Hi, my name is Peter aka GP and this is the first episode of my fingerstyle tutorial series
called Fingerstyle 101.
The reason why I started this project is because I get a lot of comments on my videos
asking for tutorials
even though I post the tabs for my arrangements and I don't really know what else
could I be explaining in tutorial videos
so long story short that's why I decided to make some lessons starting from
the basics
this way everyone will be able to try and learn playing fingerstyle.
Please note that I am not a professional musician
I'm just trying to help out other people by sharing some
knowledge and personal experience I've gathered over the years. Keep in mind that I can't
guarantee your success just by watching these tutorials
however if you're dedicated enough and willing to practice
every day and won't give up then I can assure you that you'll succeed in the end.
So let's get into it!
So the first thing you should know about fingerstyle
is that you pick with your your fingers, so as opposed to
playing electirc guitars, you don't use any
picks and that's why it's called FINGERstyle.
Fingerstyle is played on classical and
acoustic guitars. Classical guitars have
nylon strings resulting in a warmer
and lighter tone and acoustic guitars have steel strings
which results in a more characteristics sound.
I'm gonna link 2 example videos in annotations
so click HERE the check out how
a classical guitar sounds and click HERE
to listen to a song played and acoustic guitar.
I should point out that playing on steel strings is
a bit painful at first
but with time your fingertips will get used to it and the pain will go away
Trust me, I've been there. If you're looking to buy a new guitar
then you should definitely try both types and see which one suits you better
however
acoustic guitars seem to be a more common choice.
Alright, so you're left and goes over the fretboard -
you support your hand with your thumb like THIS
and you you hold down the strings with the rest of your fingers.
Now you should place your fingers
on the fretboard and apply pressure onto the string
or strings
don't apply too much pressure because it's unnecessary and
your fingers will get hurt, however you shouldn't
apply too low pressure either because that way you won't get clean sounds.
Now let's talk about finger placement - the proper way of doing this is that you
place your fingers onto the strings in an angle like
THIS - so it's kind of..
vertical. And because if you are fingers touch the other
strings then you'll get a dull sound - especially if you're playing
chords. So
it's not
it's not right
instead of... this.
So always try
to get this angle. Also you should always place your fingers as close to the
fret as
possible - this will result in a cleaner tone
Moving your fingers further from the fret will
get you dull sounds aswell.
So always stay close to the frets.
Moving on to the right hand, you use your
thumb to pick the bass notes - usually the 6th, the 5th
and 4th strings,
and you use your index, middle and
ring fingers to pick the melody notes - usually the 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings.
The pinky finger is usually not used but every guitarist has their own style so if
it's comfortable for you then
why not try to pick with it too? Also be sure to
support your hand with your elbow, like this, this way
your hand will be stable and you will be able to
pick the strings correctly.
Generally you pick over the soundhole
but for different purposes you can also pick closer to the bridge,
or over the fretboard -
You'll get different tones but I'll explain that
later in another lesson.
Another important factor of playing fingerstyle is whether you
grow your nails on your right hand or not - Nails really effect
the way of playing,
they add a certain touch to the sound
and also some techniques are easier
and more effective with them. There's no written rule of how much you should grow your nails -
however if you can see them
from the palm side of your hand, it's a good start. As I said there's no written rule
of how much you should grow them, you should just
experiment with it until you find what suits you best. And remember, you don't want to
grow them on your left hand,
because they would just prevent you from
holding down the notes correctly for absolutely no reason.
By the way, you could avoid growing your nails
on your right hand if you use fingerpicks - you just pull them on your fingers and
you're ready to play.
You should give them a try, however
I personally grow my you nails because I just don't feel
fingerpicks the way I feel my nails,
so my playing with fingerpicks wasn't that effective.
So that was the first episode of Fingerstyle 101,
I hope it was helpful. In the next lesson we will be going through some basic exercises
and picking patterns.
If you have any questions, suggestions or requests for the upcoming lessons,
feel free to leave a comment below or send me a private message
or contact me on Facebook.
Thanks for watching, and see you next time!