i pick up my guitar frequently but i find it difficult to practice something substancial like a new technique like right now i wanna perfect finger picking and i don't ever read the books i use it's getting to me and i can never sit down for more than 45 mins with my guitar lately all i've been doing is figuring out songs but what i really want to do is learn new chords and how to use them in different situations, learn the really essential scales i know alot of scales but i can't seem to remember their names lol... i really want to increase my finger dexterity to a maximum right now it's ok i guess but i want it to be great! and i feel like when i play chords is very linear not anything extravagant like i would just run through the chords without any arpeggios. i want to incorporate arpeggios and fingerpicking into chord playing i want it to sound likes it's filled with composition you know.... not anything basic.....
I highly recommend going through this course:
http://www.guitarnick.com/fingerstyle_and_fingerpicking_-_lessons_and_songs.html
Start at the beginning ... no matter how easy you think it is.
Do each lesson enough times that you can do it flawlessly.
I am about half way and I already notice a major improvement in my playing.
My Fingerstyle Guitar Blog:
http://fsguitar.wordpress.com
My Guitars
Ibanez Artwood AWS1000ECE-NT
Schecter S-1 30th Anniversary Edition
Ovation CS257
LaPatrie Etude
Washburn Rover RO10
thanks for the info man what other help do you suggest?
Take it slow... you have a lifetime to learn to play.
Go through the course I mentioned. As a guideline... I have been practicing every night, about 30 minutes a night and after 2 weeks I am still only half way through.
When I say to do each lesson flawlessly, I mean it. You won't advance if you are playing sloppy, or can't do quick, clean chord changes.
I would recommend picking up any of the "Fingerpicking ..." series of songbooks by Hal Leonard. They are all fairly intermediate (some beginner) level. There are a lot of them, so there will probably be one that has songs that interest you.
There are also a series of books called "Pop and Rock for Classical Guitar" by Beat Scherler. There are about 10 in the series. They are hard to find to buy (Google around), but they have some more "modern" songs.
If you get to a point where you can play the easier stuff like the Hal Leonard series and want more of a challenge, there are lots of arrangements - but you are going to have to buy them. A good place to start is by going to YouTube and looking at Sungha Jung's videos that you like. He always lists who arranged the song in the description. Most times, you can Google that name and find their websites. You are unlikely to find many advanced arrangements for free.
There are also a few different types of fingerstyle playing that you can focus on.
There is Country style, like Travis picking (Google it). Can sound great, and is great to practice quick chord changes, right hand finger picking speed, and is great for improvisation.
Another is classical. This does not necessarily mean music from a hundred years ago.
Throw the "words" (melody) on top of classical and you got the style that is in the Hal Leonard books. I would put most of Sungha's stuff in thsi category. <- my favorite style
Then you have what I call "Naudo" style. Good Naudo or check out Jawmunji (youtube) for examples of this. It is a little more animated that the previous one... a mix of fingerpicking and strumming.
( http://jaw.iinet.net.au/stuff/tab.html )
Then you have the percussive - like Andy McKee. I would also put Igor Presnyakov into this category (Iggypres on YouTube). He is probably one of my favorite on Youtube.
Then there is Jazz, blues, and many others.
Basically, what I am saying is that there is lots of music, types of playing, etc. After getting the basics down, you have endless possibilities to play.
A good instructor helps too... I did about 6 months of lessons... it helped set a foundation for me to build on. I will go back to lessons again - but for now I am just in practice phase - I actually don't want to learn anything new... just be better at what I already do know.
One more - record yourself playing. Even if it is just for you (not posted to net)... it helps. It forces you to perfect a song... to work on your base skill - to make fewer mistakes. You don't need video - just audio at first.
Gotta get back to work... good luck.
My Fingerstyle Guitar Blog:
http://fsguitar.wordpress.com
My Guitars
Ibanez Artwood AWS1000ECE-NT
Schecter S-1 30th Anniversary Edition
Ovation CS257
LaPatrie Etude
Washburn Rover RO10
i find that by taking something you know, like a fingerpicking pattern for instance, and playing it until i'm comfortable with it, after a while i tend to mess with it, the rhythm or pattern, adding riffs or whatever to it, just playing with it... you get to where you want to be.
learn plenty of songs. the more you learn, the more you learn different ways that people have done that. play a lot. it gets weird.