guitarist changes to sweep picking, picking in the direction of travel: an upstroke if changing to a lower (pitch) string, a downstroke if changing to a higher (pitch) string.
has been described as similar to economy picking, but with the further requirement that when pattern switches from string to string, a rest stroke will be performed.
For instance, on switching from the G to the B string, the plectrum will move in the same direction and come to rest on the E string. This technique as developed by Django Reinhardt
in 1930s.
. This form of percussive rhythm is similar to the "boom-chick" in bluegrass styles. The first beat is a staccato
chord, produced by a down stroke; the fretting hand immediately afterward releases the strings slightly in order to deaden them. The next beat is a percussive strum, produced by a down stroke, while all strings are still deadened by the fretting fingers. The pattern then repeats, but before every first beat, an upstroke is performed very quickly (typically with the strings still deadened), giving the music its heavy swing feel.
is mixture of plectrum picking and finger picking. Normally the player holds the pick with thumb and index finger, picking the string, and utilizing the middle and ring finger to finger pick adjacent strings.
is a stringed instrument playing technique performed (especially on fret
ted string instruments such as guitar
) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on the fingerboard
behind a fret
, causing a note
to sound. This technique is the opposite of the pull-off
. Traditionally, this technique is supplemental to conventional picking, being used to achieve legato
and ornamentation effects. This is connected to the fact that hammering imparts less energy to a string, so that hammered notes are less audible. With electric instruments, it becomes possible to use these techniques much more extensively.
Tapping
is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other. It is similar to the technique of hammer-on
s and pull-off
s, but used in an extended way compared to them: hammer-ons would be performed by only the fretting hand, and in conjunction with conventionally picked notes; whereas tapping passages involve both hands and consist of only tapped, hammered and pulled notes. Tapping is used exclusively by some players (such as Stanley Jordan
) and on some instruments, such as the Chapman Stick
.
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
ming the strings on a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. Picking can be done:-
- With a plectrum held in the hand
- With natural or artificial fingernails, fingertips or finger-mounted plectra known as fingerpickFingerpickA fingerpick is a type of plectrum used most commonly for playing bluegrass style banjo music. Most fingerpicks are composed of metal or plastic. Unlike flat guitar picks, which are held between the thumb and finger and used one at a time, fingerpicks clip onto or wrap around the end of the fingers...
s. These techniques are collectively known as fingerstyle. - With a plectrum is held between thumb and one finger, supplemented by the free fingers. This is called hybrid pickingHybrid pickingHybrid picking is a guitar-playing technique that involves picking with a pick and one or more fingers alternately or simultaneously. Hybrid picking allows guitar players who use a pick to perform music which would normally require fingerstyle playing. It also facilitates wide string leaps Hybrid...
. The use of a single thumb pick with the bare fingers is similar. Another mixed technique is to play different passages with a plectrum or fingerstyle, "palmingPalmingPalming is a technique for holding or concealing an object in the palm of the hand. It is used frequently by magicians to conceal the presence of a card, coin, or other object. When done skillfully, the hand containing the palmed object appears to be completely empty.-Methods:Methods for palming...
" the plectrum when it is not in use.
Comparison of plectrum and finger picking techniques
The pros of each guitar picking style are indirectly correlated to the cons of the other.Advantages of fingerstyle
- Having a pick isn’t necessary
- It possible to play multiple non-adjacent strings at exactly the same time
- It is more suitable for playing polyphonically, with separate musical lines, or separate melodyMelodyA melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, harmonyHarmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
and bass, and therefore more suitable to unaacompanied soloing. Fingerstyle players have up to four (very rarely five) surfaces striking the string independently; however, that does not equate to four plectrums, since plectra can strike strings on both an up and a downstroke, which fingers generally cannot. - It is easy to play arpeggios
- It is possible to play chords without any arpeggiation.
- There is no need for fretting hand damping in playing chords, since only the strings that are required can be plucked.
- A greater variation in strokes is possible, allowing greater expressiveness in timbreTimbreIn music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
. - A wide variety of strums and rasgueadoRasgueadoRasgueado is a guitar finger strumming technique commonly associated with flamenco guitar music. It is also used in classical and other fingerstyle guitar picking techniques...
s are possible.
Advantages of plectrum picking
- Fingernails do not have to be maintained at the right length and in good condition.
