Guitar Help

[UrbanJesus]

Hello everyone who is better then me at guitar...which is a lot of you.

 

I am a pretty decent guitarist with a pick in my hand, but when it comes to fingerpicking I dont know where to begin, besides maybe picking the bass note of a chord in contrast to the higher notes.

 

I was wondering if you guys could point me in the direction of some good fingerpicking excersizes, tricks and things of that nature.

 

It would be very much appreciated.

[Canadian]

New to finger-picking? Start with Metallica. "Nothing Else Matters" & "Fade To Black".

[TCP]

Uh no. Find some nice folk songs. Iron & Wine has some really easy fingerpicking.

[Canadian]

Uh no. Start with stuff in standard tuning / 1st position to learn the basics.

 

While Metallica won't give you scenester cred like Iron & Wine, you'll get your fingers used to doing their thing sans pick. But since "Halcyon" doesn't want anybody playing Metallica, you should find a good "Needle and The Damage Done" tab...

 

Learn. The. Basics. It'll make it easier to actually learn songs - and not just memorize them - down the road.

[groselicain]

Uh no. Start with stuff in standard tuning / 1st position to learn the basics.

 

While Metallica won't give you scenester cred like Iron & Wine, you'll get your fingers used to doing their thing sans pick. But since "Halcyon" doesn't want anybody playing Metallica, you should find a good "Needle and The Damage Done" tab...

 

Learn. The. Basics. It'll make it easier to actually learn songs - and not just memorize them - down the road.

 

Metallica is nowhere to start with fingerpicking. Look into some of the beginning fingerstyle books so you can actually see some pictures of correct hand position and which fingers need to play which strings (PIMA is really nice to understand up front instead of learning incorrect picking and trying to learn it later).

[rockinrob]

Ive taught quite a few people how to fingerpick, as it is the way I usually play. The best way to do it is simple repetition.

 

Finger a regular G chord.

 

And then play a pattern using your thumb and all three fingers of your right hand. ( Some people use the pinky, mine has always gotten in my way.)

 

Your first pattern should be an easy one, like this

(finger to use) on (string to hit)

Thumb on 6th

pointer on 3rd

middle on 2nd

ring on 1st

middle on 2nd

pointer on 3rd

 

start slow and use a metronome, then slowly speed this up until you are going pretty fast.

 

Then simply start making up increasingly harder patterns, in an attempt to screw up your right hand. The trick is to start very very slow, so you learn the pattern and then speed up, but make sure it always sounds clean.

After your can play relatively confusing patterns, throw in a chord change on one of the simple patterns.

 

With a little practice, this technique A) becomes easy and (most importantly) Makes you a badass, cause it looks really hard!

 

Hope this helps

[rockinrob]

another thing I forgot is that it is important to keep your thumb on the 3 lowest strings, and your fingers for the top three.

You need to find a pivot point to put the bottom side of your hand on, usually on the back part of the bridge, this way your hand is not floating above the strings.

[kaysettes]

I've never played with a pick so I'm not sure if this would help but, try to play the songs you know minus a pick, make your index and thumb as if you were holding a pick but strum with the nail of your index finger. From there, try to use your ring and pinky if possible to hit the higher notes of the chord, just to get a feel for it. Then you can try maneuver them to where you want them. Also, on a related but different note, try to do what I call the "backwards finger roll" your strings. Imagine tapping your fingers, right? Pinky, ring, middle, index hit the table one after the other. Now, lift your fingers in that order and position your hand so when you lift, your nails hit the strings. It sounds horribly complicated when typed out, but if you can figure it out, it makes a wonderful sound, often employed in flamenco because it leads so well into percussive stuff on the body but it can also really set up some nice fingerpicking.

Best of luck!

[Pecan_Pie]

If you play long enough... you'll get it. Practice, Practice, Practice.

 

Also try playing Wot's Uh... The Deal by Pink Floyd. Taught me well. So did Brain Damage... Pink Floyd for fingerpicking.

[kamera]

If you play long enough... you'll get it. Practice, Practice, Practice.

 

Also try playing Wot's Uh... The Deal by Pink Floyd. Taught me well. So did Brain Damage... Pink Floyd for fingerpicking.

 

Is there a good place to get the tabs for these?

 

Thanks!

[Pecan_Pie]

Link for Floyd Tabs

 

Under their appropriate albums of course.