Fingerstyle standard tunes?

[JGinNJ]

This is kind of a broad question depending on what genre of music you play.
Much of my playing is jazz, and there's a bunch of Great American Songbook and classic jazz tunes that everybody learns or gets called at a jam session, from Autumn Leaves to What is This Thing Called Love.

On the acoustic side, I do about 20 tunes from Merle Travis, John Fahey, Etta Baker, and traditional folk tunes. I'm thinking about expanding my repertoire of fingerpicking tunes, looking for ideas for "standards".

Recommendations? (Oh, and not into open tunings)

[MartinGibsonFan]

In this clip, Dylan is using a pick, but I'm pretty sure I've heard takes where he does this finger style. Lots of conversion songs out there that can be converted over to finger style. Don't Think Twice is a classic example.



MGF

[RodB]

Green leaves of Summer, Fly me to the Moon, Moon River, The Water is Wide,
Silver Threads Amongst the Gold...

Also, Autumn Leaves lends itself to a more ‘straight’ treatment as well as the usual jazz arrangements.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by JGinNJ

This is kind of a broad question depending on what genre of music you play.
Much of my playing is jazz, and there's a bunch of Great American Songbook and classic jazz tunes that everybody learns or gets called at a jam session, from Autumn Leaves to What is This Thing Called Love.

On the acoustic side, I do about 20 tunes from Merle Travis, John Fahey, Etta Baker, and traditional folk tunes. I'm thinking about expanding my repertoire of fingerpicking tunes, looking for ideas for "standards".

You mean jazz standards for fingerstyle, or fingerstyle standards? I.e., pieces originally written/played in fingerstyle, from folk, country, blues or rock genres?

[bfm612]

Josh Turner/The Other Favorites has been getting a lot of love recently on this forum. I've been following him for a while, and I'm consistently jealous of his talent. This is probably my favorite arrangement of his.

"My Baby Just Cares For Me"

[JGinNJ]

Originally Posted by JonPR

You mean jazz standards for fingerstyle, or fingerstyle standards? I.e., pieces originally written/played in fingerstyle, from folk, country, blues or rock genres?

The second one, folk/blues/country pieces. Jazz makes my head hurt after a while, i like to have simpler stuff to work on!

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by JGinNJ

The second one, folk/blues/country pieces. Jazz makes my head hurt after a while, i like to have simpler stuff to work on!

Hesitation Blues, St. James Infirmary, Deep River Blues, Windy and Warm and everything by John Hurt would all be worth checking out!

[davidbeinct]

Based on where you say your playing is at I’d say maybe it’s time to give Blind Blake and Reverend Gary Davis a try.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by JGinNJ

The second one, folk/blues/country pieces. Jazz makes my head hurt after a while, i like to have simpler stuff to work on!

In that case, Freight Train and Windy And Warm would probably be top of the list. Definitely the first ones to tick off!

I don't know the others reev21 mentions (I mean I know the songs, but not the specific arrangements he means), but no doubt they're good too.

For more advanced blues: Hey Hey (Big Bill Broonzy), Mississippi Blues (Willie Brown).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm1qtX7Mz5w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K6XEtSA6xI

Then there's Blind Blake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EPatkoTIOM

On a different tack (folk and blues mixed), there's Davy Graham and Bert Jansch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXhWgbmc9yU - the 60s classic we all had to know back then. It was The Law. You didn't get your UK Fingerstyle License until you could play this. Got mine in '67.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqdi6evOclY (DAGDAD)

Of course, I'm thinking instrumental pieces here. If you include songs, there's countless more, from simple to advanced.

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by JonPR

I don't know the others reev21 mentions (I mean I know the songs, but not the specific arrangements he means), but no doubt they're good too.

I like Toby Walker’s arrangements of Deep River and Hesitation, and David Hamburger’s of St. James. They are fairly simple but can be expanded on as one gets comfortable with the tune.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by MartinGibsonFan

In this clip, Dylan is using a pick, but I'm pretty sure I've heard takes where he does this finger style.

Absolutely. The original is fingerstyle, and is indeed a classic example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iHhWh9FtsQ

The other one from Freewheelin' is Girl From the North Country, which was inspired (in 1962) by Martin Carthy's arrangement of Scarborough Fair (which was borrowed more wholesale by Paul Simon):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JncbFS5ek74

Carthy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCjUDUshHdQ
Simon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BakWVXHSug

A couple of other classics from the early 60s:
There But For Fortune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9q9t03W61s (Phil Ochs's song)
Blues Run The Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4it9vK6G7o

[pvfederico]

Freight Train, for sure

[pvfederico]

Originally Posted by MartinGibsonFan

In this clip, Dylan is using a pick, but I'm pretty sure I've heard takes where he does this finger style. Lots of conversion songs out there that can be converted over to finger style. Don't Think Twice is a classic example.



MGF

Peter, Paul and Mary made it famous. They used a finger style. I play it every night using a Travis Picking style. The alternating base really makes it lively.