Starting Fingerstyle (Guitar Lesson)

Chapter 1: (00:42) Introduction Steve introduces the fingerstyle lesson series with an original composition entitled, "Porch Swingin." This piece appears on Steve's great new album A Piece of It All. Stop by www.steveeulberg.com to check out this tune as well as other music Steve has written. Several of his albums are available for download on the site. Chapter 2: (08:09) Beginning Fingerstyle "Porch Swingin" exemplifies many of the musical and technical components that will be discussed in this lesson series. In this lesson series, you will learn the techniques essential to playing with your fingers. Fingerstyle playing involves learning a whole new set of right hand mechanics. However, many of the right hand concepts you have learned should not be forgotten. Relaxation techniques and proper posture that you learned from Steve's Phase 1 lessons become even more important when playing fingerstyle.

Steve briefly introduced fingerstyle techniques in Lesson 6 of his Phase 1 series. Before proceeding to the bulk of this lesson, review all the exercises and concepts presented in this lesson. In the current lesson, Steve takes a brief moment to review some of the basic concepts from Phase 1 Lesson 6.

Labeling of Right Hand Fingers

Left hand fingerings are frequently written into many musical scores. Each left hand finger is represented by a number. Similarly, the appropriate right hand fingering often appears in a score. Each finger on the right hand is abbreviated by a letter. These abbreviations are used to indicate a specific right hand fingering in a piece of music. The official abbreviations for each finger are as follows:

Thumb: P
Index Finger: I (for index)
Middle: M (for middle)
Third Finger: A (for anular)
Pinky: C (This finger is rarely ever used.)

In order to make the exercises in this lesson easier to understand, Steve has abbreviated each right hand finger as follows:

Thumb: T
Index Finger: 1
Middle Finger: 2
Third Finger: 3
Pinky Finger: 4

Exercise 1

The thumb is the most commonly used finger in fingerpicked pieces. The thumb usually plays the low bass notes of chords. In many fingerstyle passages, the thumb works in conjunction with one or more of the other fingers to play two simultaneous parts. Steve has devised a basic exercise that will get your right hand acquainted with these techniques. This exercise lays the foundation for playing the alternating bass line with your fingers.

Note: Open the "Supplemental Content" tab for tablature and right hand fingerings to all three parts of this exercise.

Begin by forming an open A chord with the left hand. The thumb and first finger alternate playing in this exercise. The first note in the exercise is the bass note A. This note should be played with T. Then, the high E string is plucked with the first finger. Then, another bass note is played. This time, play the low fifth of the chord, E. Alternating between these two bass notes creates the sound of the alternating bass line. Steve plays this exercise at a very quick tempo. However, we recommend that you play the exercise extremely slow. Speed is not an issue at this point. Focus primarily on applying good technique and solid tone generation.

In fingerstyle passages that involve playing arpeggios (chords whose notes are plucked successively rather than simultaneously) the right hand fingers typically pluck the following strings:

Thumb: plays the three bass strings
Index: plays G string
Middle: plays B string
Third: plays high E string

A. Part 1

Repeat the previous exercise. This time however, pluck the G string with the first finger instead of the high E string. This will get you acquainted with proper right hand arpeggio fingering.

Then, play this exercise using the other two right hand fingers.

B. Part 2

First, alternate between a bass note and a B string note played by the middle finger.

C. Part 3

Then, alternate between the bass and high E string. Finger 3 plucks the high E string.

Variations on This Exercise

It won't take long before you are bored with this basic exercise. At 4:50, Steve demonstrates a more complicated version of the exercise. Instead of alternating between the thumb and just one finger, Steve adds another finger to the exercise. Now the pattern sounds much more interesting. This exercise follows this repeating four note pattern:

Thumb plays A string.
1 plays G string.
Thumb plays low E string.
2 plays B string.

Note: Steve also demonstrates how to add the third finger to this pattern at 6:20.

Here's the appropriate right hand fingering for this variation: T, 1, T, 2, T, 3, T, 2. This particular variation will take a lot of patient, slow practice if you are just beginning to play fingerstyle.

Apply the arpeggio patterns presented in this scene to chord progressions you already know. Instead of simply strumming the chords, play these arpeggio patterns. These patterns add some needed forward movement to the rhythm. Chapter 3: (03:18) Fingerpicking, Alternating Bass and More Alternating Bass Lines

The exercise in the previous scene is an example of an alternating bass line. An alternating bass line occurs when the bass note of a chord alternates between the root and fifth. In the case of the A chord, the pattern alternated between the root A, and the fifth, E. Eventually, you will need to be able to play any chord using the arpeggio patterns learned in the last scene. Begin by practicing the patterns presented in the previous scene with all of the open chord shapes you know.

Note: Steve covers alternating bass lines in greater detail in his Phase 2 Bluegrass series. We recommend you check out these lessons for more information on this topic.

Chapter 4: (11:24) Another Fingerstyle Exercise Exercise 2

Note: Open the "Supplemental Content" tab for tablature and right hand fingerings to this exercise.

