[Alawiggle]

I see all your finger picking lessons, but I can't seem to find an actual lesson on "how to fingerpick". I'm one of those guys who has to go general (what fingers to use for what) before I go specific (playing songs).

[justinthyme]

I think that would be very useful, too.

[allthumbs]

All rules are meant to be broken when it comes to guitar playing, but there are some general guidelines. The thumb plays the 6,5, and 4 string. The index middle, and pinkie play the other 3. There is some overlapping where needed, but that is the classical way of doing it.

[Fretsource]

Originally Posted by allthumbs

The thumb plays the 6,5, and 4 string. The index middle, and pinkie play the other 3.

TYPO ALERT
AT means "index, middle & ring".

[Kirk Lorange]

The general rule, which I mention in most of the lessons, is that the thumb handles the three bass strings, the index, middle and ring fingers handle the G, B and E strings respectively. Simple as that. However, you'll find that the rule is broken more often than not to accommodate specific runs and chord/melody configurations in specfic tunes.

The movies that I put together show the way I play each specific tune, so between the general rule mentioned above and the movies, you should be able to piece the lessons together. Listen, watch and mimic is what I always did when learning new material that I was copying ... mostly just 'listen and mimic' because there were no movie lessons when I was starting out.

I'll point out once again the difference between finger style and finger picking, to my mind anyway:

Finger style is a way of orchestrating a piece of music on a guitar. You weave bass line, melody and chord fragments into one arrangement. There is nothing symmetrical about it, not much repetition of patterns, since it's all based on a tune ... the three elements combine to become the tune. Each section of the piece is different from the others, all must be learned and pieced together to form the whole.

Finger picking is more of an accompaniment. It usually is a pattern of fingers hitting certain strings at certain moments no matter what the chord is. It doesn't need to follow a melody line -- something else is doing that, ie vocalist, another player. So what you need to learn for finger picking are the basic patterns which you use for the whole tune.

Does that help?

[allthumbs]

Originally Posted by Fretsource

TYPO ALERT
AT means "index, middle & ring".

Whoa!! Brain fart. Thanks Fret. My appologies people.

[gollo]

There are some basic finger picking exercises here: http://otnforums.snooboo.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=1794 starting from the very beginning, like which fingers to use.

[CanuckTodd]

Originally Posted by Kirk Lorange

I'll point out once again the difference between finger style and finger picking, to my mind anyway:

Finger style is a way of orchestrating a piece of music on a guitar. You weave bass line, melody and chord fragments into one arrangement. There is nothing symmetrical about it, not much repetition of patterns, since it's all based on a tune ... the three elements combine to become the tune. Each section of the piece is different from the others, all must be learned and pieced together to form the whole.

Finger picking is more of an accompaniment. It usually is a pattern of fingers hitting certain strings at certain moments no matter what the chord is. It doesn't need to follow a melody line -- something else is doing that, ie vocalist, another player. So what you need to learn for finger picking are the basic patterns which you use for the whole tune.

Does that help?

Yes, it does actually. I've been using the terms interchangeably, and now I know why I shouldn't. Makes sense.

[Fretsource]

Todd - I'd like to point out that not everyone uses the terms fingerstyle and fingerpicking as Kirk does (me for one). There are regional and personal variations on how those terms are used and what they mean. Kirk alluded to that when he said "to my mind anyway". It's worth bearing in mind whenever you're discussing those terms with anyone.

[CanuckTodd]

Originally Posted by Fretsource

Todd - I'd like to point out that not everyone uses the terms fingerstyle and fingerpicking as Kirk does (me for one). There are regional and personal variations on how those terms are used and what they mean. Kirk alluded to that when he said "to my mind anyway". It's worth bearing in mind whenever you're discussing those terms with anyone.

Thanks for that Fretsource,
I'm sure you are absolutely correct, but the distinction works for me in a couple of ways. (And believe me I'm no expert in this field.) But broken down the way Kirk describes, I see finger picking as part of the finger style technique. Sort of like strumming is part of the technique of playing rhythm guitar.

But the finger style itself, if you will, can represent the bigger picture. The way songs are broken down into melodies, bass lines, the way Kirk, for example, interprets songs and then creates finger style versions that use finge picking. Consider the sentence: "There are a wide variety of finger picking techniques you can use when you play finger style guitar." Seems to make sense to me!

[randomaire]

Originally Posted by gollo

There are some basic finger picking exercises here: http://otnforums.snooboo.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=1794 starting from the very beginning, like which fingers to use.

I'm pretty sure that was all he was wanting, I think some get confused and think the answer has to be complicated, just most of us don't know how to ask a question and get the simple point across. He just wanted basic fingerpicking songs and explanations from what I'm reading.

Think you hit what he wanted with the link above gollo. It did work for me, broke the basics down pretty well and I was able to follow along easily. Thanks for the link.