What are some good fingerpicking tunes.?

[dealrocker]

I am trying to improve my fingerpicking technique. What are some good songs/tunes to practice fingerpicking with. Normally I hold down a chord and pick in a pattern but now I want to pick more melodic and more musical sound.

Please recommend any good tune, tutorials and advice that will teach me how to fingerpick properly.

[Squeezebox]

Table Sitting Heaven - Rev Gary Davis

Louis Collins - Mississippi John Hurt

Couple of tunes in key of C

[Aaron Smith]

The Stefan Grossman DVD's have a great fingerpicking repertoire that covers all skill levels. I would try one in C (Buckdancer's Choice or Freight Train), one in E (Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor, Hey Hey), one in A (Red River Valley, Candy Man), and one in G (Shake Sugaree or Slow Drag). Lots of good stuff on YouTube too.

[Christian Reno]

I am trying to improve my fingerpicking technique. What are some good songs/tunes to practice fingerpicking with. Normally I hold down a chord and pick in a pattern but now I want to pick more melodic and more musical sound.

Please recommend any good tune, tutorials and advice that will teach me how to fingerpick properly.

Here are a few alternating thumb pieces that many fingerstyle players start out on. These are definitely Chet-style pieces, so if you like that, you'll love playing these. If that is not your cup of tea, I'm sure there will be many others on this forum who can suggest other styles.

I'll See You in my Dreams

Freight Train

Lover Come Back to Me

Avalon

[slajeune]

Well,

I myself am learning fingerstyle guitar. The book / method that I am currently using is the acoustic guitar fingerstyle method by David Hamburger:

http://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Guitar-Fingerstyle-Private-Lessons/dp/1890490709/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256307041&sr=8-1

Great learning tool. CDs are very good. Exercise are concise and to the point. Song progression are challenging but doable. I really recommend this.

Cheers,
Stephane.

[RRuskin]

I am trying to improve my fingerpicking technique. What are some good songs/tunes to practice fingerpicking with. Normally I hold down a chord and pick in a pattern but now I want to pick more melodic and more musical sound.

Please recommend any good tune, tutorials and advice that will teach me how to fingerpick properly.

There is enough material on my DVD to keep you busy for quite some time. Shows not only "the what" but the "how and why" of the style.

http://liondogmusic.com/Products.htm#Instructional%20Books%20and%20Videos

[godinfan]

My first fingerstlye songs were Landslide and Dust in the Wind. You can easily track down tabs for those at ultimate-guitar.com.

This is cool, too:
http://www.howtotuneaguitar.org/lessons/strumming-and-picking/travis-picking/

The Travis picking concept and, more generally speaking, pattern picking has kept me pretty busy the last month or so.

[Papol]

I find this kind of confusing. I've been playing a long time, mostly jazz, and have learned probably 1000's of songs.

If fingerpicking is playing with your fingers, I can play any of them that way and make them sound good. It seems like that means that every "good song" is a good "fingerpicking tune".

Or have I completely missed the point. I guess I often misunderstand things here at the AGF but I probably come from a fairly weird background. I don't understand the word 'flat pick'. It reminds of people in my youth saying things like 'ink pen'. Pick is a pick, pen is a pen.

Maybe I'll start a thread on the exclusive AGF "dialect" ;)

But since you asked: Here would be my favorite "finger-picking" tunes:

1) God bless the Child
2) Darn that Dream
3) Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
4) No Cross, No Crown
5) Water is Wide
6) Jerry's Breakdown (sp?)

[ljguitar]

Hi dealrocker...
Please forgive our oversight - this was your first post to the forum.

Hello and welcome to the forum, and we hope you find all the info and support you need to push you to the next level of playing and enjoyment.

[Brent Hutto]

Well,

I myself am learning fingerstyle guitar. The book / method that I am currently using is the acoustic guitar fingerstyle method by David Hamburger:

http://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Guitar-Fingerstyle-Private-Lessons/dp/1890490709/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256307041&sr=8-1

Great learning tool. CDs are very good. Exercise are concise and to the point. Song progression are challenging but doable. I really recommend this.

Cheers,
Stephane.

Stephane,

I'm not nit-picking your suggestion but simply using the link you supplied to illustrate a point I want to make...

This book introduces you to the two most essential fingerstyle approaches for playing American roots music: Travis picking and the steady-bass style.

This pull-quote from the Amazon description of Hamburger's book captures part of the ambiguity inherent in asking a question about "fingerstyle" playing. Based on the answers given when this question comes up on AGF I'd say the majority of people think "American roots music" and Hamburger correctly points out that he means two very specific styles. If that bluesy, country style is what you're after the Hamburger book looks like a good one.

Yet when I hear the word "fingerstyle" my thoughts immediately go to the styles of music that Larry Pattis, Pierre Bensusan, Jim Tozier and many others write and perform. Not that those dudes can't or don't play "American roots musics" also but their main output is melodic, free-form stuff that does not map whatsoever into the narrow Travis or heavy-thumb styles implied by the other meaning of "fingerstyle".

And then there's the third usage that implies something like Paul Simon would use to accompany a vocal piece or familiar pop riffs like the "Dust in the Wind" or "Landslide" ones. Very little to do with Mississippi John Hurt but also not particularly Ed Gerhard-ish either. It looks upon cursory examination that Rick Ruskin's book would be an excellent resource for this more general meaning of "fingerstyle".

So dealrocker, what style(s) do you have in mind when you ask the question?

[slajeune]

Hi Brent,

excellent reply! I simply assumed roots / bluesy fingerstyle. If dealrocker is looking for roots / bluesy style, this book is really good.

Cheers,
Stephane.

[TBman]

I don't understand the word 'flat pick'. It reminds of people in my youth saying things like 'ink pen'. Pick is a pick, pen is a pen.



Alot of guys use thumbpicks and those fingerpick thingamajobs. :)

[Papol]

Alot of guys use thumbpicks and those fingerpick thingamajobs. :)

Thanks -

I completely forgot about the other types of picks ;)

[15 Man]

"Hesitation Blues" - Rev. Gary Davis

[dealrocker]

Thanks.........

[JeremyG]

Well,

I myself am learning fingerstyle guitar. The book / method that I am currently using is the acoustic guitar fingerstyle method by David Hamburger:

http://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Guitar-Fingerstyle-Private-Lessons/dp/1890490709/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256307041&sr=8-1

Great learning tool. CDs are very good. Exercise are concise and to the point. Song progression are challenging but doable. I really recommend this.

Cheers,
Stephane.

Hi Stephane,

I sent you message re this book.

thanks,

Jeremy.