- Involves less multi-tasking which makes it easier to do; requires less practice
- Picking back and forth with a pick is much easier. However, alternate pickingAlternate pickingAlternate picking is a guitar playing technique that employs strictly alternating downward and upward picking strokes in a continuous run, and is the most common method of plectrum playing...
is not necessarily the most efficient technique. - TremeloTremeloTremelo is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Baal and Tremelo proper. On January 1, 2006 Tremelo had a total population of 13,725...
effects are easier to achieve. - If a player touches the string with a finger it will be muffled unless done just right and with a larger portion of the finger than would be required from a pick
- More energy is generally imparted to strings, leading to greater volume when playing acoustically.
- There is less loss of articulation or clarity when laying fast.
- Plectrum strokes are even, facilitating smooth melody lines, whereas individual fingers have different sized and levels of strength.
- Playing on heavier gauge strings can damage nails: fingerstyle is more suited to nylon strings or lighter gauge steel strings (but this does not apply to fingerpicks).
Plucking patterns
To achieve tremolo effects, varied arpeggios, and rapid, fluent scale passages, the player must practice alternation, that is, never plucking a string with the same finger twice.Using p to indicate the thumb, i the index finger, m the middle finger and a the ring finger, common alternation patterns include:
- i-m-i-m Basic melody line on the treble strings. Has the appearance of "walking along the strings".
- i-m-a-i-m-a Tremelo pattern with a triplet feel (i.e. the same note is repeated three times)
- p-a-m-i-p-a-m-i A tremolo or apreggio pattern..
- p-m-p-m A way of playing a melody line on the lower strings.
In some genres, such as folk or county, the player can "lock in" to a picking pattern for the whole song, or even the whole performance, since these forms of music are based on maintaining a steady rhythm. However, in other genres, such as classical, flamenco or fingerstyle jazz it will become necessary to switch fluently between patterns.
Tone production
Classical guitarists have a lot of freedom within the mechanics of playing the instrument. Often these decisions with influence on tone/timbreTimbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
- factors include:
- At what position along the string the finger plucks the string (This is actively changed by guitarists since it is an effective way of changing the sound(timbre) from "soft"(dolce) plucking the string near its middle, to "hard"(ponticelo) plucking the string near its end).
- Use of nail or not: today almost all concert guitarists use their fingernails (which must be smoothly filedNail fileA nail file is a tool used to gently grind down and shape the edges of nails. They are often used in manicures and pedicures after the nail has been trimmed using appropriate nail clippers...
and carefully shaped ) to pluck the string since it produces a sharper clearer sound, and also a better-controlled loud sound. The "use of nail or not" is usually a fixed consistent decision of the player and not varied; the thumb is an exception and might actively be varied between nail [sharper clearer sound] and flesh. Playing parameters include - Which finger to use
- What angle of attack to hold the wrist and fingers at with respect to the strings
- Rest-stroke apoyandoApoyandoApoyando is a method of plucking used in both Classical guitar and Flamenco guitar known in English as 'Rest Stroke'. Apoyando is a method of plucking used in both Classical guitar and Flamenco guitar known in English as 'Rest Stroke'. Apoyando is a method of plucking used in both Classical...
; the finger that plucks a string rests on the next string—traditionally used in single melody lines—versus free-stroke (tirandoTirandoTirando is a method of plucking used in Classical guitar and Flamenco guitar. Tirando is Spanish for "pulling." In English, it is also called a "free stroke")...
( plucking the string without coming to a rest on the next string)
Strums
Some of the many possible fingerstyle strums include- A slow upstroke (bass to treble) sweep with the thumb. This is a sforzandoSforzandoSforzando may refer to:*Sforzando, used in musical notation as an instruction to play a note with sudden, strong emphasis *Sforzando , a "pirate orchestra" from Melbourne, Australia, named after the musical term...
or emphatic way of playing a chord. - Light "brushing" strokes with the fingers moving together at a near-perpendicular angle to the strings. Works equally in either direction and can be alternated for a chord tremolo chord effect.
- Downstrokes with one finger make a change from the standard upstroke strum.
- A "pinch" with the thumb and fingers moving towards each other gives a crisp effect. It is helpful to clearly articulate the topmost and bass note in the chord, as if plucking, before "following through".
