The 12-String Guitar is most popularly approached in the fingerstyle medium. This may be accomplished by using fingernails or fingerpicks in combination with a thumbpick. Leo Kottke, for instance, started out with his 12-String recordings such as on the Takoma label, using fingerpicks and eventually, in his later recordings, used fingernails. This is a matter of personal preference. You may choose to even use the flesh of your fingers and thumb and accomplish an even softer tonal quality.
The many past and present players approaching the 12-String guitar in a fingerstyle format include: Leo
Kottke, Peter Lang, John Fahey, Leadbelly, Blind Willie McTell ... to hear a sampling of what 12-String Guitar sounds like in a fingerstyle format, Click Here!
Because the 12-String Guitar is essentially the same fingerboard language as a 6-String Guitar, many fingerstyle tunes that were written on a 6-String can be effectively transferred to the 12-String. Some, of course, can be more difficult than others to execute since the 12-String is notoriously more difficult to fret ... the 12-String is especially effective as a fingerstyle instrument when opened tuned as in the American Primitive Guitar tradition. Click Here to learn more about the 12-String as played within American Primitivism.
If you're considering just starting out on fingerstyle 12-String guitar, you might consider some more basic fingerstyle 6-string guitar instructional books & DVDs ... after building a solid foundation in fingerstyle guitar, through exercises and studies, instrumental fingerstyle pieces can be far more easily accomplished.
