How to start with fingerstyle guitar.

[lacatedral]

How to start on fingerstyle.

1) Greetings and marry Xmas everyone, I'm trying to get myself into the fingerstyle world. I'd like to know for recommendations of where to start and how to proceed from there. Please excuse my english for any spelling or grammatical mistake as it's not my native (Argentina).
As a background, I'm currently finishing my major degree in classical guitar. To learn the fingerstyle technique I've been studying some arrangements, to name some:
"I'm Yours" (Jason Mraz), "Livin on a Prayer" (Bon Jovi), "Totoro's main theme" (half of it, from Totoro) all of them arranged by Sungha Jung; then other anime songs, etc...

These represent very well the style which like:



(way harder this last one, but very well represents the use of percussive effects such as slap, flick, rasgueados, RH strokes to achieve harmonics, etc...)

2) What I want:
I can discern there's basically two types of fingerstyle:
The one which is largely based on classical guitar but adds some percussive effects (slaps and "flick" -nail attack while slapping-) for example Sungha Jung, Gabriella Quevedo, Igor Presnyakov and Andrew Foy; and then the other one, which is a more percussive one such as Andy McKee, Luca Stricagnoli or David Youngman.
For the moment I'd only like to aim for the first one, the kind of fingerstyle which is percussive, but not so much.

The other thing I'd like to point out is the use of strumming while playing, which Presnyakov uses a lot:


(the sturmming starts at 0:10; I mean what kind of strumming is that? I really like that but where did he learn that, is that a rasgueado from Flamenco or somewhere else?)

3) Bibliography, courses and lessons:
I'm aware that most of the fingerstyle technique basically comes from the classical guitar school. But there are some percussive effects which are obviously not covered by authors such as Giuliani, Sor; or Carlevaro.

I'm trying to look for specific bibliography (books, recommended youtube lessons/courses that you know are good, etc...) for fingerstyle, which should mostly cover technical aspects.
In classical guitar, there are good books such as Sagreras Lessons, Costanzo's 20 Lessons, Carlevaro's 4 technique books (or 5 counting the technique-theory one), Tennant's Pumping Nylon, Giuliani's 120 arpeggios, etc... They are all well conceived. Very methodical, most of them very well explained and each piece/drill's difficulty gradually progresses in each new chapter or part.
I don't know if there is such bibliography for fingerstyle. If so please recommend.

If there's not, then I'd like some recommendations on which pieces should I work with, like, which are the first piece/s I should study first in a beginner level, then which are the ones in a intermediate level and so on.
With patience, I believe this is one of those kind of things which takes time.


That would be all thanks, cheers.

[Fretbuzzz]

Try Eltjo Hasselhoff’s course. Very profound, from scratch to intermediate level Chet-style and an ‘idiot-proof’ step-by-step approach (no offense intended!).
www.eltjohaselhoff.com.

[mercy]

There are three more to add to your classifications system. 1) arpeggios often used as backup, ex Peter, Paul, Mary etc. 2)Travis which is an alternating bass technique, I would say this is the most popular 3) modern that relies on classical techniques but uses no percussion, this is what I do as I dont like the percussive techniques.
As far as bibliography there's tons but after you finish Mark Hansen's books youll need no more, IMO.
Ed Gerhard is my favorite

[Arjan1961]

Check out Marco Cirillo on YouTube, great teacher and very melodic. I support him also on Patreon for 5 dollar a month and included are the tabs.

[Davis Webb]

Don Ross, a master of the style you want...rarely plays in standard tuning. Joni Mitchell used about 25 different tunings. So learning open tunings paves the way for more ability to add percussive elements. Do you know the CandyRat music library? Andy McKee and the like...all started by Michael Hedges RIP...

So open tuning for voicings and the use of the left hand to create notes rather than using the right hand only...

But you might already know this...just adding to it.

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Just start playing.

[k_russell]

Originally Posted by nolegsfngrpickn

Just start playing.

I agree. You have the musical background, the knowledge of the instrument, and technical skill to develop your own style.


If you feel like you need some structure, write out a melody line and learn it. Once you have the melody memorized and under your fingers, work out an accompaniment. Once you have the melody and an accompaniment, work out some variations and experiment with harmony.

