Fingerstyle from Zero?

[PeasantDaughter]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

I have an old book which fits your requirements, it's called ' Complete Learn to Play Fingerpicking Guitar Manual' by Brett Duncan.
It starts assuming you know nothing and describes how to hold basic chords with left hand fingerings and pictures of hand possitions then moves on to exercises and picking patterns necessary to train the right hand before moving on to play short pieces from different genres of music, it's a thick book and has enough material to keep you busy for a few years.

Thank you! I will look into it!

[PeasantDaughter]

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

Barry,

...Even when people aren't setting out to play nylon strings and classical music, they still may take that a similar route into the learning process. But I get the sense that seems a strange and backwards way to go about it to people who first came to guitar as a chord/accompaniment instrument rather than a solo performance one.

Very insightful.

There seems to be a dominant culture of accompaniment (chord strumming) or solo (scale mastery) shredding -- all fret focused -- that derives meaning in relationship or contrast to others. It's no wonder that fingerstyle seems to be some next-level skill when tried late in the game by those who have focused on mostly one side. It's no wonder they wouldn't recommend attempting it to beginners when it's a skill they find difficult themselves.

While I don't want to master the classical catalog, what IS interesting to me is the intricacy and depth of what can be done by a single person playing a single instrument to its richest musical potential. The strings getting attention too just means broadening focus. It might be more serious, it might have less instant gratification with popular feedback, but it is expansive and that's a good thing when making music. I believe it will pay back dividends if started earlier than later. Plus its intricacies are more appealing to me than just strumming.

I once had the pleasure of taking a guyageum class (similar to the Japanese Koto), which is like a giant zither. No picks. Finger picking from zero. No chords were mangled. All the students were able to pat their heads and chew gum at the same time. All beginners playing beautiful, rich music.

[PeasantDaughter]

Originally Posted by TBman

That's fine. We all change things to suit ourselves a bit. Picking hand drills can be hampered by a fretting hand that can't get into the right position fast enough. That's why fretting hand development has to be the priority.

Well, that's the difference between you and me. Both my hands are going equally slow.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by PeasantDaughter

Well, that's the difference between you and me. Both my hands are going equally slow.

A lot of us learned with this book. Mark Hanson also has a second book that follows it up. Art of Solo Finger Picking

The thing with these books is that you use them to learn the skills and then move on to the music that you really want to play.

[10+6=happy]

I started playing 4 years ago and wanted to focus on fingerstyle after about six months but also forced myself to learn with a pick. I play everyday and love fingerstyle, now I rarely use a pic.

If you want only fto focus on fingerstyle try out "Six String Finger Picking". You can purchase the Beginner course and have lifetime access to all of the materials - tab and videos, not a subscription model so no monthly fee. The instructor is named Chris Murrin. He is good, clear & concise. The website is sixstringfingerpicking.com He also teaches songs where you can purchase the tab/notation separately, has beginner level songs. If you find the course is still too advance ( meaning you need to work on basic chords etc) you can save it for later because you own it - no subscription model.


I actually learned a solid foundation, chords, keys, scales music theory & more from an online behemoth, Guitartricks (GT). GT has some good basic fingerstyle lessons also but not a lot, but that's where I first learned fingerstyle, travis picking etc. Instructor named Caren Armstrong gives a good basic fingerstyle lesson or two and then a good advanced beginner level song lesson, Foolish Games by Jewel if you like pop ballads. GT also added an acoustic only level 1 & 2 track that a guy named Anders Mouridson teaches and he is quite good. I out grew GT so no longer use them.

I've also used Truefire.com ( more blues & country based and not for absolute beginners really in my view).

Good Luck on your guitar playing journey

[PeasantDaughter]

Thanks! I'll check it out!

[PeasantDaughter]

I took a lot of suggestions from the forum and purchased a few things. I've not got a lot of time in yet, but for any others wanting to learn finger style from zero, here's what I've discovered thus far:

Progressive Complete Learn to Play Fingerpicking Guitar Manual by Brett Duncan. Really does start from zero. The book is really comprehensive and goes all the way through to alternate tunings. I like how he doesn't have chord charts for things you should know, but adds a chart when introducing a new chord. The notation is TAB over Standard. He assigns every variation a pattern number, which seems to be his own convention but helpful if you want to distinguish them. The printing is all black and white, the graphics aren't great (I'm a designer so biased) but the notation is nice and big. The binding is perfect bound so doesn't lay as flat as you'd like. I think it probably really delivers on its title, in that it keeps throwing on progressively more complex difficult stuff. Seems like a very worthwhile and very thorough book.

