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  • Hi, I'm Peter aka GP and this is the second episode of my fingerstyle tutorial series

  • called Fingerstyle 101.

  • In the first lesson we discussed some theoretical aspects of playing fingerstyle

  • and this time we'll look at some basic exercises and picking patterns.

  • So let's grab your guitar and let's get into this.

  • So as I have mentioned in my previous video, you use your

  • thumb to pick the bass notes

  • and your index, middle and ring finger, to pick the melody notes.

  • If you learnt to play to play chords on guitar then this is going to be probably

  • the hardest thing for you to get used to because instead of

  • moving your hand as one

  • (and I mean using a pick) instead that you

  • you have to pick different strings

  • with different fingers and often

  • multiple strings at once - but that's exactly what makes fingerstyle beautiful.

  • Alright so here's the first exercise:

  • I want you to pick the 6th string with your thumb,

  • then the 3rd string with your index finger,

  • then the 2nd string with your middle finger,

  • and then the 1st string with your ring finger,

  • then move on to the 5th string (*fixed*) with your thumb,

  • 3rd string with your index,

  • 2nd string with your middle,

  • and 1st string with your ring finger.

  • Then the 3rd string (*fixed*) with your thumb,

  • and the melody notes.

  • So you just pick open strings in this order.

  • Start at a slow-speed and slowly work your way up.

  • If you miss a string, start the exercise again

  • because this way your fingers will

  • get used to the correct pattern.

  • And whenever you're ready,

  • you can speed up.

  • So the second exercise is basically going to be

  • an extended version of the previous one.

  • You start the same way - you pick the 6th string with your thumb,

  • then the 3rd string

  • with your index finger,

  • 2nd string with your middle finger,

  • and the 1st string with your ring finger - but here's the difference:

  • then pick the 2nd string with your middle finger,

  • and the 3rd string with your index finger again - and then change the bass note.

  • That's it. Again, start at a slow speed

  • and speed up if you don't miss the strings

  • The next one is going to be a reversed version of the

  • 2nd exercise, so you pick the

  • 6th string with your thumb and then the 1st string with your ring finger.

  • 2nd string,

  • 3rd string,

  • 2nd string, 1st string.

  • Then do the same with every bass string.

  • Just like before, start at a slow speed

  • and then speed-up if you pick the

  • correct strings - in the correct order.

  • Now we're going to modify the

  • previous exercises a bit, so you have to pick the

  • bass note and the first melody note at the same time.

  • So you pick the 6th string with your thumb

  • and the 1st string with your ring finger at the same time.

  • This is a pretty important pattern

  • because as you could see you have to pick

  • multiple strings at once and this is

  • used in fingerstyle a lot,

  • so you want to practice this a lot.

  • Last but not least, we've got 2 more patterns -

  • you pick the 6th string and the

  • 2nd string at the same time and then

  • 3rd string,

  • then the 1st string

  • and then repeat this with every bass note.

  • And the other on is kind of reversed

  • version of this - so you pick the

  • the bass string and the 2nd string at the same time just like before

  • and after that you pick the first string

  • and the 3rd string.

  • All right, so you now you could take

  • some actual chords instead of just picking open strings.

  • You could take exercise 2, 4 and 5 for example.

  • With a D major chord,

  • C major chord

  • and G major chord.

  • And use the patterns you just practiced.

  • So that was the second lesson of Fingerstyle 101,

  • I hope it was helpful. In the next episode we'll discusse the ways of rhythm picking.

  • 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. See you next time, and thanks for watching!

Hi, I'm Peter aka GP and this is the second episode of my fingerstyle tutorial series

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