The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > PLAY and Write

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #16  
Old 07-06-2018, 04:05 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 6,450
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by 3notes View Post
I've never damaged a guitar with a pick. How does that happen.??
Let's ask Willie:


The guitar even has its own wiki page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigger_(guitar)
__________________
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen.
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 07-06-2018, 04:35 AM
SprintBob's Avatar
SprintBob SprintBob is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 5,253
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kerbie View Post
Fingerstyle is a lot of fun. I think Mark Hanson's two books are outstanding. I enjoy learning with books, but some people do better with DVDs. Individual lessons are a great idea if you can find a good teacher. If not, lots of stuff online too. Good luck!
Another vote for Mark Hanson’s Contemporary Travis Picking as a starting point. It will lay an excellent foundation for you. I followed completion of it with Mark’s Art of Solo Fingerstyle and I am two songs away from completing that book. I also take a Skype lesson from Mark every two weeks. I supplement my primary focus on Mark’s material with some material from Truefire and Homespun but be careful to not go down the rabbit hole of buying more DVD instructional material than you could ever complete. I realized fairly early on if I stick with Mark’s material and course progression, I would have the best results. It’s been a 4 year journey with both books with over 30 songs learned.

Along the way, I have learned other fingerstyle songs outside of the material in Mark’s books including the fingerstyle milestone Windy and Warm, Fleetwood Mac songs like Landslide and Never Going Back, and most recently a beautiful and addictive song called Shooting Star by Masaaki Kishibe that I learned about from fellow AGF’er TBman. Important to note that without the foundational skills I learned from Hanson’s instruction, all of these would have been much more difficult.

Whether you choose Mark’s material or something else, try to find a structured course with songs and exercises to progress by and if you can afford it, a good teacher whether live or with Skype. For my Skype lessons, I plug into a 32” monitor and I see everything Mark is doing and he sees everything I am doing. It works well.
__________________
Doerr Trinity 12 Fret 00 (Lutz/Maple)
Edwinson Zephyr 13 Fret 00 (Adi/Coco)
Froggy Bottom H-12 (Adi/EIR)
Kostal 12 Fret OMC (German Spruce/Koa)
Rainsong APSE 12 Fret (Carbon Fiber)
Taylor 812ce-N 12 fret (Sitka/EIR Nylon)
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 07-06-2018, 03:48 PM
Pitar Pitar is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,129
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by 3notes View Post
I play with a pick. 100 percent. I'm not a rocker. When I pick the acoustic guitar all I want to hear is something pretty. Maybe working around machinery and noise might have something to do with this.

Well, to maximize pretty, finger style would be it for me. I'm going to have a lot of time on my hands in the coming year. Joint replacements.

So, I want to set a goal of learning finger style. I want to do it right.

I've played for 15 years off and on. Nearly everyday for the past 2 years.

Where do I begin.?? How long will it take before it's not ugly, anymore.?? Searching for tips and reference.

I want to be dedicated to it. Should I throw my picks out.?? I'll always play with a pick but for this learning period should I put the pick down and paly fingers only for a month or 2.??

Help me out here, please and thanks.
I never played with a pick. I started out teaching myself finger picking and nothing has changed. That's to say I started in 1972 and I'm still learning. I got comfortably adept at finger picking in about a year's time but that included learning to negotiate the fret board at the same time. I can't suggest a time frame you might attain your own goals within but I would suggest you put down the pick and suffer learning. It's a whole other world of guitar playing and a priceless journey once you've arrived.
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 07-09-2018, 11:45 AM
SouthpawJeff SouthpawJeff is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 195
Default

My motivation for learning fingerstyle pieces is the same as it was/is for learning guitar... to play the songs I want to play. So while theres a lot of good advice here it may be good to think about what you want to play? While anything can be played fingerstyle, I’m learning songs that are written as fingerstyle. For example Blackbird is a great intro song as well as Landslide. But of course you want to find songs that appeal to you. By picking out songs that are already fingerstyle it’s much easier to avoid reaching for the pick😉

Good luck,
Jeff
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 07-09-2018, 02:23 PM
rwhitney rwhitney is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 83
Default

