Finger Style, Which Makes More Sense?

[joe79]

I'm learning finger style. Is it better to learn different patters first or learn by playing songs that use the different patterns.

All advice is welcome.

[TBman]

I'm learning finger style. Is it better to learn different patterns first or learn by playing songs that use the different patterns.

All advice is welcome.

Do both, but concentrate more on songs. Travis picking has patterns, but gets very boring after a while. Outside of Travis picking, most good songs don't have "patterns," they will have melody lines backed by chord fragments.

[Billy Memphis]

Just try using your fingers on everything you play. Try to pick out the melody first and then add what arpeggios you can as you go. I find if I work on being able to discern the melody, the rest falls into place easier.

[Brent Hutto]

What kind of "fingerstyle" music do you want to play?

That term unfortunately covers a lot of ground from thumpin' bass old-timey blues stuff (where your thumb better be able to keep a dead-solid beat but the basic "patterns" you need to learn are few) to New Age choir-of-angels sort of stuff that's played much more like classical guitar with every song having arbitrary "patterns" that you can't really memorize and just take with you from one song to the next.

[CrawfordCentury]

Dust in the Wind got me started down that path 20 years ago. Simple patern, fairly easy to master, and you know a well-recognized song when you've mastered the accompaniment.

Nowadays, I play mostly ragtime blues in the tradition of Blind Blake, do fingerstyle arrangements of Beatles tunes and traditional songs (e.g., You Are My Sunshine, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, etc.), and tackle the odd classical piece on occasion.

Little in the way of patterns - but they're a good foundation to build off from.

[HarleySpirit]

All advice is welcome.

Learn These 3 Useful Down/Up Picking Patterns (http://users.eastlink.ca/~harleyspi/patterns.html) and practice, practice... :guitar:
You will be able to fingerpick hundreds of songs

[wcap]

Learn These 3 Useful Down/Up Picking Patterns (http://users.eastlink.ca/~harleyspi/patterns.html) and practice, practice... :guitar:
You will be able to fingerpick hundreds of songs

Thanks for the link. There are many situations where one will want/need the use of the middle and ring fingers too, but this two finger frailing sort of style gives a nice sound (reminiscent of banjo frailing/clawhammer styles) and looks well-worth adding to one's toolbox.


Regarding the original question, my approach has been to focus mostly on pieces I really wanted to learn to play (nice arrangements that I learn from tablature). Even if it takes a long time to learn a piece, there are tantalizing rewards at each step along the way as bits of the piece gradually start to come together, and this helps keep me going.

Each piece you learn will introduce something new, and gradually the various elements of the different pieces you learn get added and adapted to your personal style, and gradually they will start to flow naturally from your fingers as you improvise and/or develop your own arrangements.

When I was first trying to transition from banjo to guitar, and got frustrated by how limited my guitar playing was, I found this book to be invaluable in getting me going down a much more interesting path with the guitar:

http://www.guitargallerymusic.com/shopping.php?doFunction=display_product&item_number=HL02503485

It deals with a variety of different styles, and gives examples of some of the important elements of the styles, and then it has a small collection of full-blown pieces that exhibit the different styles. Some of these arrangements are some of my favorite things to play (they were pretty challenging to learn when I was first trying to learn them though!)

[mmmaak]

I'm learning finger style. Is it better to learn different patters first or learn by playing songs that use the different patterns.
Well, if you can keep yourself so busy learning one song (or parts of, anyway!) after another like I do, patterns and exercises become much less necessary. We're simply putting the more tedious parts of practice "into practice", so to speak. But just as a serious athlete can work out in a gym to improve his on-court game, certain exercises can still be useful as warm-ups or to improve specific areas in your technique.

[ljguitar]

I'm learning finger style. Is it better to learn different patters first or learn by playing songs that use the different patterns.
Hi Joe...
From a teacher's perspective, both the technique and the specific application are important, so learning some simple patterns is a good way to master the technique, uncluttered by the thought that you are trying to put it into a song at the same time.

