How to Become a Fingerstyle Guitarist Guitar Giveaway Live Webcast September 29Th, 2018

How To Become a Fingerstyle Guitarist Guitar Giveaway Live Webcast September 29th, 2018

By: Erich Andreas YourGuitarSage.com

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The guitar is a little orchestra.” – Segovia

Finger style guitar is a style of guitar that is based on the plucking of strings with fingers instead of using a plectrum/pick. The lovers of this style of guitar will be quick to tell you of the joy and peace that they derive from their instrument while playing this style and talk often of the intimacy that they experience that is not possible with the guitar pick alone.

Not only do the above merits ring true for those who take a moment to understand this remarkable style of guitar playing, but playing with the fingers allows the musician to play “controlled” polyphonic/multiple note music, which is not otherwise attainable with standard guitar pick styled playing.

Have you ever attempted finger style guitar? When you did attempt it, did you feel like you had a claw instead of a hand? Did your mind and fingers get all tangled up in the strings? Do you know which fingers should pluck which strings?

If you feel like I’m, “in your head” in regards to these questions, that’s because everyone feels this way at first when attempting this style, and most people ask the same exact questions. There was a time that I too felt this way, however, with time, helpful instruction and proper practice, finger style guitar became a large and very enjoyable part of my guitar playing. And the same can be true for you! Any new thought, technique or idea that we first encounter, we typically do so with reluctance and skepticism. I hear you! I get it! I doubted just like you but my mind was changed by understanding some core principles that opened everything up for me. If you commit to a small amount of focused understanding in this area of guitar, I promise you that you two can become an accomplished finger style guitarist. Rome was not built in a day, and the best guitar players were not born with their skills. They were developed over time with passion and disciplines.

In the following PDF and the associated live lesson, I will show you in a step-by-step process how to unravel the mysteries of finger style guitar. And here’s the kicker! If you commit to a small amount of focused time with me, I promise that this process is much simpler than you think.

I appreciate you and respect your time very much. That is why I have created this detailed PDF for you and will walk you through all the steps on September 29 at 11 AM Central Standard Time. I have taught this process to thousands of guitar players over the last few decades and have honed this process to be as quick, painless and fun as possible.

I’m excited that you are here and I am committed to your excellence! Are you ready to add this powerful new dimension to your abilities? I am too! Let’s go!

2 Fingerpicking

Fingerpicking is the use of one’s fingers to strike or pluck the strings instead of using a pick (plectrum). This technique is widely used in classical, flamenco, Spanish and folk music; however it has also been used in nearly every genre of music - including pop and rock. Fingerpicking allows the player to be more selective regarding what strings should sound when playing the guitar polyphonically (multiple simultaneous notes). For example, if I want to play an E minor chord, but don’t want the fourth and fifth strings to sound, I would either need to mute them or just not play them at all. If I were strumming the guitar you can see how playing the same chord without the fourth and fifth strings might be awkward. However, with the use of fingerpicking I can pick strings one, two, three and six easily. That’s a very simple explanation of the myriad of possibilities that only fingerpicking will allow. Fingerpicking also has its own distinctive sound.

When reading music that uses fingerpicking, you may see the term “PIMA” or the initials P, I, M or A used. PIMA is an acrostic for the thumb and the first three fingers of the right hand. Because of its length, the pinky is often times not used. PIMA is often used to indicate which fingers to use in picking. The traditional Spanish words that we derive those letters from are:

Pulgar = Thumb Indice = Fore Finger Medio = Middle Finger Anular = Ring Finger

I know! I don’t speak Spanish either. It’s certainly a lovely language, but we need something else to help us remember the fingers. Here’s how to think about them.

For P, think of the guitar pick - or if you’re in the UK, they call it a plectrum. A lot of beginning guitar players will use their thumb instead of a pick. Get it? For I, think of the index finger For M, think of the middle finger For A, think of the anniversary (ring) finger

Fingerpicking, like any other technique that we are going to study, requires practice, attention and a lot of patience. This is a technique that feels awkward at first and too, with time and discipline, miraculously gets easier. If the definition of an arpeggio is a broken chord or a chord where the notes are played independently of each other, then you are about to play a lot of arpeggios. Until you get more comfortable with the fingerpicking hand playing the prescribed patterns, it’s extremely important that you focus all of your attention on the fingerpicking and not the fretting. For this exact reason, I want you to start this process by playing an open E minor chord, on strings one, two, three and six only. We won’t be playing strings four and five, which are the only strings that you would be fretting for our traditional E minor chord. So, let your fretting hand relax. You won’t be using it to start off here. Now with your fingerpicking hand, place your thumb (P) on the sixth string, your ring 3 finger (A) on the first string, your middle finger (M) on the second string and your first finger (I) on the third string. Now, just rest your fingers there for a moment. I want you to indelibly (forever etched in your mind) picture how your fingers are sitting on the strings. Remember this one concept and fingerpicking will almost never be an issue for you. How your fingers are sitting on the strings is the basis of 99% of the fingerpicking that you will encounter. Don’t take your fingers off the strings just yet!!!!