Use ideas of the composers that you have been studying (Mertz, Tarrega, Sor, and others) as well as those of fingerstyle players that you like. Unlike classical guitar, you can't play wrong notes, just ones that don't sound as good as others.


Enjoy the experience.

[TBman]

Deleted......

[nolegsfngrpickn]

If you want some direction, start with songs that implement travis picking. That will get you started with separating melody/bass and developing your thumb.

[sdelsolray]

For someone already welled schooled in classical guitar technique and seasoned with much of that repertoire, a safe and efficient path is simply to learn fingerstyle pieces which are easily accessible, for the most part, with the chops you already have. Fortunately, there is a deep body of "fingerstyle" guitar compositions dating back about a century (thousands of pieces), with skill levels from beginner through advanced. Similar to classical guitar, there are many styles and genres in the fingerstyle world.

The quality of notation for the written music in the fingerstyle world varies quite a bit, from poor to superb, and often you will want works that are written in both standard notation and tablature, particularly for works which are in alternate tunings.

Of course, you can certainly focus on the various percussive techniques and that particular fingerstyle genre, but I'm suggesting a different starting point.

As an aside, I still warm up using many of the "lessons" from Abel Carlevaro's technical books. He was a master's master.

[bufflehead]

The most significant factor that differentiates classical from fingerstyle is the guitar itself. I was recently somewhat frustrated trying to learn a classical arrangement from tabs on one of my steel-stringed guitars. To a certain point, the arrangement just didn't make sense, especially the way the base and treble notes interacted with each other. Once I realized this, I gave myself permission to rearrange the arrangement to better follow my guitar's logic.

So, it would seem, an important early step in this process is to start learning the mechanics of a steel-stringed guitar. While they are similar to the classical guitars you've been playing, there are some fundamental differences that must be mastered.

[lacatedral]

Originally Posted by k_russell

I agree. You have the musical background, the knowledge of the instrument, and technical skill to develop your own style.


If you feel like you need some structure, write out a melody line and learn it. Once you have the melody memorized and under your fingers, work out an accompaniment. Once you have the melody and an accompaniment, work out some variations and experiment with harmony.

Use ideas of the composers that you have been studying (Mertz, Tarrega, Sor, and others) as well as those of fingerstyle players that you like. Unlike classical guitar, you can't play wrong notes, just ones that don't sound as good as others.


Enjoy the experience.

I'm particulary interested in first learning the technical aspects of playing this style, not the arranging aspect right now.

[Dakotabison]

Look up Marco Cirillo on Youtube. He is a great fingerstyle guitarist and a very good teacher. He also came from a classical background and his style reflects that. He has a Patreon page which allows you full access to his lessons. His Acoustic Steps course and his two technique courses sound like they would suit you well. In addition he has one excellent course on Udemy right now and another coming in a few days, so you can check him out on that platform as well.

[Steel and wood]

Originally Posted by nolegsfngrpickn

If you want some direction, start with songs that implement travis picking. That will get you started with separating melody/bass and developing your thumb.

Easier option to apply a simple banjo roll in 4/4 over the chords. (Different style but easier to apply).

[ezcawi]

Alex DeGrassi has a fingerstyle method which explores a lot of advanced topics from a "classical" perspective:https://www.amazon.com/Alex-Grassi-F.../dp/1936604213

I also came from a classical background, the things that I had to figure out in fingerstyle were:

- string slap, justin guitar has a pretty good tutorial on that one, you have to develop good volume control on the slap so it doesn't sound bad, and also the ability to play notes while your thumb is slapping. Related is a wrist thump with the picking hand while continuing to play.

- the "flick" strumming, where you get a strumming sound by flicking your finger(s) up and down. In sheet music that is sometimes denoted by the up/down arrows. I think that's what Igor is doing in the video, along with moving the hand up and down to get the tone he wants (a lot of pickers do that kind of motion as well). Difficult bit is getting the strings you want.

- some slurs are more percussive than others, and on steel string it's easier to get a note to ring out just by fretting it. You can also do picking hand tapping, which I have yet to figure out correctly.

- Slap harmonics - use your picking hand to slap at the normal harmonic spots and get a nice percussive harmonic sound.