What I have learned about playing finger style

[TBman]

I have found that 99% of playing fingerstyle is staying in your weight class. (At the age of 67)

What does this mean? When I pick a tune to learn I use the following guidelines.

1. No really difficult stretches that would take months to achieve.

2. A tempo that is within my abilities to play at (or it sounds just as good at 80% of performance)

3. The tune is in a style that I can emulate. I'm not Toby Walker. I really don't play his style. I'm not Tommy Emmanuel. I can't fly all over the neck (quickly) and do 5 finger chords like they are nothing (with thumb wrapping), etc, etc.

4. The right hand (picking) is within my grasp or I can step up to it. (A week or so of a small handful of Guiliani's 120 right hand exercises does wonders for me) as well as just practicing random triplets.

So whatever lesson plan you take, whether its Hamburger, Emmanuel, Grossman, Walker or whoever, you have to pick your fights so that they push you, but don't frustrate, break you or bore you.

I have quite a few Truefire and Homespun lessons and while they are fun, I eventually walk away from them only because most of the tunes in the lesson I ultimately don't find entertaining to learn. So that's on me, not the instructors. I'm probably more of a single tune lesson type of customer.

Whenever I hear/see a video lesson that I might be interested in the first things I ask myself is "Can I sound like that? What will it sound like when I play it?"

Often I see threads where people ask how to learn to play fingerstyle and then they list a dozen or so things they are going to learn and I know it will take weeks just to get to a decent level with just one thing they listed. Don't chew off more than you can handle at once.

Anyway I'm sure others can also add their tips as well here.

[JERZEY]

Great post!

I have spent a way to much time shooting for the starts grinding on content way above my level. I have learned in time to slow down, enjoy the ride and stay in my lane. Turns out I learn faster and have way more fun doing it.

[rick-slo]

As far as solo acoustic fingerstyle (including classical) if it was a style and a piece I liked I just went for it. However I
began to not liking working on a time consuming piece only to later forget how to play it. Hence it was nice when good
sounding home recording became more readily available.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by TBman

I have found that 99% of playing fingerstyle is staying in your weight class. (At the age of 67)

What does this mean? When I pick a tune to learn I use the following guidelines.

1. No really difficult stretches that would take months to achieve.

2. A tempo that is within my abilities to play at (or it sounds just as good at 80% of performance)

3. The tune is in a style that I can emulate. I'm not Toby Walker. I really don't play his style. I'm not Tommy Emmanuel. I can't fly all over the neck (quickly) and do 5 finger chords like they are nothing (with thumb wrapping), etc, etc.

4. The right hand (picking) is within my grasp or I can step up to it. (A week or so of a small handful of Guiliani's 120 right hand exercises does wonders for me) as well as just practicing random triplets.

So whatever lesson plan you take, whether its Hamburger, Emmanuel, Grossman, Walker or whoever, you have to pick your fights so that they push you, but don't frustrate, break you or bore you.

I have quite a few Truefire and Homespun lessons and while they are fun, I eventually walk away from them only because most of the tunes in the lesson I ultimately don't find entertaining to learn. So that's on me, not the instructors. I'm probably more of a single tune lesson type of customer.

Whenever I hear/see a video lesson that I might be interested in the first things I ask myself is "Can I sound like that? What will it sound like when I play it?"

Often I see threads where people ask how to learn to play fingerstyle and then they list a dozen or so things they are going to learn and I know it will take weeks just to get to a decent level with just one thing they listed. Don't chew off more than you can handle at once.

Anyway I'm sure others can also add their tips as well here.

Hi Barry…
You are probably going to learn more from that posture than trying to learn every Tommy E piece at twice his tempo!!

Because the pace you are going and process you are using has included growth (I've been watching and listening to you for some time).

Music isn't my job (at age 73), and even when it was, I learned to pace myself and am better for it (musically & mentally). Sounds like you are as well.

[Martijn]

Interesting topic!
One of my tips would be to record yourself every now and then while you are learning a new song.
No fancy equipment is required, the voice memo app on your phone is already perfectly fine.
When you listen critically to these recordings you will probably notice some points of attention where you could improve your playing.

[reeve21]

Thanks Barry, those are helpful reminders.

It is easy to go a mile wide and an inch deep, jumping around from one thing to another, never really getting anything "finished" (if there is such a thing).

It has taken me a long time to give up on trying to play things at their original tempo. That has to be a byproduct of playing it well, not the primary goal. And it sounds just fine for most stuff.

I stumbled into a method that suits my learning style pretty well. I pick an artist or genre and go very deep on it. It helps that I don't get bored easily. Right now its the Beatles. I'll have spent well over a year on them by the time I'm done. Having a good teacher who can correct and flesh out the basic arrangements in the Hal Leonard book from the original recordings has been a big help.

I did a crash and burn on ragtime piano tunes. As much as I love that stuff it is beyond my abilities at this still early point in my journey. No Tommy E. or Pete H. or Leo K. for me yet. Maybe someday....a man has to know his limitations

Originally Posted by reeve21

crash and burn on ragtime piano tunes

Been there, done that and went back for second helpings!

Originally Posted by reeve21

....a man has to know his limitations

Took me far too long to learn that one.

[pegleghowell]

Indeed,Know your limitations...age old and timeless advice.

[jklotz]

Barry, what you say makes a lot of sense, and in general, is good advice IMHO. I'll add that, for me, I do best with arrangements that I really love. I've tried to learn songs that weren't my favorites because they fit well into my repitior and it's drudgery. I seem to be able to push my limits better if it's something I really want to learn.

[mr. beaumont]

I say arrange your own stuff and then you can play whatever you want--and not have to do anything your hands won't cooperate with.

[Mr. Jelly]

It's not just finger style. It's the same for all music and other professions also. I learned early on in business that if you do certain things well then that's what you should do. I guided my employees to do the things that fit them and that made them successful. It's better to be successful at what you can do than to continually work at something you will only do competently. A problem arises when a person aspires to do things that are not them. I've seen people spend a lifetime trying to do something that they would never be able to do well. Our desires and skill do not always aline.

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

It's not just finger style. It's the same for all music and other professions also. I learned early on in business that if you do certain things well then that's what you should do. I guided my employees to do the things that fit them and that made them successful. It's better to be successful at what you can do than to continually work at something you will only do competently. A problem arises when a person aspires to do things that are not them. I've seen people spend a lifetime trying to do something that they would never be able to do well. Our desires and skill do not always aline.

That makes a lot of sense career-wise. I look at hobbies a little differently. Being a "good" guitarist is not in the works for me, but I enjoy the challenge and the occasional successes so much that it really doesn't matter. As long as I don't bite off too much and let frustration set in then I'm good. There are plenty of other things I can do a lot better than play the guitar that no longer hold my interest (I used to be great at watching sports on TV )

[ceciltguitar]

Excellent advice for ALL styles of guitar playing!

[Andyrondack]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I say arrange your own stuff and then you can play whatever you want--and not have to do anything your hands won't cooperate with.

Sure I have found this makes a lot of sense.
It's also usefull to be able to re-arrange book pieces to make them more playable, but what I have found really helpfull for playing fingerstyle in standard tuning is to use a short scale guitar.

[SprintBob]

I can totally relate to this thread and the points made. Thanks for posting Barry.

I’ll add that for fingerstyle arrangements with a difficult measure or section, my teacher has shown me often how I can usually take some of the “filler” notes out and just keep the melody and bass/beat notes. Most of the time that can get you through and your target audience may not even notice.

Agree with Derek that home recording is surely a great way to have a “document of record” of songs you put a lot of time and effort into that you worry could be easily forgotten or lost if you quit playing them.