Now, notice the two headings on the fingerpicking exercise page follow this description: “Songs in 4” and “Songs in 6”. The first example under “Songs in 4” says PIMA. That means if the song count is one, two, three, four, you would pick P, I, M, A, or thumb, index, middle, ring. You get it? I knew you would... you’re smart like that. Once you get this basic feel down, work your way down the list. So the next exercise would be P, I, A, M, and so on. Practice each exercise for a few minutes. This will assure that you have a good feel before moving to the next exercise. When you’re done with that list, move over to the next list to the right, where you will find finger combinations. When you see two finger letters underneath a beat, that means that both of those notes should be sounded simultaneously (at the same time). On the third list to the right we have more of the same, only this time the thumb shares in the combination pick. This is what is referred to as a pinch-pick. It is called a pinch-pick because the motion looks much like a pinch if executed properly. When you come to this list, this section will make more sense.

Fingerpicking can be done in any time signature. However, 4/4 and 6/8 are by far the most common. In fact, they will make up the majority of the songs that you encounter. To get you started, I have included 28 exercise patterns. Granted, some of these patterns you will never use, but many of them you will. As an exceptional guitarist, however, we want to be versatile! Practicing all the patterns will not only develop your dexterity in regards to fingerpicking, but it will also get you to start “thinking outside of the box” and coming up with your own patterns. Depending on the genre of music, picking with your nails is preferred over not having nails and playing with your fingertips. Classical, Spanish and flamenco styles almost always require the use of fingernails while country “chicken pickin’” sounds better when you don’t have nails. YOU are the artist here. You get to choose what best suits you. Be open and experiment with some different styles to see what you’re most comfortable with.

Alrighty then... now get to it!

Exercises next 2 pages

4 Fingerpicking Exercises • songs in 4

1 2 3 4 P I M A P I A M P M I A P M A I P A M I P A I M

1 2 3 4 P MA P MA P IM P IM P IA P IA P MA P IM P IM P MA P IM P MA P IMA P IMA

1 2 3 4 PA M I M PI M A M PM I A I PM I PA I PA I PM I PI M I A

5 Fingerpicking Exercises •songs in 6

1 2 3 4 5 6 P I M A M I P M I A M I P M A M I M P I A M A M P M A M I M P A M I M I P A I M I M

1 2 3 4 5 6 P IMA IMA P IMA IMA P IM IM P MA MA P IA IA P IM IM

6 Advanced Fingerpicking Exercises for building Dexterity

1. (No guitar needed for this exercise) Be able to count 1, 2, 3, 4 in a consistent “clock-like”tempo 60bpm (beats per minute). Tap your foot on the down-beat of 1, 2, 3, 4. Counting out loud is VERY important at first. It will help keep you in time. These are called ¼ notes or quarter notes because you can fit 4 of them in a measure. See line 1 of the associated PDF matrix.

2. (No guitar needed for this exercise) Now, add the “and” or upbeat like, 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +. Where the + sign is, say “and”. This should be in the very “center” of the numbers on either side of it. That is it should be even, not uneven or “swung” like a heartbeat. Think like the second hand of a watch, but twice as fast. These are called 1/8 notes or eighth notes because you can fit 8 of them in a measure of four beats. See line 2 of the associated PDF matrix.

3. (No guitar needed for this exercise) To count 1/16 or sixteenth notes we must be able to fit 16 notes within a measure. This is done by counting 1 e an da, 2 e an da, 3 e an da, 4 e an da. See line 3 of the associated PDF matrix.

4. Put your 2nd finger at the 2nd fret of the D string (4th). Now, pick the low open E string with your thumb (P) on 1, 2, 3, 4. Do this for a bit while you count out loud – 1, 2, 3, 4. See line 4 of the associated PDF matrix.