The Fingerpicking Technique Bible for Guitar by Phil Capone also really does start from zero. The amount of chords thrown at a newbie all at once is kind of overwhelming. He does not include any chord charts with the music notation, which is Standard over TAB, but ahead of each lesson shows charts for all the chords that will be included. Chapter 2 is a pattern picking directory of 30 patterns. The lessons are built more around song styles. Very nice sounding. This "bible" is much less of a bible than the Duncan book. It's wire-bound so lays flat, color with photographs, but very tiny and hard to read.


The Art of Contemporary Travis Picking by Mark Hanson assumes chord knowledge, so if you aren't there already you will need some chord reference handy. Naturally, it focuses more on the base line and syncopation where necessary. The notation is Standard over TAB with no charts and only chord letters. It explores patterns and suggests popular songs to play them with, and the accompanying songs resemble what you might see in a fakebook. A really dedicated nube could work on the patterns but really this book seems more for someone already very comfortable in their guitar playing skin.

I also paid for the Udemy classes Fingerstyle Guitar - Beginner to Advanced by Adam Rafferty and Fingerstyle Focus - Learn to play Fingerstyle Guitar! by Sam Lawson.

Rafferty starts you from zero and makes you learn a basic library of chords first. He's got a really open minded outlook on chord fingering which I really appreciated and an approach to fretting which I wished I had heard from earlier. He takes care to not gloss over things, is very personable, and goes slow, but sometimes I just want to get to the music faster. His later lessons look to be focusing on skills.

Lawson assumes you know chords already and his lessons are basically just walking through the tab. His delivery is dry but the musical exercise is a little more complex (so far) than Rafferty. Later lessons seem to explore the styles of a few fingerstyle icons. His course seems less comprehensive than Rafferty's but I'm less nube now so tend to go there more.

These Udemy classes you have to download the supporting TAB and have that window open at the same time as the lesson window, so you should be comfortable with splitting your screen to view both or have a printer handy.

These are both okay and great values dollar-wise.

Now I'll share the two that I am most enamored with:

The first one is what kind of lead me to explore this in the first place, and it is just a free on-line blog serving to promote private lessons with the author. They're so good, that if I end up finding some spare money I might go there. It's not a lot of content yet, but the content that is up is very very good.

https://jgmusiclessons.com/category/blog/picking/

Just pedagogically, the way he set up his How to play fingerpicking patterns tutorial is a genius introduction to anyone brand new. I go to it just as a warm-up and to remember why I liked fingerstyle to begin with.

The other thing I just found that checks all the boxes for someone starting from absolute zero is this Acoustic Fingerstyle Level 1 course at Your Guitar Academy, and it's free.

https://yourguitaracademy.com/course.../4-5-6-strings

And not fingerstyle, but something I'm also appreciating that I bought from a suggestion here is the A Modern Method for Guitar by William Leavitt. Not fingerstyle, but learning beginning guitar from zero with standard notation. I'm a big fan of adaptation vs. conversion and this book just proceeds like this is how you do it and doesn't even recognize tabs. Therefore, you just do it and it's not a big deal. The course treats you like the grown-up you are. Oh, and also Paul David's Music Theory is like a string of lightbulbs. Learn theory from him and skip years of frustration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yki...n4bWzWAu6mHypz

So, my go-to's are Your Guitar Academy (Acoustic Fingerstyle Level 1), JGmusiclessons.com, and the not fingerstyle but since-you're-an-absolute-beginner-why-not-learn-to-read-music at the same time Modern Method for Guitar and Paul Davids theory playlist on Youtube.

Hope I've been of some help!

[Andyrondack]

Best wishes in meeting your endevour PeasantDaughter.
I have found such books great for learning technique and getting a handle on how fingerstyle guitar is played by others . Developing your 'ear' is just as important and not really mentioned in most books so when you have learned enough technique then use it to play along with your favourite songs and see if you can work out the chords by ear, also time spent working out the melodies of tunes you learned as a child will be time well spent, you can then build the melodies up into fingerstyle arrangements by using the pieces in your books as examples. That's how I learn.