If you like country blues, some easy transcriptions of four Mississippi John Hurt songs were a cool place for me to begin with in this style: Stefan Grossman's Masters of Country Blues Guitar: The Anthology of Country Blues Guitar

https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Count.../dp/0898986931
__________________
Collings OM-2H with cutaway
Cordoba GK Pro Negra flamenco
National Resonator Collegian
Taylor 562ce 12-string
Reply With Quote
  #21  
Old 07-09-2018, 02:41 PM
reeve21 reeve21 is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Central Connecticut, USA
Posts: 5,578
Default

Hi 3notes,

I was in your shoes a year and a half ago. I blame the AGF

I started with the Mark Hanson books (and by no means have I completed them!) and Toby Walker's intro to fingerpicking video. I still play that stuff a lot--Freight Train, Oh Susannah, and lot's of folk/blues tunes like Do Lord Remember Me, You are My Sunshine, etc.

After 6 months or so I realized I needed help if I was going to progress very far. My technique seemed to be holding me back, but I was't sure what was wrong, it just felt hinky. I'm not a young guy and probably don't adjust to new things like I used to.

I found a great teacher on lessons.com and I do half an hour a week with him. Cost is a lot less than I had expected. Lots of exercises and one short tune a week. This approach has worked for me, my playing is a lot smoother and I've learned a bunch of new techniques. But the focus is still on fundamentals, not repertoire at this point.

So I would say the key word is patience, and lay a good foundation. It is great to pick up a Tommy E. or Pete Huttlinger tab and muddle through it once in a while, but that approach didn't work for me. I'm still not playing that kind of stuff very well after a year and a half, and may never get there. That is OK, the journey is a lot of fun and well worth the effort.

I wish you lots of luck, much dedication and most importantly patience.
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 07-09-2018, 03:16 PM
beninma beninma is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 813
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by tonyo View Post
One thing on getting started with fingerstyle is a simple pattern. Thumb on bass note, index on G string, pinch with middle and ring on B and E string, back to index on G. That's four beats and fits with many 4/4 songs.

Once you get used to that working, then when a chord is played for 2 bars consecutively, alternate the bass. It doesn't take long to get that working for songs you've strummed for years.
This has been working for me.. just started a couple months ago and all of a sudden I really like playing with my fingers & some things are already easier than with a pick.

These simple patterns are what has helped me... I've got to try Tonyo's recommended pattern.

The one my teacher started me on was Bass Note, index on G string, different string bass note, middle on B string.

The next ones were Bass Note, followed by pinching 2 strings and then fill out the bar with a similar pattern.

Good stuff. It's been pretty rewarding. I'm almost at that point I can just figure out how to finger pick a progression instead of strumming it pretty quickly/naturally.

I think the other thing that is really motivating for me is you pretty much immediately unlock some new sounds with whatever guitar you play... both my acoustic and my telecaster basically have a different voice with fingers vs pick, it's like getting a bunch of new gear for free.

Last edited by beninma; 07-09-2018 at 03:21 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 07-10-2018, 01:02 PM
tonyo tonyo is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Tyalgum New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 1,096
Default

Quote:
These simple patterns are what has helped me... I've got to try Tonyo's recommended pattern.
The pinch on the 3rd beat just makes it sound a bit richer. Fascinated me how something a simple as that can improve a pattern.

A strumming fried who's learned my starter pattern dropped in a couple of days ago. He said what's fascinated him in learning fingerstyle is realizing how sloppy he'd become with strumming his chords. a loose finger here / there he got away with when strumming but not when playing fingerstyle.

If your fingerstyle isn't sounding clean, that might be part of the problem.
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 07-10-2018, 01:18 PM
reeve21 reeve21 is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Central Connecticut, USA
Posts: 5,578
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by tonyo View Post

A strumming fried who's learned my starter pattern dropped in a couple of days ago. He said what's fascinated him in learning fingerstyle is realizing how sloppy he'd become with strumming his chords. a loose finger here / there he got away with when strumming but not when playing fingerstyle.

If your fingerstyle isn't sounding clean, that might be part of the problem.
This was my experience, too. And there are a lot of left hand positions that I never used while I was strumming. I thought finger style was all about the right hand, silly me! Getting that left hand into position when changing chord shapes is a challenge, but practice and patience does wonders.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > PLAY and Write

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:22 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=