hey guys,
i've been away from the site for about 6 months or so (mainly for financial reasons) but i have definitely missed the lessons and the forum. Things have settled down again now so i'm back with a real need to improve my fingerpicking....
so my question is where do i start? i can play simple arpeggios like 'nothing else matters' but walking bass lines kill me and there are so many lessons on here now that i dont know which ones would give me an introduction to this?
anyone have any recommendations?
regards,
Matt
finger picking is my nemesis!
Hi Matt and welcome back. My suggestion for you is to pick your favorite song in the TARGET program (it helps to start with something you really like) that has the walking bass line in it. Using either the PDF or the GuitarPro file, slow the song down to about half speed. Practice it over and over and as it becomes easier for you, gradually increase the speed. You will be knocking those songs out in no time.
Bill
Bill
Hi,,Start on ''the house off the rising sun'',then ''hallelujah'',,then ''blackbird'',,give a look at ''dust in the wind'',,then try ''here comes the sun'',,,,WONDERFULL TO NIGHT'',is a good one,you can pick it with your fingers,,we have a new one ''BREATHE'',good luck on the fingerpicking
Glad to have you back Matt,the most important point about fingerpicking is the home position concept. Even though I was playing fingerpicking before joining TG, the home position concept has really allow me to improve dramatically from before.
The songs suggested above are really good for this. The song that I have first apply the home position concept was Babe I am gonna leave you. It is a descending arpeggio but you have to change the string order a bit forcing you to keep the home position fingering and changing the order of the finger you are using. The other which also helped me was Dust in the wind, as even if it is the same pattern , the strings being hit are not always in the same order
But as Bill said , if you are to work a lot on a song, make sure you like it.
Have fun
Marc
The songs suggested above are really good for this. The song that I have first apply the home position concept was Babe I am gonna leave you. It is a descending arpeggio but you have to change the string order a bit forcing you to keep the home position fingering and changing the order of the finger you are using. The other which also helped me was Dust in the wind, as even if it is the same pattern , the strings being hit are not always in the same order
But as Bill said , if you are to work a lot on a song, make sure you like it.
Have fun
Marc
Matt- I have two strong suggestions. Start very simple. and start very slowly.
1. Start simple- find songs that only use your thumb and index finger. Then add your middle finger and finally your ring finger. Don't get sloppy! When you finally get to the point of using i,r,m fingers don't cheat and let your index finger play the B string for example, unless there is a reason to do so.
When I first started learning fingerpicking I let whatever finger was available play whatever string seemed convenient. Huge mistake! I am still trying to unlearn that habit and keep "finger discipline". Since you haven't learned this very bad habit there is no reason to learn it now. Keep finger discipline!!!
2. Start slow- you will get bored playing picking patterns very quickly so your natural inclination will be to play them faster because it's more fun. That's okay if you are playing the pattern perfectly. If you aren't perfect, you are too fast!! Slow back down and only rewward yourself with more speed when you are perfect.
It takes a long time to get the brain and your fingers talking to each other. And you won't do it in one or two sittings. I don't recommend learning the guitar in front of the TV but picking patterns may be an exception. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent in front of the TV working on one pattern over and over until I didn't even need to think about anymore. And even then songs like Streets of London still drive me nuts because the patterns changes so much! Songs like Streets shouldn't be taken on until you feel pretty confident with fingerpicking.
A metronome is always a good tool to keep your pace steady and to keep from trying to get too quick too fast!
It's good to see you back Matt! We've missed you! Good luck with this and let us know how we can help!
Cheers! :cheer:
1. Start simple- find songs that only use your thumb and index finger. Then add your middle finger and finally your ring finger. Don't get sloppy! When you finally get to the point of using i,r,m fingers don't cheat and let your index finger play the B string for example, unless there is a reason to do so.
When I first started learning fingerpicking I let whatever finger was available play whatever string seemed convenient. Huge mistake! I am still trying to unlearn that habit and keep "finger discipline". Since you haven't learned this very bad habit there is no reason to learn it now. Keep finger discipline!!!
2. Start slow- you will get bored playing picking patterns very quickly so your natural inclination will be to play them faster because it's more fun. That's okay if you are playing the pattern perfectly. If you aren't perfect, you are too fast!! Slow back down and only rewward yourself with more speed when you are perfect.
It takes a long time to get the brain and your fingers talking to each other. And you won't do it in one or two sittings. I don't recommend learning the guitar in front of the TV but picking patterns may be an exception. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent in front of the TV working on one pattern over and over until I didn't even need to think about anymore. And even then songs like Streets of London still drive me nuts because the patterns changes so much! Songs like Streets shouldn't be taken on until you feel pretty confident with fingerpicking.
A metronome is always a good tool to keep your pace steady and to keep from trying to get too quick too fast!
It's good to see you back Matt! We've missed you! Good luck with this and let us know how we can help!
Cheers! :cheer:
Welcome back, Matt.
In addition to the good technical advice you've already received, I'd strongly agree with Bill that you should find a finger picking song that you really, really like -- you and this song are going to be spending a lot of time together. Slow it down, as has been suggested, but break it up into sections as well. Work on each section until you have mastered it at a slow tempo. Then stitch them together, make sure you have the transitions between them. And finally start to gradually bring it all up to speed.
-Stuart
In addition to the good technical advice you've already received, I'd strongly agree with Bill that you should find a finger picking song that you really, really like -- you and this song are going to be spending a lot of time together. Slow it down, as has been suggested, but break it up into sections as well. Work on each section until you have mastered it at a slow tempo. Then stitch them together, make sure you have the transitions between them. And finally start to gradually bring it all up to speed.
-Stuart