- RasgueadoRasgueadoRasgueado is a guitar finger strumming technique commonly associated with flamenco guitar music. It is also used in classical and other fingerstyle guitar picking techniques...
: Strumming typically done by bunching all the right hand fingers and then flicking them out in quick succession to get four superimposed strums. The rasgueado or "rolling" strum is particularly characteristic of flamencoFlamencoFlamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
. - Turning p-a-m-i tremolo plucking into a series of downstrokes. This is a lighter version of the classic rasgueado, which uses upstrokes.
Varieties of fingerstyle
- Classical guitar techniqueClassical guitar techniqueThe classical guitar technique is a fingerstyle technique used by classical guitarists to play classical guitar music on a classical guitar.-General:...
- Flamenco guitarFlamenco guitarA flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar. Flamenco guitar also refers to toque, the guitar-playing part of the art of Flamenco.-Brief history:...
- Bossa novaBossa novaBossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
- Ragtime guitar
- Travis picking
- Carter Family pickingCarter Family pickingCarter Family picking, also known as "'thumb brush' technique or the 'Carter lick,' and also the 'church lick' and the 'Carter scratch'", is a style of fingerstyle guitar named for Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family's distinctive style of rhythm guitar in which the melody is played on the bass...
- American primitive guitar
- Folk baroqueFolk baroqueFolk baroque or baroque guitar is the name given to a distinctive and influential guitar fingerstyle developed in Britain in the 1960s, which combined elements of American folk, blues, jazz and ragtime with British traditional music to produce a new and elaborate form of accompaniment...
- New Age fingerstyle
- Percussive fingerstyle
- African fingerstyle guitar
- SlideSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
and Slack-key guitarSlack-key guitarSlack-key guitar is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii. Its name refers to its characteristic open tunings: the English term is a translation of the Hawaiian kī hōalu, which means "loosen the [tuning] key"... - Fingerstyle jazz guitar
Plectrum techniques
The problem of playing notes on non adjacent string can be resolved by practicing the technique of string skippingString skipping
String skipping is a guitar-playing technique that is used mainly for solos and complex riffs in rock and heavy metal songs.- Explanation of technique :...
.
In order to achieve speed, plectrum pickers must learn a method of mixing up- and down-strokes.
Flatpicking
FlatpickingFlatpicking
Flatpicking is a technique for playing a guitar using a guitar pick held between two or three fingers to strike the strings...
is a technique for playing a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
using a guitar pick (also called a plectrum
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
) held between two or three fingers to strike the strings. Although the term is used in other genres and with other instruments, it is probably best known in the context of playing an acoustic guitar with steel strings, particularly in bluegrass music
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
and old-time country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. Probably starting around 1930, flatpicking was developed when guitarists began arranging old-time American fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
tunes on the guitar, expanding the instrument's traditional role of rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
accompaniment
Accompaniment
In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...
with an occasional run
Lick (music)
In popular music genres such as rock or jazz music, a lick is "a stock pattern or phrase" consisting of a short series of notes that is used in solos and melodic lines...
on the bass strings.
The melodic style in bluegrass is often fast and dynamic, with slide
Slide (guitar technique)
A slide is a legato guitar technique where the player sounds one note, and then moves their finger up or down the fretboard to another fret. If done properly, the other note should also sound....
s, hammer-on
Hammer-on
Hammer-on is a stringed instrument playing technique performed by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. This technique is the opposite of the pull-off...
s, pull-off
Pull-off
A pull-off is a stringed instrument technique performed by plucking a string by "pulling" the string off the fingerboard with one of the fingers being used to fret the note.-Performance and effect:...
s, powerful strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
ming and rapid crosspicking
Crosspicking
Crosspicking is a technique for playing the mandolin or guitar using a plectrum or flatpick in a rolling, syncopated style across three strings. This style is probably best known as one element of the flatpicking style in bluegrass music, and it closely resembles a banjo roll, the main difference...
. Bluegrass flatpickers usually prefer guitars with a flat top rather than an arch top, and steel strings rather than nylon. The archetypal flatpicking guitar is the 'Dreadnought' series made by C.F. Martin & Company.
