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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → finger pickin good?
I just got my first guitar for Christmas. I love it and can play several songs, a bit choppy of course, but I'm really enjoying it. I really want to learn finger picking but it looks so foreign to me, I can't make sense of it. I'm not giving up hope because that's what chords looked like to me at first, but I think I need some direction. Is there a good resource or something that will help me learn to do this?
Don't jump ahead of your self too quick !
You may find yourself loosing interest if things don't go right.Trust me I'v been there.
Take your time and learn proper basics,
Things such as --- holding the guitar,strumming patters,chord changes,rythme,and work on simple 2 or 3 chord songs,Trust me this really helped me when it came to playing more advanced chords.
Check out my songbook there may be some easy stuff for you that you may like.My songbook is called,
Beginner ron
Just to add to your request,
I have been only playing for a year and i have not even
tried picking yet, because I want to be great at strumming first.
cheers
Ron
I tend to agree somewhat. If you play an acoustic guitar, knowing how to finger pick can add another realm of play to this great hobby! Strumming is important and easy to learn, so you can definitely start here. As you get more proficient with chords and progressions, try putting the pick down and start doing some finger picking!
Good luck and happy playing nonetheless.
Kahuna!
<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>drantle wrote on Fri, 16 February 2007 19:20</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
Just to add to your request,
I have been only playing for a year and i have not even
tried picking yet, because I want to be great at strumming first.
cheers
Ron
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Ah, patience! The bane of my existance! My lack of patience is why I could hardly put the guitar down until I could play a recognizable song. It's good to know I don't have to be there yet. I do think it would be nice if I could at least understand how they work, so I understand what I am looking at when I see, on paper, a song played in this way, then I would be able to pick up little pieces of information for when I am ready, kwim? Thanks for the quick feedback. I'll try to be patient!
To respond to my own question, utube has a wealth of mini-lessons. I watched one on finger picking that gave me a better understanding of how it is done. Even if I'm not there yet, I like to have an idea of how things work or I get frustrated.
Jessie,
I can relate to your frustration! I'm like you, I need to know the process of how things work. Finger picking is pretty simple, once you've learned the basics. I have been spending more time practicing this lately. Also, if you haven't done so, subscribe to the Acoustic Guitar magazine! This publication has a wealth of information that would help beginners and pros alike. And, it's only $20 a year!
<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>JessieR wrote on Fri, 16 February 2007 21:57</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
To respond to my own question, utube has a wealth of mini-lessons. I watched one on finger picking that gave me a better understanding of how it is done. Even if I'm not there yet, I like to have an idea of how things work or I get frustrated.
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Jessie
I have been playing now for about 16 years and I still cannot fingerpikc properly, but istill try.
But, I never even tried this until about a year ago.
I think it depends on what style you want to play.
If you are desperate to fingerplucking only then go ahead and keep practicing this and nothing else, but if you want t odo everything then master the art of strumming forst.
My wife can fingerpluck and she doesnt even play the guitar really, but she can do about 4 or 5 songs really good, much better than me.
She has tried to show me how do do fingerplucking properly but i find it really hard using a finger for each string.
I, instead use two or three fingers for finger plucking and I play the strings randomly and I like it. It might sound terrible but I like it and that s all that matters as I am not making moeny from it and having fun, and that is what it is all about, having fun!!!
carrying on trying though
Ken
Get one of those Esteban learning CD's.
My friend gave me his and he starts you with stuff like that working on arpeggios and playing them with the correct fingers.
When I learn a new chord I practice chord changed and arpeggiating (sp) the chord makes you more aware of where the strings are.
I am a classical guitarist. Please, if you are going to get a book, I highly recommend Pumping Nylon by Scott Tennant. It comes with a great DVD. If you don't know who Scott Tennant is, I'm sure you could look him up online. But I can tell you that he is a member of the world renowned Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and Professor of guitar at USC, which is arguably one of the best schools for classical guitar in the country.
This book is unassuming and methodalogical. It doesn't teach you how to read really, but it will show you exactly how to practice to become a great fingerpicker!
I don't mean to sound like a commercial, I just think that this book will help anyone who wants to learn classical or fingerstyle guitar.
I am relatively new to the guitar but also wanted to learn finger picking. I found that yes, you can learn snippets here and there for finger picking, but this only helped for individual songs or licks.
I bough a book called 'Finger Picking Guitar Manual' by Brett Duncan and must say it is excellent. It takes you right from basic theory up to near professional levels. It comes with 2 CD's and each lesson leads nicely into the next so you progress at a steady pace and if you stick at it (say a lesson or two a day) you really see yourself coming along quickly. Do a search for is on amazon. It is pricey, but definitely worth it. Out of all thye books I have seen this is definitely the most comprehensive and the format in which it is written is easy to work through.
Jessie, you've had some varied replies here because there are all sorts of ways of playing that come under the umbrella of 'finger picking' and alot of the books on the subject want to advance you technique into pinch-plucks, alternating basslines, arpeggios etc. America has a rich history of these folk/country styles however...
There is only one basic finger picking technique you really need as a beginner. It is somtimes called clawhammer, travis picking or 4/4 picking but the terminology is loose. In the basic fingerpick you hold a chord and the thumb strikes the root note and then the first finger plucks a thin string. The thumb strikes the root note again and the second finger plucks a thin string below the one played before.
