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  #1  
Old 11-26-2019, 12:52 PM
Chris1983 Chris1983 is offline
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Default Fingerstyle Practice Tips

Hi all

Does anyone have any good practicing tips for a fingerstyle player that tries to emulate Martin Simpson and Martin Carthy?

Things like good economy of motion, hand position, different types of attack, etc. I’m mostly playing in Csus2 (CGCGCD) tuning right now but ‘tuning ambiguous’ practice tips would be greatly appreciated.

Any thoughts / good resources out there?

Thanks
Chris
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Old 11-26-2019, 01:03 PM
Cincy2 Cincy2 is offline
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Here are the items that you should be working on:
  • Right hand position (how to get the best tone with your fingers/nails)
  • Right hand finger independence (using one, two, three or four fingers in various combinations
  • Right Hand/Left hand synchronization.

Start like the classical guitarist do: Giuliani's 120 right hand studies. Tedious but they build a good foundation. Then go to You Tube and google right hand classical guitar training. YOu will have enough to work on for years.

Good luck
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Old 11-26-2019, 01:03 PM
BluesBelly BluesBelly is offline
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Hi Chris,
I’m sure YouTube will have a few helpful videos. Seems there is always someone willing to show the basics and beyond of virtually any style of play.

Blues
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Old 11-26-2019, 01:55 PM
why2 why2 is offline
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Fretting hand work would need legato, hammers and pulls workouts to build up strength and accuracy. The speed will come later.

As stated there are endless right hand arpeggio drills. Enough for a lifetime.
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Old 11-26-2019, 03:21 PM
Joe Beamish Joe Beamish is offline
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Check out Tommy Emmanuel on Youtube. He's got lots of good tips for learning guitar, particularly fingerstyle stuff. They seem basic, but if you work on these points, the rest should follow regardless of what songs you're learning in whatever tuning.

Off the top of my head:

Practice a lot.
Learn songs. Spend most of your time on the hard bits that you haven't mastered yet.
Learn each song to your satisfaction before moving onto the next. Focus!
Once you've got the difficult bits down, practice the song with a metronome.
Yes, a metronome!
Have fun. If you're not having fun, you're probably doing it wrong.
Learn how to put on a capo correctly, without throwing your strings out of tune.
Pay attention to hand placement and guitar tone. Vary as you see fit.

Apply the above to learning your favorite songs from your favorite guitarists and all should go well. Check out Tommy, his attitude is infectious, as is his good sense.
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Old 11-26-2019, 03:22 PM
scriv58 scriv58 is offline
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https://martinsimpson.com/dvds/

http://www.guitarvideos.com/Artists/martin-carthy
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Old 11-26-2019, 03:25 PM
s2y s2y is offline
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Find a comfy chair, a foot rest, good posture, and have at it.
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  #8  
Old 11-26-2019, 05:00 PM
Chris1983 Chris1983 is offline
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Thanks all. Good tips from everyone. I should have mentioned, despite asking for help, I’m not a beginner. Probably late intermediate. Finger independence is pretty good.

I’ll take the advice of learning some of the classical guitar stuff though, that is something I’ve not explored.
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Old 11-26-2019, 05:02 PM
Chris1983 Chris1983 is offline
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Anyone playing any Martin Carthy stuff?
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Old 11-26-2019, 05:31 PM
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Check out Stephen Wake on Bandcamp. You might be interested in purchasing some of his music and tabs. He writes primarily in Orkney (CGDGCD), but his "touch" is something worth emulating.
His slower tunes are a good lesson on letting the notes "breath".


Here's one of his tunes, which happens to be in CGDGAD:

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Old 11-26-2019, 05:36 PM
Red_Label Red_Label is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TBman View Post
Check out Stephen Wake on Bandcamp. You might be interested in purchasing some of his music and tabs. He writes primarily in Orkney (CGDGCD), but his "touch" is something worth emulating.
His slower tunes are a good lesson on letting the notes "breath".


Here's one of his tunes, which happens to be in CGDGAD:

Stephen is amazing! I just stumbled on his stuff last week (because of you). Whether he's playing a classical, or a steel string... and whether he's playing originals or standards... it's all about as flawless as can be played. (And that's saying a lot, because I was a classical guitar major in the 80s and usually look to classical and flamenco players for the whole "virtuoso perfection" thing.)
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Old 11-26-2019, 06:01 PM
soma5 soma5 is offline
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Play a lot. Play hours every day. Record yourself and listen - did you deliver the music? If not, where did you fall short? What can you do to deliver that music? Is it to change the arrangement? Is it to get something smoother? The recording doesn't lie. Martin Simpson lives the music. I don't know Martin Carthy except for recordings. Simpson plays for hours every day and has for decades. He can hear all by himself whether he is delivering the music. Those of us who have music as a secondary thing in life need to record and listen. Your ear is sophisticated. Would you pay to hear the artist who recorded what you are listening to (yourself!)? Why or why not? You can and should be brutal with yourself. If you are advanced intermediate, this can take you to the next stage.

Oh, and use a metronome.
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Old 11-26-2019, 06:08 PM
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I mainly learned things by nailing tunes and applying those revelations to learning the next set of tunes. On at least some pieces try for totally memorization, lack of hesitations, practiced finger placement to avoid buzzes and unintentionally muted adjacent strings.
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Old 11-27-2019, 07:47 PM
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I just picked up a guitar and began using all the digits on my picking hand. A whole lot of stumbling and coordinating later, by the end of one year I could pretty much play everything I had a curiosity to play. But, I had the deep seated desire to play the guitar to keep me pushing through many long hours of practice. I did not buy any traditional lesson books because, well, 6 strings and 5 fingers, what's not to understand about the task of learning to finger pick? A book of chords and a book of alternating bass picking (aka Travis Style) were my only purchases. Anyway, you can formalize it up the kazoo or just start finger picking and I'd lay odds that you'd end up with similar skills at the same place on the timeline.
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Old 11-29-2019, 05:04 AM
JonPR JonPR is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris1983 View Post
Hi all

Does anyone have any good practicing tips for a fingerstyle player that tries to emulate Martin Simpson and Martin Carthy?

Things like good economy of motion, hand position, different types of attack, etc. I’m mostly playing in Csus2 (CGCGCD) tuning right now but ‘tuning ambiguous’ practice tips would be greatly appreciated.

Any thoughts / good resources out there?

Thanks
Chris
For right hand practice, regardless of tuning or chord, Clive Carroll has a good exercise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgwV1-941PI&t=60
He's chosen a specific chord and specific right hand pattern (from a Villa Lobos piece), but the exercise can be applied to any chord which you're arpeggiating using thumb and three fingers. It's about dynamic control of each finger - as well as (of course) steady timing of the 8th notes.
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