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Old 03-30-2017, 09:30 PM
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Default Hanson's Art of Solo Fingerpicking....

I've had this book for years and tonight I dusted it off. There are some nifty arrangements in here.
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Old 03-31-2017, 07:20 AM
reeve21 reeve21 is offline
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I've had this book for years and tonight I dusted it off. There are some nifty arrangements in here.
I have it, too, Barry. Haven't cracked it yet because I'm still plowing through his Introduction to Travis Picking book, and struggling with the second half of the last tune, Over and Out Rag. I assumed the arrangements would be more difficult in the book you are looking at.

Anything in particular in the Art of Solo book you could recommend to a beginner fingerpicker?

Thanks,
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Old 03-31-2017, 07:22 AM
Kerbie Kerbie is offline
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You are SO right, Barry. I need to do the same with mine. Good idea...
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Old 03-31-2017, 08:30 AM
EllaMom EllaMom is offline
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I am just getting into Hanson's Solo book as well. I quickly worked thru the one before, on Travis picking. But Travis isn't my interest, albeit it is useful to know. Right now I'm working on Red & White Rag in Solo. It's a nice little piece, still Travis picking. I'm focusing on it, however, to build up some dexterity and accuracy, with both hands. Right after this piece, the book looks to get into making music your own, which is my real interest.

If/when I get Red & White Rag nailed down, if I can figure how, I might record myself playing it and post it here....if I'm brave enough! No promises.
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Old 03-31-2017, 09:22 AM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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Whether or not Travis picking is where you want to ultimately go, Mark Hanson's books are easy to understand and to get. Travis style will give you dexterity in moving about the fretboard as well as a very strong sense of rhythm and syncopation, and get you involved in mapping what you see on the printed page with what you do on the fretboard. In other words, you are learning a bunch of valuable skills through actually PLAYING the instrument.

It is as good a way as any to get into fingerstyle, unless you want to go the classical guitar route (in which case Travis style won't hurt, but there is a methodology that has been developed over a few hundred years that is typical taught).

Tony
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Old 03-31-2017, 10:43 AM
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I have it, too, Barry. Haven't cracked it yet because I'm still plowing through his Introduction to Travis Picking book, and struggling with the second half of the last tune, Over and Out Rag. I assumed the arrangements would be more difficult in the book you are looking at.

Anything in particular in the Art of Solo book you could recommend to a beginner fingerpicker?

Thanks,
Go with the first one in the book. I think the songs get progressively more difficult in this book.
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Old 03-31-2017, 10:47 AM
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I am just getting into Hanson's Solo book as well. I quickly worked thru the one before, on Travis picking. But Travis isn't my interest, albeit it is useful to know. Right now I'm working on Red & White Rag in Solo. It's a nice little piece, still Travis picking. I'm focusing on it, however, to build up some dexterity and accuracy, with both hands. Right after this piece, the book looks to get into making music your own, which is my real interest.

If/when I get Red & White Rag nailed down, if I can figure how, I might record myself playing it and post it here....if I'm brave enough! No promises.
RW&B is a good one. Use your cell phone's video camera. Practice doing a video once or twice a week to get used to it, it can cause a lot of self consciousness at first which takes a while to get over. Delete the videos to save space and to destroy the evidence, lol.
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Old 03-31-2017, 11:08 AM
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Whether or not Travis picking is where you want to ultimately go, Mark Hanson's books are easy to understand and to get. Travis style will give you dexterity in moving about the fretboard as well as a very strong sense of rhythm and syncopation, and get you involved in mapping what you see on the printed page with what you do on the fretboard. In other words, you are learning a bunch of valuable skills through actually PLAYING the instrument.

It is as good a way as any to get into fingerstyle, unless you want to go the classical guitar route (in which case Travis style won't hurt, but there is a methodology that has been developed over a few hundred years that is typical taught).

Tony
See?! This is EXACTLY the kind of information that I find so useful. Tony says WHY learning to play Travis picking is valuable, even if it's not my ultmate goal to play that style. How helpful it would have been for teachers I've had to say "here, learn this, because it will teach you _____, which in turn will help you _____." Thanks, Tony!
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Old 03-31-2017, 11:12 AM
EllaMom EllaMom is offline
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RW&B is a good one. Use your cell phone's video camera. Practice doing a video once or twice a week to get used to it, it can cause a lot of self consciousness at first which takes a while to get over. Delete the videos to save space and to destroy the evidence, lol.
Barry, I'm so low-tech it's embarrassing. I have a cell phone. I call it a "half-smart" phone. It's a Tracfone, 3g. Half the time it's dead and I don't notice for weeks. I know it does have a camera; I've taken pictures. Never noticed the video option.

Are you saying to video myself, or merely record? I'd be really shy about video!