The second exercise in this lesson is designed to enhance synchronization of the hands. In the previous exercise, the left hand remained stationary, while the right hand fingers moved from string to string. In this exercise, the opposite occurs. Right hand fingers remain stationary while the melody shifts in the left hand.

The main purpose of playing fingerstyle is to play two lines simultaneously. Usually, these two parts consist of a melody and chordal accompaniment. However, a melody is often combined with a bass line in some instances. The first part of the exercise gets you acquainted with playing this type of an arrangement.

Begin by forming an open G chord. Alternate the low G note with a note on the B string. There are three notes that comprise the melody on the B string: B, C, and D. Fret each of these notes with the following left hand fingers:

D: Pinky
C: First Finger
B: Open String

Exercise 2, Part 2

Note: Open the "Supplemental Content" tab for tablature and right hand fingerings to this exercise.

The second part of this exercise takes the bass line/melody to a new level. Now, the low G bass note is alternated with the entire open G major scale! This exercise is quite difficult due to the fact that it requires a lot of tricky brain/hand coordination. When you begin to practice the exercise, play it as slow as humanly possible.

Note: If necessary, take this time to review the G major scale in open position.

Steve frets the entire G chord while playing this exercise. However, this is not necessary. Instead, plant only your third finger on the low E string. This enables you to play the melody more comfortably.

Begin by plucking the low G note with the thumb. In between bass notes, the G major scale is successively played. For example, after the first bass note is played, the first note of the G major scale is played (open G). Then, another bass note is played. Next, the second note of the scale is played. This pattern continues until tonic is reached again in the melody. Then, the scale descends back down to tonic.

Pay VERY close attention to the right hand fingering of this exercise. The 1 finger plays all notes on the G string. 2 plays all notes on the B string. The 3rd finger plucks all notes from the scale on the high E string. Repeated practice of this exercise will enable you to play it without having to think about which finger you are using.

Basics of "Porch Swingin"

Note: Open the "Supplemental Content" tab for tablature to this song.

Steve introduces you to the techniques necessary to play the tune "Porch Swingin™." This tune involves a concept that Steve introduced in Lesson 6 of his Phase 1 series. It involves simultaneously plucking two notes at the same time with the right hand. The thumb plucks a low bass note while the first finger plucks a note on the G string. The thumb and first finger pull towards each other in a pinching motion to simultaneously pluck both notes. Steve refers to this as the "pinch technique."

This tune features a pedal tone played on the high E string. A pedal tone is a note that remains constant throughout a passage while the accompanying harmony changes.

The intro chord progression to the tune is built around a very basic right hand pattern. The pinch technique occurs. The plucked pedal tone follows. Last, the bass note is repeated with the thumb. Chapter 5: (06:14) Learn Porch Swingin Steve refers to the fingering introduced in the last scene as "pinch, pluck, thumb." The right hand plays this fingerstyle pattern for each chord. Notice how the introduction begins with a rapid hammer-on from the open G string to G# at the 1st fret. The hammer-on is played as a grace note. This means that the first note in the hammer-on is played so quickly that it receives no rhythmic value.

The introduction begins with an E chord. The subsequent chords in the first half of the intro function as embellishments of a basic E7 chord sound. On his dry-erase board, Steve has labeled this part of the introduction as "E7." You have an opportunity to play this section along with him at 1:15.

Next, the introduction modulates (changes keys) to the key of A. When the E7 section repeats, the chord shape at the 3rd fret slides back down to the second fret. When the key change occurs however, the 3rd shape slides up a fret to the 4th fret. This 4th fret shape consists of the notes G#, B, and E. These notes form an E chord in first inversion. E is the dominant of A. As a result this chord sets up a transition into the key of A. The subsequent section of the introduction embellishes an A7 chord. Consequently, Steve has labeled this section "A7" on the dry-erase board. Practice this transition along with him at 1:50.

The right hand fingering must adjust slightly to play the A7 section. Your right hand second finger must now perform the "pinch" portion of the "pinch, pluck, thumb." Also, the thumb now plays the bass note on the A string.

Like Steve recommends, isolate each of these sections when you practice them. This will increase your focus, and maximize your practice time. Work on transitioning from the E7 section to A7 once you have mastered each individual section. After the A7 section, the introduction repeats again from the beginning. Chapter 6: (07:58) Rest of Porch Swingin At the beginning of this scene, Steve gives you an opportunity to play the entire introduction to the tune along with him. Whenever you play with other musicians, rhythm is always the most important aspect of the performance to focus on.

A7 Section Variation

Instead of playing the high E string as a pedal note during the A7 section, other, more colorful options are available. The high E must be used as a pedal tone over the first chord (A7). Then, apply a brand new chord shape to the remaining chords. For example, fret the high E string at the 2nd fret once it's time to change to the second chord. You are now playing B, D, and F#. This forms a Bm triad. Use this same shape when sliding up to the next chord (Cm). You may find that the transition from A7 to Bm is quite difficult. If so, drill this chord change repeatedly until it becomes more comfortable.

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