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Fingerstyle?

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(@agooner14)
New Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2
Topic starter  

Hey all,

i have been using GN for a couple of months now so ive decided to join the forum! Everyone on the forum seems really helpful and I have found it extremely useful.

Ive been playing acoustic guitar for maybe 6 months and am so glad i started. I used to play piano for a long time but im am enjoying guitar so much more, wish i had started earlier. I really enjoy practicing playing guitar unlike with piano.

I have been working on my strumming technique and feel quite comfortable with it now, it is just how I imagined playing guitar would be. I just wanted to ask whether i should also work on fingerstyle, i have tried it briefly but find it really hard. Is fingerstyle really that useful, im not really interested in playing an classical type music. Do some people do one or the other, or is it better to be able to do both if you want to be a good rounded player? Any input would be great,

Alex


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Yes, fingerpicking is great fun and very useful for a wide variety of music.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@scrybe)
Famed Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2241
 

And it is better to do both if you want to be a well rounded player. And it is best if you learn to fingerpick as early as possible, although I recall how perplexingly difficult it was to learn myself, so you're not alone. But mates of mine who didn't learn fingerpicking until later never seem quite as comfortable with it as I do (and I'm not the world's greatest fingerpicker or anything).

One key thing I'd say (and others may well shout me down for saying this) is that you should have fun and relax with it. Don't worry too much about specific patterns. I've seen loads of complex tabs for things like Nick Drake songs (and may well get round to learning them to see if/what they add to my playing ) but the fact is Drake (and a lot of other fingerpickers) largely improvised the patterns they used on recordings, they certainly didn't sit down and think about it/plan it note for note. I'm not saying there's no value in learning tunes like this note for note, or in their being transcribed, but fingerpicking is, IMO, more about general 'feel' than specifics.

Scrybe stands with rope in hand, to aid the lynching. :wink:

Ra Er Ga.

Ninjazz have SuperChops.

http://www.blipfoto.com/Scrybe


   
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(@corbind)
Noble Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 1735
 

It would be smart to learn both. Seriously. The bass player in our band is learning guitar. I keep telling him to use a pick and, once he learns that way, try finger style. But he doesn't use a pick on the bass so it's natural for him to do fingerstyle.

"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."


   
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(@agooner14)
New Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2
Topic starter  

Thanks guys, thats all helpful advice


   
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(@ballybiker)
Honorable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 493
 

there is no right or wrong and ALL techniques will take your interest sooner or later....honest :D

what did the drummer get on his I.Q. test?....

Drool

http://www.myspace.com/ballybiker


   
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(@mmoncur)
Estimable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 168
 

Try to learn "Blackbird" by the Beatles... I didn't think fingerstyle was possible for me but after a couple of weeks I was able to figure that one out. I think there's a lesson on this site for it.

(Not all fingerstyle music is classical!)


   
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(@scrybe)
Famed Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2241
 

if there isn't, I have TAB for it, so feel free to PM me and I'll post it/submit it to Gn/otherwise deal with it.

yup, that's right - not all fingerpicking is classical. actually, most fingerpickers use a different technique to classical-style players (FPs rest their palm on/close to the body of the guitar, whereas classical players rest the arm on the top of the guitar, but the hand hangs free or rests via that fingers on the strings). you get different tones from ech technique.

Ra Er Ga.

Ninjazz have SuperChops.

http://www.blipfoto.com/Scrybe


   
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(@stellabloo)
Estimable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 189
 

Wow, another ex- pianist, congrats! Got tired of lugging that thing around to parties and decided to switch? lol
... I could not IMAGINE playing other than fingerstyle - already playing piano with ten fingers and typing (yes!) with 10 fingers and so the idea of holding a pick and picking out notes seemed all WRONG. Not to mention hard on the hand. :roll:

Disclaimer here: I am not a guitar teacher and have never had a guitar teacher. But I "got" that each finger (and thumb) is assigned a string (much like typing or piano) so that your fingers are always in position to play. The magic of the guitar is that, if you finger any chord and then pick each string in succession, you play an arpeggio - just like that! unlike piano where you have to identify each correct note/key first before placing your fingers.

The easiest way to begin fingerstyle is to play an Em arpeggio up and down, using dedicated fingers and playing the open E, G and B strings only, in order to concentrate on legato rhythm (forget about the left hand completely) .... then trying the same pattern for other chords and finally playing a whole song this way.

It has been WAY more useful to be able to generate my own fingerstyle arrangement than to follow TAB slavishly note-by-note. And a lot more fun :twisted: Sometimes I use my pinky (or such) and fret another note or two to bring out the melody - half the fun of playing is experimenting with the possibilites! 8)

What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's really all about?

~ why yes, I am available on youtube ~
http://www.youtube.com/stellabloo


   
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 Nuno
(@nuno)
Famed Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 3995
 

Hi Alex,

First, welcome to GN!

This link could be interesting for you. It is an old post with a list of instructional books on fingerpicking:

http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=33130


   
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(@denny)
Reputable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 452
 

Hi Alex. You'll find a world of enjoyment in fingerpicking. While Blackbird is a fun song to play, you might want to start off with something a little easier. David has a nice arrangement of Silent Night that you might like. Not complicated and you can get a feel for fingerpicking. Good luck.

Denny

https://www.guitarnoise.com/lessons/silent-night/


   
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