[ryanreesh]

Originally Posted by PeasantDaughter

I took a lot of suggestions from the forum and purchased a few things. I've not got a lot of time in yet, but for any others wanting to learn finger style from zero, here's what I've discovered thus far:

Progressive Complete Learn to Play Fingerpicking Guitar Manual by Brett Duncan. Really does start from zero. The book is really comprehensive and goes all the way through to alternate tunings. I like how he doesn't have chord charts for things you should know, but adds a chart when introducing a new chord. The notation is TAB over Standard. He assigns every variation a pattern number, which seems to be his own convention but helpful if you want to distinguish them. The printing is all black and white, the graphics aren't great (I'm a designer so biased) but the notation is nice and big. The binding is perfect bound so doesn't lay as flat as you'd like. I think it probably really delivers on its title, in that it keeps throwing on progressively more complex difficult stuff. Seems like a very worthwhile and very thorough book.

The Fingerpicking Technique Bible for Guitar by Phil Capone also really does start from zero. The amount of chords thrown at a newbie all at once is kind of overwhelming. He does not include any chord charts with the music notation, which is Standard over TAB, but ahead of each lesson shows charts for all the chords that will be included. Chapter 2 is a pattern picking directory of 30 patterns. The lessons are built more around song styles. Very nice sounding. This "bible" is much less of a bible than the Duncan book. It's wire-bound so lays flat, color with photographs, but very tiny and hard to read.


The Art of Contemporary Travis Picking by Mark Hanson assumes chord knowledge, so if you aren't there already you will need some chord reference handy. Naturally, it focuses more on the base line and syncopation where necessary. The notation is Standard over TAB with no charts and only chord letters. It explores patterns and suggests popular songs to play them with, and the accompanying songs resemble what you might see in a fakebook. A really dedicated nube could work on the patterns but really this book seems more for someone already very comfortable in their guitar playing skin.

I also paid for the Udemy classes Fingerstyle Guitar - Beginner to Advanced by Adam Rafferty and Fingerstyle Focus - Learn to play Fingerstyle Guitar! by Sam Lawson.

Rafferty starts you from zero and makes you learn a basic library of chords first. He's got a really open minded outlook on chord fingering which I really appreciated and an approach to fretting which I wished I had heard from earlier. He takes care to not gloss over things, is very personable, and goes slow, but sometimes I just want to get to the music faster. His later lessons look to be focusing on skills.

Lawson assumes you know chords already and his lessons are basically just walking through the tab. His delivery is dry but the musical exercise is a little more complex (so far) than Rafferty. Later lessons seem to explore the styles of a few fingerstyle icons. His course seems less comprehensive than Rafferty's but I'm less nube now so tend to go there more.

These Udemy classes you have to download the supporting TAB and have that window open at the same time as the lesson window, so you should be comfortable with splitting your screen to view both or have a printer handy.

These are both okay and great values dollar-wise.

Now I'll share the two that I am most enamored with:

The first one is what kind of lead me to explore this in the first place, and it is just a free on-line blog serving to promote private lessons with the author. They're so good, that if I end up finding some spare money I might go there. It's not a lot of content yet, but the content that is up is very very good.

https://jgmusiclessons.com/category/blog/picking/

Just pedagogically, the way he set up his How to play fingerpicking patterns tutorial is a genius introduction to anyone brand new. I go to it just as a warm-up and to remember why I liked fingerstyle to begin with.

The other thing I just found that checks all the boxes for someone starting from absolute zero is this Acoustic Fingerstyle Level 1 course at Your Guitar Academy, and it's free.

https://yourguitaracademy.com/course.../4-5-6-strings

And not fingerstyle, but something I'm also appreciating that I bought from a suggestion here is the A Modern Method for Guitar by William Leavitt. Not fingerstyle, but learning beginning guitar from zero with standard notation. I'm a big fan of adaptation vs. conversion and this book just proceeds like this is how you do it and doesn't even recognize tabs. Therefore, you just do it and it's not a big deal. The course treats you like the grown-up you are. Oh, and also Paul David's Music Theory is like a string of lightbulbs. Learn theory from him and skip years of frustration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yki...n4bWzWAu6mHypz

So, my go-to's are Your Guitar Academy (Acoustic Fingerstyle Level 1), JGmusiclessons.com, and the not fingerstyle but since-you're-an-absolute-beginner-why-not-learn-to-read-music at the same time Modern Method for Guitar and Paul Davids theory playlist on Youtube.

Hope I've been of some help!

This has been very helpful to me PeasantDaughter! You've done a lot of the homework with initiation of the thread and investigation of others' recommendations/feedback- and given me a place where I can begin.