5. Once you get the hang of that let’s add the D string with the index finger (I) on the “and” of the beat that follows each number. Remember that we will use the PIMA rule as we did in our first fingerpicking exercise. P=Thumb, I=Index, M=Middle and A=Ring (think Anniversary ring). You should be counting 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + while you play this. MASTER this before moving on. Feel free to try other chords too. For the G chord, just form the chord and finger pick the same strings. For chords with a 5th string root, like Aand C, move your fingerpicking fingers down a string to the A and G string. See line 5 of the associated PDF matrix.

6. For the next few exercises, follow the video and use the patterns in the associated matrix to help you. See line 6-27 of the associated PDF matrix.

7. Once you feel confident about all the exercises, try changing your fingers up while still using the patterns. For instance, where you see an A finger, put an I finger, and viceversa.

7 Fingerpicking Advanced Exercises Matrix

8 MGMT - Kids Acoustic This is the acoustic cover version of Erich Andreas (aka YourGuitarSage) from YouTube. (Capo on 2)

[Intro] Em C G D/F# e|------|-0---2-0------|------|------| B|------0---3---|------3---0-|------|------1p0-----| G|-0---2------|---0------|------|-2------2p0-| D|---2---2---2---2-|------|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0------| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-2---2---2---2---|

Em C G D/F# e|------|-0---2-0------|------|------| B|------0---3---|------3---0-|------|------| G|-0---2------|---0------|------|-2------| D|---2---2---2---2-|------|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0---0---0-| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-2---2---2---2---|

Em C G D/F# e|------|-0---2-0------|------|------| B|------0---3---|------3---0-|------|------1p0-----| G|-0---2------|---0------|------|-2------2p0-| D|---2---2---2---2-|------|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0------| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-2---2---2---2---|

Em C G G e|------|------|------|------| B|------0------|------0---|------|------| G|-0---2------2---|-0---2-0------|-0------|------| D|---2---2---2---2-|---2------2-----|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0------| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------0-----| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-3---3---3---3-2-|

[Verse]

Em C G D/F# e|------|------|------|------| B|------|------|------|------| G|------|------|------|------| D|---2---2---2---2-|---2---2---2---2-|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0---0---0-| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-2---2---2---2---|

You were a child, crawlin’ on your... knees toward it. 9 Em C G D/F# e|------|------|------|------| B|------|------|------|------| G|------|------|------|------| D|---2---2---2---2-|---2---2---2---2-|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0---0---0-| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-2---2---2---2---|

Makin’ mama so proud, but your voice was too... loud.

We like to watch you laughing.

Em C G G e|------|------|------|------| B|------|------|------|------| G|------|------|------|------| D|---2---2---2---2-|---2---2---2---2-|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0---0---0-| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-3---3---3---3---|

You pick the insects off... plants. No time to think of consequences.

[Chorus]

Control yourself. Take only what you... need from it.

10 Em C G D/F# e|------|-0---2-0------|------|------| B|------0---3---|------3---0-|------|------| G|-0---2------|---0------|------|-2------| D|---2---2---2---2-|------|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0---0---0-| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-2---2---2---2---|

A family of trees wantin’, To be haunted.

Em C G D/F# e|------|-0---2-0------|------|------| B|------0---3---|------3---0-|------|------1p0------| G|-0---2------|---0------|------|-2------2p0--| D|---2---2---2---2-|------|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0------| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-2---2---2---2----|

Control yourself. Take only what you... need from it.

Em C G D/F# e|------|------|------|------| B|------0------|------0---|------|------| G|-0---2------2---|-0---2-0------|-0------|------| D|---2---2---2---2-|---2------2-----|---0---0---0---0-|---0---0---0---0--| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|------|------| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3---3---3---3---|-2---2---2---2----|

A family of trees wantin’, To be haunted.

[Bridge]

Em...... C...... G...... D...... The water is warm, but it’s sending me shivers.

Em...... C...... G...... D...... A baby is born, crying out for attention

Em...... C...... G...... D...... Memories fade, like looking through a... fogged mirror.

Em...... C...... G...... D...... Decision to decisions are made and not bought but I... thought, this wouldn’t hurt a... lot but I guess not.

11 [Chorus]

Control yourself. Take only what you... need from it.

A family of trees wantin’, To be haunted.

Control yourself. Take only what you... need from it.

A family of trees wantin’, To be haunted.

12 [Outro]

Control yourself. Take only what you... need from it.

A family of trees wantin’, To be haunted.

Em C G e|------|------|---| B|------0------|------0---|---| G|-0---2------2---|-0---2-0------|-0-| D|---2---2---2---2-|---2------2-----|---| A|------|-3---3---3---3---|---| E|-0---0---0---0---|------|-3-|

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| p Pull-off

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