Hi, my name is Peter aka GP and this is the third episode of my fingerstyle tutorial series
called Fingerstyle 101.
In the previous lesson we learnt how to pick with our fingers
and also practiced some basic picking patterns.
This time we'll take a look at rhythm picking
so grab your guitar and let's get into this!
Alright, so you should know that I've figured out a lot of stuff by myself, as I have
mentioned earlier
so this might not be the technique's proper name,
but I'll just call it rhythm picking. It's a very essential part of playing fingerstyle.
Basically, this technique adds a certain rhythm to your playing,
almost as if you were drumming while playing the guitar.
This is probably the hardest part of playing fingerstyle,
atleast it was for me but trust me,
it's totally worth it. There are 2 types of this technique:
The first one is hitting the strings, and the second one is hitting the guitar.
Let's go through both of them.
So basically what you want to do is hit the strings
with your right hand. I can't tell you exactly how because it depends on what notes you're
picking at the moment and also
every guitarist has a unique style, so I'm going to show you
some examples so you can get the basic idea
of this method and then you can experiment with it until you find
the most suitable way for you. So there are times when you only want to use your thumb
to hit the strings - most of the times because you don't
have to pick any other notes at the same time
and it's like this.
So you just move your
thumb from above and hit the strings.
Another way of doing this is to use your thumb and index finger aswell.
Personally, I use this most of the times - you pick the
actual melody note with your index finger but also hit the string
with it. You hit the strings with your thumb
just like in the previous method and
my index finger is like this
and its springs out this way
I'll be able to pick the note and also hit the strings at the same time.
And it's like this.
It might take some time to master
I remember it took me a couple of weeks aswell. I actually learnt this technique
while I was arranging "Good Time" by Owl City.
So what I'm trying to say is don't get discouraged
if you can't master this technique in 10 minutes - it's a pretty hard one
but believe me, it's a really effective technique and will spice up your playing a lot.
Just keep on practicing
and I'm sure that you'll get it figured out.
If you managed to hit the strings but failed to get a clean melody note
in the meantime - don't move on, go back and
try it again untul you get it right. This might be annoying while practicing
but this way your hand will get used to being precise and that's really important.
So as I've already mentioned, this technique requires you to hit the wood
of the guitar with your right hand. This will result in a
deeper sound, like a kick drum. You need to hit the guitar with your wrist.
And it goes like this.
Actually, let me take this off.
Don't let your hand
move around a lot, because that way you won't be able to
pick the notes at the same time.
Be sure to rest your elbow on the guitar
so this way your arm and hand will be stable and fixed.
Sticking to the previous 4 chords, here's an example
for you to practice this technique.
So that was the 3rd lesson of Fingerstyle 101, I hope it was helpful.
In the next episode, we'll learn how to play harmonics. If you have any questions,
suggestions or requests for the upcoming lessons,
feel free to leave a comment below, send me a private message or contact me on Facebook.
Thanks for watching, see you next time!