When a student of mine, who has mastered the technique, faces a new and troublesome passage, we turn it into a single bar exercise and go back to technique and practice just that single bar or two till it is mastered, and then re-integrate it into the song.

I've fingerstyled for nearly 40 years, but had never Travis Picked, so to learn it, I learned a simple Travis pattern and applied it to every chord I knew till my wife was going nuts and wondered if I could play anything else. I could and did while she was home, and as soon as she left for work, I went back to the Travis Pattern till I could do it without thinking about it.

Then I started putting it into some song arrangements...

[Brent Hutto]

I've fingerstyled for nearly 40 years, but had never Travis Picked, so to learn it, I learned a simple Travis pattern and applied it to every chord I knew till my wife was going nuts and wondered if I could play anything else. I could and did while she was home, and as soon as she left for work, I went back to the Travis Pattern till I could do it without thinking about it.

That sounds about right to me, I'll start working on it in 36-37 years. There's a lot of music I enjoy listening to that has that sort of fingerpicking in it but for better or worse there are about a dozen other styles that "do it for me" more than Travis picking. So for my part the priorities are on some of the other stuff although one of these day I can certainly imagine investing a hundred hours or whatever it takes to learn that one.

I dabble a little bit with classical guitar stuff and my teacher (who loves classical guitar music) mentioned once that pretty soon I ought to start working on learning tremolo technique. It takes a lot of slow, methodical practice so it's important to start early. I hope he wasn't too disappointed but I told him if I went to my grave unable to play Recuerdos de la Alhambra because I never invested several months of practice in playing tremolo I could still have had a full, rich life. Heck, I don't even really like the sound of most of the tremolo-heavy CG repertoire.

The point being, decide what you're trying to get across with your guitar playing and prioritize based on that. As they say, Ars Longa, Vita Brevis baby!

[joe79]

Thanks for a lot of great advice. It's apparent that a combination of learning specific patterns along with applying patterns to actual tabs/songs is the way to go. Personally, I like Travis style, Chet and Doyle Dykes. I may be wrong but it looks like Travis style would be hard to learn. Just the thought of playing two parts (thumb bass line/melody) would be difficult.

Joe

[JeremyG]

Thanks for a lot of great advice. It's apparent that a combination of learning specific patterns along with applying patterns to actual tabs/songs is the way to go. Personally, I like Travis style, Chet and Doyle Dykes. I may be wrong but it looks like Travis style would be hard to learn. Just the thought of playing two parts (thumb bass line/melody) would be difficult.

Joe

Joe, some fine advice has come your way. Your last sentence hits home to me, a beginner. So what LJ referenced about going over and over again slowly makes a point for me. Just remember to keep it fun as well as keep it slow in the beginning.

You'll be happy with your pickup speed if you keep it s-l-o-w--... It was/is sometimes hard for me. I'm stubborn but it really works.

As you know these are really cool instruments. I'm having trouble getting my work around the yard/house done...and that's just fine by me.;)

Have FUN Joe.

Jeremy.

[TBman]

Thanks for a lot of great advice. It's apparent that a combination of learning specific patterns along with applying patterns to actual tabs/songs is the way to go. Personally, I like Travis style, Chet and Doyle Dykes. I may be wrong but it looks like Travis style would be hard to learn. Just the thought of playing two parts (thumb bass line/melody) would be difficult.

Joe

You play two parts, but its not like your playing two different songs at the same time. The bass lines are played many times on the alternate beat or in conjunction with a melody note. It isn't as hard as it first sounds. In other words sometimes at first its like patting your stomach while rubbing your head, but that feeling passes quickly with practice.

[ljguitar]

Thanks for a lot of great advice. It's apparent that a combination of learning specific patterns along with applying patterns to actual tabs/songs is the way to go. Personally, I like Travis style, Chet and Doyle Dykes. I may be wrong but it looks like Travis style would be hard to learn. Just the thought of playing two parts (thumb bass line/melody) would be difficult.
Hi joe...
Travis Picking, Chet style, Doyle's or Tommy E's are more involved than just strumming chords, but are learned the same way...one ''move'' at a time.

The concepts accumulate and build into a style.