Fingerstyle - How Does One Progress?

[Bern]

Originally Posted by HKS724

I am trying to learn "Don't Think Twice" currently and am having a real hard time because the pattern seems, well, sporadic.

"Don't think twice" can only be accomplished by using an expanded pattern, because the melody doesn't really fit a straight rhytmic pattern. I think, if you don't have tunes like 'Candy man' or 'Freight train' under your belt and can't play them in your sleep, your problems will continue.
BTW, 'finger independence' as some say, plays a larger role when you leave straight patterns behind and melody lines become more complex. The thing about straight patterns is that it makes most people think their fingers are independed...don't be fooled by this...A marching band is differnet from doing the electric slide. After exhausting almost all possibilities with patterns and going in deeper, your finger independence will improve without consciously thinking about it.

[HKS724]

Thanks for all the help guys, greatly appreciated! I am SO glad I came back to this forum! I will explore some avenues posed, namely learning more pattern picking songs!

[ukejon]

Here is my version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THBYEKHrhqo

As you can see it is a pretty straightforward song with mostly basic chords and a driving thumb pattern. Just keep at it....what seems hard now will get a lot easier through good old hard work. Because the melody is so familiar in this song, you pretty soon will figure out your own patterns to make the song sound right.

[jeanray1113]

Well, probably much more slowly than one would like! At least, that has been my experience. I was a pretty average player for a long time. Then a few years ago I decided I wanted to learn fingerstyle. There are some pieces I've tried to play for years that are now starting to sound pretty good. I don't think it's really because those pieces have to take that long, I think it's because I tried to learn some pretty difficult pieces before mastering more basic stuff. I can tell you that if you keep practicing, you will learn. What someone else said about plateaus is so true. There have been times I have felt so stuck, and then one day I'd pick up my guitar and something just starts to fall into place! I think some one on one lessons are invaluable, but we also have a wealth of instructional videos that did not exist when many of us first learned to play. These are really wonderful, because you can play them over and over and you can play along with them. You mentioned Stefan Grossman's dvds. They are excellent, as are many from Homespun Tapes. They have many fingerstyle lessons. Whatever, you do, don't give up if this is really something you want to do!

[JanVigne]

There are numerous threads on fingerstyle picking on this forum so you could easily find more answers to your question. But let's first discuss the reason fingerstyle is so atractive to most players and most listeners. That is, IMO, the intricacy and complexity it implies in the mind. When done well it is a bit of a slight of hand deception. Note embellishments which are all but impossible with other styles of play are easily pulled out of the mix when fingerstyle is done well. The problem for the player is, of course, how to do fingerstyle well.

At its best fingerstyle should sound effortless, which suggests you will need hours and hours of intense exercise to create the fluid muscle memory which just exists in your fingers when you play this style. There are no shortcuts I am aware of, work and slow progress are the only thing that will develop your automatic brain functions which make fingerstyle work. The same sort of automatic brain functions which come into play when you cut up your food or drive in a screw. Fingerstyle should appear to the listener to be that effortless.

Yes, fingerstyle is based on patterns. The more patterns you have at your disposal, the better you will sound to the listener who craves variation. Hear the same chord forms and the same pattern embellishments in each song and you will loose all but the most naive listener. I'll repeat that my favorite newbie lesson plan for fingerstyle is "Beginning Fingerstyle Blues" by Berle and Galbo. A bit less of a jumping off ledge than "The Art of Contemporary Travis Picking" or "The Art of Solo Fingerstyle". Better, I think, than any on line lessons I've found for newbies.

You could also pick up any lesson plan on classical guitar styles and find numerous examples of patterns and exercises which will implant the independent fingers/thumb concept in your muscles. Moving from an intermediate classical style to fingerstyle should be an easy transition if you've really done your homework and not rushed through the former. My favorite here is "Foden's Grand Method for Guiitar". Long out of print unfortunately, it is an academy appoach to freeing your hands to play the most intricate compositions. With at least three full pages of just finger patterns you could work solely on this section of the book for months and still not crack the entire code. Though at the end of that time you would certainly be more interested and interesting.

Here though are my two best recommendations for learning fingerstyle guitar. First, pick a lesson plan and stick with it and it alone through to the end. Don't bounce from plan to plan, on line method to on line method or book to book. Build your foundation with one book before you move to the next level or you will be trying to put window decorations in your new house before you have the walls up.

Second, and IMO most important, use your metronome. The attraction to fingerstyle occurs in the thumb more than the fingers. The thumb is the bread, the fingers are the butter. White, sliced and packaged Wonder Bread is not very nutrious and comes from a thumb which sort of wanders in and out of time. Hearty whole grain rye is made with a steady beat driven in the listener's mind by a consistent and emphatic beat coming from the thumb. Until your thumb has the listeners tapping their toes to your beat, IMO you'll not be a top notch fingerstylist. For that sort of playing you absolutely need to play from day one to the steady, constant beat of a metronome.