Alternate picking
Alternate pickingAlternate picking
Alternate picking is a guitar playing technique that employs strictly alternating downward and upward picking strokes in a continuous run, and is the most common method of plectrum playing...
is a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
playing technique that employs strictly alternating downward and upward picking strokes in a continuous run, and is the most common method of plectrum
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
playing. If this technique is performed on a single note at a high speed, then it may also be referred to as tremolo picking
Tremolo picking
Tremolo picking, also known as alternate picking or double picking, describes the musical technique of picking on a guitar or other string instrument in which a single note is played repeatedly in quick succession. It can be achieved either with the fingers or with a pick...
.
Sweep picking
Sweep picking is a picking technique in which a 'sweeping' motion of the pickPlectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
is combined with a matching fret hand technique in order to produce a specific series of notes which are fast and fluid in sound. Despite being commonly known as sweep picking, both hands essentially perform an integral motion in unison to achieve the desired effect.
Economy picking
A combination of sweep picking and alternate picking, economy pickingEconomy picking
Economy picking is a guitar-playing technique for a guitarist who uses a pick. A hybrid of sweep picking and alternate picking, economy picking involves using alternate picking except when changing strings...
involves using alternate picking except when changing strings. In this case the guitarist changes to sweep picking, picking in the direction of travel: an upstroke if changing to a lower (pitch) string, a downstroke if changing to a higher (pitch) string.
Gypsy picking
The picking technique of gypsy jazzGypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
has been described as similar to economy picking, but with the further requirement that when pattern switches from string to string, a rest stroke will be performed.
For instance, on switching from the G to the B string, the plectrum will move in the same direction and come to rest on the E string. This technique as developed by Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
in 1930s.
La Pompe
La Pompe is the rhythmic pattern used in gypsy jazzGypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
. This form of percussive rhythm is similar to the "boom-chick" in bluegrass styles. The first beat is a staccato
Staccato
Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...
chord, produced by a down stroke; the fretting hand immediately afterward releases the strings slightly in order to deaden them. The next beat is a percussive strum, produced by a down stroke, while all strings are still deadened by the fretting fingers. The pattern then repeats, but before every first beat, an upstroke is performed very quickly (typically with the strings still deadened), giving the music its heavy swing feel.
Hybrid picking
Hybrid pickingHybrid picking
Hybrid picking is a guitar-playing technique that involves picking with a pick and one or more fingers alternately or simultaneously. Hybrid picking allows guitar players who use a pick to perform music which would normally require fingerstyle playing. It also facilitates wide string leaps Hybrid...
is mixture of plectrum picking and finger picking. Normally the player holds the pick with thumb and index finger, picking the string, and utilizing the middle and ring finger to finger pick adjacent strings.
Hammer-on and pull-off
Hammer-onHammer-on
Hammer-on is a stringed instrument playing technique performed by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. This technique is the opposite of the pull-off...
is a stringed instrument playing technique performed (especially on fret
Fret
A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
ted string instruments such as guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on the fingerboard
Fingerboard
The fingerboard is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run...
behind a fret
Fret
A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
, causing a note
Note
In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself....
to sound. This technique is the opposite of the pull-off
Pull-off
A pull-off is a stringed instrument technique performed by plucking a string by "pulling" the string off the fingerboard with one of the fingers being used to fret the note.-Performance and effect:...
. Traditionally, this technique is supplemental to conventional picking, being used to achieve legato
Legato
In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...
and ornamentation effects. This is connected to the fact that hammering imparts less energy to a string, so that hammered notes are less audible. With electric instruments, it becomes possible to use these techniques much more extensively.
Tapping
Tapping
Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other. It is similar to the technique of hammer-on
Hammer-on
Hammer-on is a stringed instrument playing technique performed by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. This technique is the opposite of the pull-off...
s and pull-off
Pull-off
A pull-off is a stringed instrument technique performed by plucking a string by "pulling" the string off the fingerboard with one of the fingers being used to fret the note.-Performance and effect:...
s, but used in an extended way compared to them: hammer-ons would be performed by only the fretting hand, and in conjunction with conventionally picked notes; whereas tapping passages involve both hands and consist of only tapped, hammered and pulled notes. Tapping is used exclusively by some players (such as Stanley Jordan
Stanley Jordan
Stanley Jordan is an American jazz/jazz fusion guitarist and pianist, best known for his development of the tapping technique for the guitar....
) and on some instruments, such as the Chapman Stick
Chapman Stick
The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and has been used on music recordings to play bass lines, melody lines, chords or textures...
.