Guitar fingerpicking

[Warrior10]

Has anyone on this forum mastered this style of playing?

I play guitar, know my chords, strumming etc but can't fingerpick to save my life. How long does it take to learn? Is it possible to master one song in say, a week of serious practice?

[VikingWarlord]

Probably, but that's a ****ty way to learn. It's essentially the Suzuki method...which sucks.

BFGUITAR would know better than anyone else here, I'm sure.

[AzBboy]

Haha thats a ****ty way to learn my ass, a solo fingerstyle guitarist will spank the ass of anyone. We don't rely on no band to save our ass we play the bass melody and lead all on one guitar simultaneously. I've heard full out orchestras be done on one single guitar using solo fingerstyle guitar method. Anyways, what song are you workin on warrior? If you got your chords down the hard part is out of the way.

[matt08]

it depends on what type of music you play as to whether you consider it ****ty or not. i never have been able to master it. just start with your thumb on the bass string just like you a pick, T, I, M, R, (thumb, index, middle, ring finger) up and down.
basic clawhammer is probably a good style to learn...just use your thumb on the bass strings, then use 2 or 3 fingers to pluck the treble strings. when you get that, start throwing in a 7th note (or others) on your chord.

flamenco classical style is wicked. some of those guys are amazing.

[VikingWarlord]

Haha thats a ****ty way to learn my ass, a solo fingerstyle guitarist will spank the ass of anyone. We don't rely on no band to save our ass we play the bass melody and lead all on one guitar simultaneously. I've heard full out orchestras be done on one single guitar using solo fingerstyle guitar method. Anyways, what song are you workin on warrior? If you got your chords down the hard part is out of the way.

You obviously have absolutely no idea what I was talking about. Way to jump to the defensive because you have no reading comprehension.

[BFGUITAR]

I wouldn't say I have mastered the style but I am definitely familiar with it.

Here is some of my classical guitar stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui7z5liavCs&feature=channel_page

Now... fingepicking is harder than a pick ill ever be. I am quite proficient with a pick as well so I feel I am in a good place to compare. There are so many intricacies involved with finger picking that it would take an entire day to explain it all.

Let's start... the style of finger picking HIGHLY depends on your style of music. If you want to play delta blues and such, your going to need to learn how to use a thumb pick. As well you will not need to grow a bit of nail as steel strings dont need that.
If you choose classical/flamenco style finger picking than some nail will be needed.
If flamenco is what you want to do, there are plenty of online resources. Just follow the fingerings on the sheet music you can find.
I am most proficient in classical fingerpicking out of the styles of finger picking. It involves the most comfortable playing position along with many other things. It stresses tone, accuracy, and planning.

You know what they say... if you can play classical you can play anything. Here is me jammin to some blues, finger style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRqfIHf9_ME

My right hand technique is a blend of classical guitar technique with elements of flamenco strumming that I have picked up over time.

How to learn this style you ask? GET A TEACHER. If your serious about anything than you need someone to show you. If you don't than YOU WILL HURT YOURSELF. I am not kidding. If you want to play guitar well in to your 50s get a teacher to teach you how to play. If you dont you WILL GET TENDINITIS. Finger picking is very rough on the hands especially when you get technical. You will probably speed up your progress this way by 50 times. It's worth tie 30 bucks and hour I assure you.

[Warrior10]

Thanks for the info BF. Damn, I watched some of your videos with my mouth open. You are very very good. I don't know if I aspire to be quite as impressive, but I started this thread to learn fingerpicking for contemporary songs, for example this one I want to learn in particular, in this style of fingerpicking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYs88LLX0vs

It's Kiss from a Rose.
Is it a simple fingerpicking of the chords, knowing exactly which strings to pick? How can I go about learning this song? Thank you again.

[BFGUITAR]

Thanks for the comments! I spent most of my highschool life with a guitar. I would suggest learning classical guitar technique for things like this. I am looking at this kid's right hand and cringing. The tone isnt bad though. The song is easy enough for him to get away with a lot if bad habits. He reuses his fingers on the same string a lot, very bad to do. That will lead to tendinitis if he pushed it too far.
The simplest thing I can tell you is get a teacher and ask him to teach you technique.

Some starting stuff. This guy talks about Aaron Shearer. Amazing classical guitar from the old era, get his book if you can.

1) Sitting position
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxR_esEw_xs&feature=channel

2) Thumb stroke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JH0Yj4ZzV0&feature=channel

3) Rest stroke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2runviQRmXg&feature=channel

4) Free stroke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8TIwGuxgv4&feature=channel

5) Arpeggios (broken chords)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrGYe4VtWTI&feature=channel

6) Left hand position
PART 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwNJ2It-Pc8&feature=channel
PART 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3CPVWzl-IY&feature=channel

I know it's a lot, but if you dedicate a week or two to learning all this you should be fine. Practice free stroke and rest stroke with the scales you already know. For arpeggios practice with chords you know. Play around with it and you WILL get better.

[AzBboy]

Warrior, I'm a subscriber to sungha jung, he is one badass and thanks for the link, you've actually inspired me to learn that piece myself. Can you read tab? I've already tabbed out the intro, give me your e-mail if you want it, I'll tab it as I learn it. Bf, loved the mario underwater, that was your personal arrangement? Anyways, you got another subscriber. Viking I still dono what you were trying to say but sorry if I came off as offensive or mean, my appologies.

[BFGUITAR]

Wasn't my arrangement but I did change some stuff that I didn't like mainly because it was awkward. Thanks for the subscription! I will be posting two videos hopefully within the next week and a bit.

[runnerboy]

Just practice. Find some songs that involve finger picking and run through them over and over. Eventually you will get some of that motor memory going and it will come to you. It takes time, so dont get discouraged.

[VikingWarlord]

Viking I still dono what you were trying to say but sorry if I came off as offensive or mean, my appologies.

Practicing one particular song over and over and over is a horrible way to learn a technique.

The Suzuki method was a method of learning the violin where a student who had no idea how to play would just learn one song and learn it over and over and over until it was perfect. The result is that the student could play that song but couldn't really do anything else.

I've been a bass player for just over 15 years. I use my own sort of PIMA style fingerpicking when I arpeggiate quick runs.

[BFGUITAR]

Practicing one particular song over and over and over is a horrible way to learn a technique.

The Suzuki method was a method of learning the violin where a student who had no idea how to play would just learn one song and learn it over and over and over until it was perfect. The result is that the student could play that song but couldn't really do anything else.

I've been a bass player for just over 15 years. I use my own sort of PIMA style fingerpicking when I arpeggiate quick runs.

PIMA in that order? PAMI would be faster and more efficient I would think. I guess it depends on the direction. Nvm.

[VikingWarlord]

Well, now that I sit and think about it, it really can't be classified as PIMA because I rarely use my pinky and I tend to skip strings so much that it's rarely in any particular order. It's too random to really name.

[BFGUITAR]

P stands for thumb by the way :p

[VikingWarlord]

P stands for thumb by the way :p

There's one style I heard of with P in the name that stands for pinky. Hell, I can't remember now.

See how obvious it is I never learned a particular technique? :D

[brihead301]

I learned "Canon in D", fingerstyle in about 2 days. A total of about 4 or 5 hours it took me to memorize it. So yes, you can learn a song fairly quickly with enough practice.

I also play "Yesterday" by the Beatles fingerstyle, which took significantly less time to learn.