Finger Picking

[RhoadsLeeLynch]

I got speed picking, fast legato stuff, finger tapping, string skipping and sweep picking down pretty good although I'm going to keep practicing them but I want to go back to some of the basic stuff I skipped. Does anyone have any good exercises for finger picking.

[Endrik]

what to you want to do? play Jeff Beck tunes or some banjo licks or flamenco?

[JC_Denton]

Banjo licks!

[Endrik]

here's one I made up so I can fool around partner

E-3---3---1---1---2---2---2---2---
B--3---3---3---3---1---1---1---1--
G---0---0---0---0---2---2---2---2-
D------------------------------------
A------------------------------------
E------------------------------------

play it
E - ring finger
B - middle finger
G - thumb
first
and then
E - middle finger
B - index figer
G - thumb

real cowboys play it mighty fast

[RhoadsLeeLynch]

Thanks!

[jjw]

i would advise you to play that tabbed above with ring/middle and then pick combinationthat way you can easily combine travis picked country laced ideas and hot banjo licks with your normal everyday pick tech you use rather than juggle the pick to free up the thumb.same with tapping-keep the pick as normal and tap with middle/ring and pinky(if needed)Looking at your name here i can guess you use the pick a fair bit so dont ditch it in your playing

[RhoadsLeeLynch]

i would advise you to play that tabbed above with ring/middle and then pick combinationthat way you can easily combine travis picked country laced ideas and hot banjo licks with your normal everyday pick tech you use rather than juggle the pick to free up the thumb.same with tapping-keep the pick as normal and tap with middle/ring and pinky(if needed)Looking at your name here i can guess you use the pick a fair bit so dont ditch it in your playing

Thanks a lot for the tips. Prior to this all i could do was shred leads and play thrash metal rythyms.

[jjw]

glad to help mate.its also good to see people branch out musicaly and explore other styles.it all helps create our own voice.best of luck to you

[hippietim]

a great way to get your finger picking started is to learn travis picking. just do a web search - there are a lot of samples.

and if you want to practice travis picking and still play a cool tune - "dust in the wind" is your ticket. it uses a 4 note travis picking pattern.

the key to getting travis picking down is to get the little syncopation down.

[hippietim]

after that, listen to country music. those guys will knock your dick in the dirt. that shit is rippin'. it is hard as hell to play.

i've never bothered to try and learn to chicken pick properly. that would involve really listening to and learning country music and i don't particularly care the music enough to get that deep. it is worth studying in the abstract though.

there are some key things you can take away. some of the more interesting things are the way those guys use passing tones. it is *very* similar to the way a jazz player does it - the only difference is that the "to" and "from" chords in a jazz tune are typically much more wide open so you can land on a 9th and it works whereas in a country lick you'd resolve to a note in the minor/major triad you were landing on.

in terms of fingerpicking, there are two great lessons in country music:

1) use open strings! they give you large interval leaps and let you really open up. they ring great too.

2) use chord shapes in your picking. a typical rock/blues pattern is to play ascending/decending notes on adjacent frets in a run. a country run will use adjacent strings in ascending/decending runs. again, you get nice wide intervals and if you use hammer-ons and pull-offs in the run you get licks that move up and down harmonically even though your hands are moving in a linear fashion.