And, here's the secret to playing with a metronome; start your run throughs of any song or exercise at 40bpm. No faster, which you will find to be, I think, extremely difficult at first. Your nature will be to speed up the time and you'll find yourself playing notes before the metronome says you should. If though you play with extreme intent and care, placing each finger of each hand for the most accurate tone before you strike the string, you will develop excellent muscle memory which will stick with you as you very slowly up the metronome's time keeping.

So slow down, way down and learn exactly, not approximately, how your fingers should move on each hand. This is the foundation of fingerstyle and, IMO, this will serve you better than any other advice regarding fingerstyle. Until you can play each song or exercise at 40bpm and make it interesting, you probably can't make the song truly interesting at 120bpm.

[LoMa]

There are different excellent materials out there for leaning fingerstyle. If you are interested in the blues, then Stefan Grossman's Fingerpicking Techniques is a great DVD source, as you play with him, phrase by phrase. Very effective for getting the rhythm and the expression too.

If you are into more of a new agey sound with a smattering of blues, and like the sound of open strings, then Mark Hanson's Beyond Basics Fingerstyle Guitar book and cd is a great resource.

If you want to learn a LOT of different patterns, then Hanson's Art of Contemporary Travis Picking book and cd is a good resource - can get boring though. His followup book, Art of Solo Fingerpicking will get you into more interesting territory, but it counts on you having the basic patterns down.

Another possibility for beginners is Andrew DuBrock's Travis Picking book and cd. Moves faster than Hanson's Travis Picking book and has a slightly different approach.

There are lots and lots of other good books and dvd's too. But I'd get one of them and work my way through and then attempt the songs you really want to learn. If you're wanting to learn some Dylan songs, Fred Sokolow has a decent book and dvd and it includes Don't Think Twice. But if you're finding it too frustrating, go first to one of the resources above or something similar from Happy Traum, etc.

Have lotsa fun!

[guitarjamman]

I just put all my picks in my case and went from there. I never learned how to "properly" fingerpick, but I developed my style and after so many years I can now make it work for me.

Formal instructions will get you there quicker and keep you from engraining bad habits - but developing your own style is not always a bad thing.

[mc1]

in my experience, one progresses slowly.

[badge]

Originally Posted by j3ffr0

Mark Hanson's Beyond Basics Fingerstyle Guitar is good place to start.

I'm working my way through this book and it has been a great introduction. Before buying it I used to avoid attempting anything that wasn't simply strumming a chord or plucking one string at a time. Not any more though

[bbatko]

Originally Posted by HKS724

Hey Good People,

I have been playing guitar for about four years. I am at the point where I am starting to pick a line in terms of what I really like and want to play. I like blues, jazz, and now even folk (very unexpected). I am trying to learn fingerstyle guitar, but I am hoping to get some advice form you guys!

The only fingerstyle song I have been able to wrap my head around is "Landslide" and it seems even for that song, I noticed that the only reason why I was able to grasp it was not because my thumb was independent of my other four fingers, it was just because I grasped the pattern of 5,3,4,2 or whatever it was. Is this the right approach (patterns vs. learning to make your thumb/bass finger independent) that will allow faster progression?

I am trying to learn "Don't Think Twice" currently and am having a real hard time because the pattern seems, well, sporadic. Any thoughts and critiques are more than welcome!

Well, I am looking to begin fingerpicking and read your post and the answers. Your question was from 7 years ago, so the question now is, how are you doing fingerpicking now??
Brian

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by bbatko

Well, I am looking to begin fingerpicking and read your post and the answers. Your question was from 7 years ago, so the question now is, how are you doing fingerpicking now??
Brian

The OP hasn’t been on this forum in about three years.

[bbatko]

Originally Posted by davidbeinct

The OP hasn’t been on this forum in about three years.

I thought my post might send off an email to get him to respond.

[Blueser100]

Originally Posted by j3ffr0

Mark Hanson's Beyond Basics Fingerstyle Guitar is good place to start.

I have been a Mark Hanson fan for years, and I learned to pick from his Travis picking book. The Beyond Basics is a little easier than the Travis book, and Mark uses some delightful fingerings/patterns that sound wonderful.

[bbatko]

Originally Posted by Blueser100

I have been a Mark Hanson fan for years, and I learned to pick from his Travis picking book. The Beyond Basics is a little easier than the Travis book, and Mark uses some delightful fingerings/patterns that sound wonderful.

Thank you!!