I am a complete beginner - so was looking for places to get started. I do prefer fingerstyle to my ears, I wasn't sure I'd be able to find something in the media ocean that would enable this from the get go. My reasoning is slightly different though - in that I have some physical limitations with my shoulder-right arm due to a birth injury. I have a limited range of motion - making strumming motion quite difficult and painful at times. I've started with Justin Guitar which seems to be quite a great resource, but I think the fingerpicking lessons are "down the road" if you will within that program. I plan to stick with that to learn chord shapes for my left hand and still muddle through as best I can with what he is trying to teach regarding the strumming path. I think I will set aside time at each practice to go through Acoustic Fingerstyle Level 1 course at Your Guitar Academy as this does seem to also teach the fingerstyle basics I am interested in. Since you have suggested this - I have gone through some of the beginning of it, and the fingerstyle is MUCH, MUCH more comfortable for me since I can keep my arm stationary and avoid the physical up/down limitation of arm movements. I have to say that I am much more motivated now that this resource has come to light.

At some point I suspect these two resources will marry up - but this is my game plan for now.

Thanks to all who contributed!

[Golffishny]

I used to have a book called "10 Minute Acoustic Guitar Workout". I don't remember the author. It had exercises with notes for flatpicking and fingerstyle practice. Learn both and you'll be able to do either. Good luck.

[Martijn]

I see that Joe Robinson is not mentioned yet in this thread.
He has a lot of tutorial videos on Youtube, and next to that he also released a (paid) fingerstyle guitar course recently.
Although I have not followed this course myself, I always enjoy his Youtube videos as I like both his music as well as his teaching style. It might be interesting for others too to check this out!

[PeasantDaughter]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

Best wishes in meeting your endevour PeasantDaughter.
I have found such books great for learning technique and getting a handle on how fingerstyle guitar is played by others . Developing your 'ear' is just as important and not really mentioned in most books so when you have learned enough technique then use it to play along with your favourite songs and see if you can work out the chords by ear, also time spent working out the melodies of tunes you learned as a child will be time well spent, you can then build the melodies up into fingerstyle arrangements by using the pieces in your books as examples. That's how I learn.

Yes, ear training would be my holy grail. But also I recogonize I need the phonics before I can figure out how that word is spelled. Maybe someday before I die...ha ha. Added: When I remember, I try to sing the standard notation letter name as I play, as I'm convinced this will speed up my finding what my ear hears later.

And good idea about picking out songs you know as a child. Also, there's that method of finding some version of it online with the chords and breaking it down with a finger picking pattern. 10,000 hours or so they say. I'm determined to cut that number in half...

[PeasantDaughter]

Originally Posted by ryanreesh

I think I will set aside time at each practice to go through Acoustic Fingerstyle Level 1 course at Your Guitar Academy as this does seem to also teach the fingerstyle basics I am interested in. Since you have suggested this - I have gone through some of the beginning of it, and the fingerstyle is MUCH, MUCH more comfortable for me since I can keep my arm stationary and avoid the physical up/down limitation of arm movements. I have to say that I am much more motivated now that this resource has come to light.

Yayy!

From this thread and also just wandering around youtube, there are quite a few fingerstyle courses out there and even some not mentioned here. My plate is full and my pockets are empty now though, ha ha. Plus I am pretty happy with what I wrote about.

I did forget to mention that the Your Guitar Academy has a follow up for the Level 1 here: https://yourguitaracademy.com/course...rstyle-level-2 That should take you quite a way.

Glad this feels better for your arm. I'm having some mobility issues myself...

[PeasantDaughter]

Originally Posted by Martijn

I see that Joe Robinson is not mentioned yet in this thread.
He has a lot of tutorial videos on Youtube, and next to that he also released a (paid) fingerstyle guitar course recently.
Although I have not followed this course myself, I always enjoy his Youtube videos as I like both his music as well as his teaching style. It might be interesting for others too to check this out!

Thanks! I will add that to my list to check out.

Also, your website seems REALLY NICE as well...sorry if I missed it before - the thread got a little overwhelming...I am going to try it on tonight. I'm a little confused - there's no promo, no subscription, etc. Is this just a labor of love gifted to the world?

[PeasantDaughter]

Martijn,

Super nice survey with a very appealing progression! I will enjoy working through it and look forward to more...

I also signed up for Joe Robinson/Erich Andreas' course - super affordable as it's a Udemy class just like Rafferty and Lawson. Thanks!