Your hand rocks back and forth in a claw shape a little like an old clawhammer (where your thumb is the hitting part and your two fingers the nail pulling part). It can be frustrating to begin but stick with it. The basic movement is the key to thousands of country songs, hundreds of pop songs and even some rock.
I've been playing since 1968. Based on that many years of experience, here's the books I'd recommend that you obtain and work through if you want to play fingerstyle:
Do this one FIRST, it'll have you amazing yourself in a very short amount of time...
The Art of Contemporary Travis Picking by Mark Hanson $13.57
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Contemporary-Travis-Picking-Fingerpicking/dp/0936799005/sr=1-1/qid=1165686362/ref=sr_1_1/102-0961200-3158529?ie=UTF8&s=books" target="_blank"> http://www.amazon.com/Art-Contemporary- … ing-Finger picking/dp/0936799005/sr=1-1/qid=1165686362/ref=sr_1_1/102-0 961200-3158529?ie=UTF8&s=books</a>
If you still can't get enough of that funky stuff, do this one next...
The Art of Solo Fingerpicking, How To Play Alternating-Bass Fingerstyle Guitar Solos by Mark Hanson $13.57
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Solo-Fingerpicking-Alternating-Bass-Fingerstyle/dp/093679903X/sr=1-1/qid=1165686406/ref=sr_1_1/102-0961200-3158529?ie=UTF8&s=books" target="_blank"> http://www.amazon.com/Art-Solo-Fingerpi … nating-Bas s-Fingerstyle/dp/093679903X/sr=1-1/qid=1165686406/ref=sr_1_1 /102-0961200-3158529?ie=UTF8&s=books</a>
After that, you're sort of on your own. But you finish that much and you'll be good! After that, grab some Chet Atkins tablature, or Leo Kottke, et al.
For your fundamental overall guitar knowledge, get this book. Every guitarist should own a copy.
The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer $17.13
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Handbook-Ralph-Denyer/dp/0679742751/sr=1-1/qid=1165686218/ref=sr_1_1/102-0961200-3158529?ie=UTF8&s=bo14.56+oks" target="_blank"> http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Handbook-R … /dp/067974 2751/sr=1-1/qid=1165686218/ref=sr_1_1/102-0961200-3158529?ie =UTF8&s=bo14.56+oks</a>
This is a good first look at scales, and there really isn't anything BUT scales, once you understand the big picture:
Guitar Chords & Scales, An Easy Reference for Acoustic or Electric Guitar from Hal Leonard Publishing $5.95
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Chords-Scales-Reference-Acoustic/dp/063405273X/sr=1-1/qid=1165686274/ref=sr_1_1/102-0961200-3158529?ie=UTF8&s=books" target="_blank"> http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Chords-Sca … ce-Acousti c/dp/063405273X/sr=1-1/qid=1165686274/ref=sr_1_1/102-0961200 -3158529?ie=UTF8&s=books</a>
This will make theory understandable without much pain and also help train your ear:
Music Theory, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask by Tom Kolb $12.21
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Guitarists-Everything-Wanted/dp/063406651X/sr=11-1/qid=1165686317/ref=sr_11_1/102-0961200-3158529" target="_blank"> http://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Guit … ything-Wan ted/dp/063406651X/sr=11-1/qid=1165686317/ref=sr_11_1/102-096 1200-3158529</a>
And once you've got the fundamentals and the fingerstyle stuff under your belt, you might want to have a go at flatpicking as well, just to be well rounded. Flatpicking entails everything from Django to Yngwie:
Flatpicking Guitar Essentials, Folk and Bluegrass, from Acoustic Guitar Magazine's Private Lessons series $14.56
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flatpicking-Essentials-Acoustic-Magazines-Private/dp/1890490075/sr=1-1/qid=1165686460/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-0961200-3158529?ie=UTF8&s=books" target="_blank"> http://www.amazon.com/Flatpicking-Essen … tic-Magazi nes-Private/dp/1890490075/sr=1-1/qid=1165686460/ref=pd_bbs_s r_1/102-0961200-3158529?ie=UTF8&s=books</a>
This is the grail when it comes to flatpicking books. Crary is not only a terrific guitarist but also a natural teacher...
The Flatpicker's Guide by Dan Crary $19.95
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dan-Crary-Flatpickers-Guide/dp/1574240587/sr=11-1/qid=1165686507/ref=sr_11_1/102-0961200-3158529" target="_blank"> http://www.amazon.com/Dan-Crary-Flatpic … dp/1574240 587/sr=11-1/qid=1165686507/ref=sr_11_1/102-0961200-3158529</a>
Those are the seven best books I know. For about a hundred bucks, you've got the foundation of being a genuinely great guitarist, if you bother to work through the material. Even if you don't like the particular styles of music represented in those books, they'll still give you the skills and background to take off in any direction you want to go.
Keep playing, never stop learning, push yourself past your limits.
Oubaas <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_smile.gif" border=0 alt="Smile">
Hi jessieR, check out guitar people.com,there's some fingerstyle exercises and articles by William Bay (the son of Mel Bay) and loads of other teachers, I'm going to get some of the books oubass recommends he really knows his stuff. Good luck with your fingerpicking.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → finger pickin good?