Yes, Red, White and Blue Rag is difficult for me because of the fingering changes on the fretboard from the C measure to the F measure and back again. Also the hammer ons/pull offs on the 2nd page. But I'm working at it!
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Old 03-31-2017, 06:08 PM
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I'm up to White House Blues in Art of Solo Fingerstyle. I take Skype lessons with Mark and we've taken a detour in that he gave me a transcription of Windy And Warm I am working on and he also gave a nice solo fingerstyle version of James Taylor's Sweet Baby James that I am starting on. I like that song a lot and pretty psyched to get a solo fingerstyle version to work with. I'm going to skip Over the Waves (just don't like that song) and next take on Etude. FWIW, Mark told me to skip Devil's Dream until I got further along. He told me that if he had to do the book over, he would put that song in the latter third.

If you like Freight Train, the version in Contemporary Travis Picking is a great and relatively simple version to get started with but you get a more embellished version in Art of Solo fingerstyle. I also learned Tony Polecasto's version so it's fun to do a medley of all three.

The best tip I can share for RWB rag is to get used to doing the F chord with your thumb wrapped over the neck and catching the low E and your IMA fingers doing the treble notes on that chord. Mark suggested I try to get really used to playing the F chord like that for nearly all my fingerstyle playing as it's tough to setup a barre chord F and stay in tempo.
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Old 03-31-2017, 06:15 PM
EllaMom EllaMom is offline
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Thanks, SprintBob, for the tip on how to play the F chord in RW&B Rag, and also about Devil's Dream. I might move right on past that one and come back to it later.
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Old 03-31-2017, 07:08 PM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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Thanks, SprintBob, for the tip on how to play the F chord in RW&B Rag, and also about Devil's Dream. I might move right on past that one and come back to it later.
That is not a bad idea. Sometimes it is best to move on and come back to something that has been a sticking point. If you lose momentum, you can risk losing motivation and interest.

However, if the next thing depends on having mastered the current thing (i.e. a technique or understanding of a critical point is used in the next thing), then you could be asking for trouble. When self-teaching you alone have to make this call. By trying the next thing, it should become apparent soon enough though.

Tony
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Old 03-31-2017, 07:20 PM
EllaMom EllaMom is offline
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SprintBob, one thing that is stumping me in Hanson's Solo book is the lack of information on fingering for the fretting hand for the exercises that I'm working on now, pages 13 and 14. I'm especially struggling with Exercise 14B because I can't figure out the fingering on the fretboard.

Exercise B goes from an Em in the first measure to four chords on one measure: Em to D/F# to G to A, and then to D in the last measure. But no instruction on fret fingers. How did you handle Exercises 14A and 14B for fret fingering?

As I look ahead to exercises further along in the book, I don't see instruction on fretboard fingering, either.

This is an issue I have had with songbooks I've worked with....figuring out the best fingering on the fretboard from measure to measure.
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Old 03-31-2017, 07:50 PM
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Originally Posted by EllaMom View Post
SprintBob, one thing that is stumping me in Hanson's Solo book is the lack of information on fingering for the fretting hand for the exercises that I'm working on now, pages 13 and 14. I'm especially struggling with Exercise 14B because I can't figure out the fingering on the fretboard.

Exercise B goes from an Em in the first measure to four chords on one measure: Em to D/F# to G to A, and then to D in the last measure. But no instruction on fret fingers. How did you handle Exercises 14A and 14B for fret fingering?

As I look ahead to exercises further along in the book, I don't see instruction on fretboard fingering, either.

This is an issue I have had with songbooks I've worked with....figuring out the best fingering on the fretboard from measure to measure.
Page 14:

14A C Chord position with the pinky on that 3rd fret 2nd string note.

14B You can use index, middle then into a standard d chord fingering or use the middle ring and pinky. Isolated like this common sense says go with the standard d chord shape at the end (index middle ring) but sometimes you might have to use middle ring and pinky to play the d chord. Its good to be able to play the d chord both ways as its very quick to go into a C or F chord after middle ring pinky approach to a d chord.

Try doing a D chord played middle pinky ring, (middle on g string 2nd fret, pinky on b string, third fret and ring finger e string, second fret) then keep the middle finger planted on the 3rd string and rotate into an f chord. You'll see what I mean.
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Last edited by TBman; 03-31-2017 at 07:59 PM.
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Old 03-31-2017, 08:03 PM
EllaMom EllaMom is offline
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Page 14:

14A C Chord position with the pinky on that 3rd fret 2nd string note.

14B You can use index, middle then into a standard d chord fingering or use the middle ring and pinky. Isolated like this common sense says go with the standard d chord shape at the end (index middle ring) but sometimes you might have to use middle ring and pinky to play the d chord. Its good to be able to play the d chord both ways as its very quick to go into a C or F chord after middle ring pinky approach to a d chord.

Try doing a D chord played middle pinky ring, (middle on g string 2nd fret, pinky on b string, third fret and ring finger e string, second fret) then keep the middle finger planted on the 3rd string and rotate into an f chord. You'll see what I mean.
Thanks so much, Barry. I will try this.
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