Guitar players...easy fingerpicking songs?

[Nathans_Dad]

Hey guys,

I've been playing my acoustic mostly and have really started to get into the fingerpicking stuff. I have a James Taylor tab book but that is WAY too hard for me right now.

So far I can play Blackbird and most of Dust in the Wind.

Any ideas on easy fingerpicking songs for me to try? More Beatles?

[daepp]

Eagles, Prine, Neil Young?

[craigster59]

Try some Jim Croce. "If I Could Save Time in a Bottle" or "Operator (that's not the way it feels)" are good ones. I'll see if I can dig up some tabs.

[craigster59]

Here you go: http://www.chordie.com/song.php/songartist/Jim+Croce/index.html

Also from the same site try some Guy Clark or Townes Van Zandt. Good luck

[Rick Lee]

I've been playing for 25 yrs. and can't make much sense of the James Taylor TAB book I have. Try Dust in the Wind or When the Children Cry. Not too challenging and they build excellent strength. I used to have a good book with a cd on classical music, all in TAB. It was super practice. Wish I hadn't given it away. I can't remember the name to go find another copy.

[ramonesfreak]

do you have a specific style of music you would like to explore in the finger picking style? or, particular artists? there is no point in me giving you a bunch of suggestions if your not into the music i suggest.

one of my favorite finger pickers is mississippi john hurt. doc watson is as great at finger picking as he is flat picking. you need to realize that many of the finger picking tunes you may hear, might be in an open/alternate tuning and thus...youll need to learn the tuning as well

there are some amazing west african players that play with their fingers... ali farka toure is one of them. very hypnotic

Chet Atkins and all his colleagues....great stuff. very difficult

Do you like bluegrass or old country? If you like it, and want to learn the style, i suggest you start here, developing your thumb to alternate the bass notes and your other fingers to pick out the melody.

Give us some idea what YOU really want to learn how to play

[IROC]

The only thing I can finger pick is the intro to Rush's "The Trees". That's enough for me.

[ramonesfreak]

a little practical advice...or exercise

take your low E string and tune it down to D....so that your 6th and 4th strings sound the same

now, using your RIGHT thumb, explore the 4th, 5th and 6th string, letting the notes ring out, droning OPEN (no fretting yet)... now with your right 1st and 2nd finger, pick out some notes on the 2nd (B) string, working up the fretboard ......picking out the whole/half steps... as the lower notes are ringing. when you get comfortable, pick out some more notes on the 1st string etc...

you can work your right hand alot without worrying about your left this way as well as make some pleasant improvisations that youll like

something that has helped me i got from an interview with pat methany years ago...i dont remember exactly what he said but it was along the lines of making sure you get familiar with the strings horizontally and not just vertically. so, for example, get so you can play the scale on just one string up the neck, and not just vertically across all 6 strings.

[ramonesfreak]

here is a doc. a master of the Merle Travis style of finger picking, as is Chet . notice, he uses a thumb pick

[sammyg2]

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as thought they're here to stay
Oh I believe in yesterday

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh yesterday, came suddenly

Why she, had to go
I don't know she wouldn't say
I said, something wrong
Now I long for yesterday

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh I believe in yesterday.

Why she, had to go I don't know
She wouldn't say
I said, something wrong
Now I long for yesterday

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh I believe in yesterday.

[ramonesfreak]

and if anyone ever had any doubt about bob dylan's guitar skills, listen closely to
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright. At a very young age, he was kickin butt with his fingers. very hard song to play correctly



note: LP recording is obviously dubbed onto the vid.

[ramonesfreak]

my all time favorite Zep tune is a finger picking song. ive always found it harder than it looks but not harder than it sounds

[Nathans_Dad]

Hrm, what kind of music do I want to play...

See that's still a tough one for me because I've only been playing for about 10 months now. I try to learn a new song as a break from doing scales or practicing chords.

I really like the sound of the acoustic though, I love the ringing tones that come out of it. I really like the way Blackbird sounds, I was so excited when I actually started to get something like the correct sound for that song out of the guitar.

Basically I am looking for beginner stuff, not necessarily in any particular style. Something that helps me with finger strength, I need to really work on my hammer ons and pull offs, not very good at those at all yet. Also my barre chords need some work, I can get em to ring but I have trouble forming the barre chord quick enough. I work on Wanted Dead or Alive every once in a while (although that isn't fingerpicking). I try to get the F chord as a barre chord instead of doing it the other way.

I really love the way James Taylor sounds, but like I said that is a bit too advanced for me right now.

I did learn Mama I'm Comin Home by Ozzy, for a cool sounding song it's pretty easy to play.

[ramonesfreak]

besides the magical magnetic draw that the guitar has, the only thing that got me playing and improving, was trying to play like my heros and musical idols. i would never have just picked some song because its a "beginner song"

there is nothing wrong with picking an easy song, just make sure its a song you love.

if you like blackbird, my advice would be to submerge yourself in that song. get the tabs, find youtube videos of others playing it, have a friend show you. listen to it, in pieces, over and over. in 1 month, youll have that song down and 1 year from now you wont remember how to play it, but, you will have learned alot and improved

blackbird is not an easy song for a beginner but dont let that stop you. all my first attempts at learning cover songs were either jimi hendrix or led zeppelin. ide pick out the easy bits, get some confidence, and then learn the hard bits. some bits, i still cant play. doesnt matter

just dont jump around. pick a song. master the song. move on to the next. absolutely though, you must master hammer on/off, slides, vibrato and all the various nuances of the left AND right hand. you can learn these buy learning cover songs.

i probably shouldnt say this because i dont like to interfere with what a player wants to do, but you would probably learn the left hand techniques quicker if you stick with a pick. using a pick expertly does take time, but its easier than finger picking. now is probably the time to learn the left hand well. then, when youve got the left hand and the pick down... move on to the finger picking. however, not knowing you and your natural ability, i should probably shut up about that and just let you do what you want

for me, learning this stuff all boils down to "wow look at that guy play, i wanna do that!" and then doing it. after 23 years, now i just play what i feel

[ramonesfreak]

here. warning. this is not an easy song. the right hand technique requires absolute precision and dexterity and it doesnt hurt to have nails... but it can be done if you stick to it

[Rick Lee]

Actually, I think Blackbird is extremely easy. That doesn't mean it's not a great song or a great practice piece. Nothing at all wrong with rudiments. When I was in high school, so many kids, whom I considered to be non-serious guitarists, played Blackbird, that no one ever bothered to play it at talent shows because everyone assumed someone else was already gonna do it.

[ramonesfreak]

well, i could play blackbird in the 9th grade too. but from what nathans_dad seems to be saying, not having mastered hammer ons etc... i think this song is going to be a challenge. but, a challenge can be great for a new player, especially when they master it.

[ramonesfreak]

this song has everything in it that you need to start exploring finger picking. i learned it about 12 years ago and still play it when i get rusty

[Nathans_Dad]

So far I haven't found Blackbird to be too tough. I learned it off of a tab over the course of about a week. I haven't gotten to the chorus yet, I have a little trouble hitting the slide every time up to the 12th fret, still working on that and getting my notes to ring out clearly instead of getting the occasional buzzing.

Like I said, I'm a rank beginner here, I can do most of the basic chords and I can do the minor pentatonic scale but other than that I'm a beginner.

[Sarc]

Originally Posted by srandallf

my all time favorite Zep tune is a finger picking song. ive always found it harder than it looks but not harder than it sounds

I love that song.