Calling all acoustic fingerstyle players - Advice needed

arjunmenon

Having recently swapped my Ibanez RG320 for a Cort MR730FX acoustic, i've gotten neck deep in learning some fingerstyle.
So far, i've been working on:

1. Extreme's More than words (standard tuning)
2. Led Zep's Rain Song (In DGCGCD)
3. A work-in-progress own comp (In DADGAD)

I'd really appreciate some help on learning percussive fingerstyle (a la Andy McKee, Erik Mongrain, Eric Roche etc), specifically:

1. Where do i start?
2. Any specific technique(s) that i need to master?
3. Any tunes, tips, tricks etc that i can add to my repetoire/lick library?

Cheers

FruitarGeek

Arjun Menon wrote: 1. Where do i start?
2. Any specific technique(s) that i need to master?
3. Any tunes, tips, tricks etc that i can add to my repetoire/lick library?

Well, I'm probably just as 'unsure' as you are, but I too have a big interest in fingerstyle, so for me, I'd say

1) Maybe consider doing some classical courses as an introduction
2. I guess just your fingers, as in using PIMA, with the thumb (P) being placed more forward then the rest of your fingers, as in make your thumb almost parallel to the string you stricking. I find the 'correct' posture of placing your guitar on your left knee which must also be slighly elevated a bit silly.
3. Can't go wrong with 'Classical Gas' by Mason Williams, and the all time favourite 'Romance'.

chilliepot

Well you got me there. I consider my own style to be in the realm of so-called finger-style. But this percussive finger-style is something I need an introduction to. My finger-style is the kind of ragtime (ala Alices Resturant) kind of stuff. Yeah, 'Romance' and stuff like that. Claw hammer as it were. There I can give a few pointers.
Maybe we can get together and exchange ideas.

Booga

Hey,

As an acoustic person I have also stated learnig a bit of fingerstyle. One of my mates gave me a book called Progressive - Open tuning - finger picking guitar by Brett Duncan. I have found it to be a great help and has some awesome tunes to learn (comes with a CD). I think there is also a standard tuning one. It covers the basics like how to position your fingers etc aswell. I saw a copy at Marshall music, JHB but I am sure you can find it on the net if you really want it.

This is also a lesson that was posted on the forum a while ago

http://www.guitarforum.co.za/guitar-lessons/finger-picking-lesson-4-and-20/

Also check out the post

http://www.guitarforum.co.za/general-discussion/fingerstyle-where-to-start/

Sweet, hope this can get you started.

Keira-WitherKay

best advice is just go to you tube .find "candyrat records" they record all the fingerstyle acoustic players worth their salt......a canadian company if i recall, but they have video of all their artists there, i must say when it comes to fingerstyle with multi parts happening be it plucked or tapped the best is listen to these dudes, see what they do , and try pick up idea's from watching em, i find i use that to get an idea (say some percussive thing) hear it and go wow i like that , but then i find a way that works for me to get that sound outa the guitar ......by just sitting with the guitar and recreating it , to me it's getting the initial idea thats important .... the spark so to speak, after that develop it in your own style....... ? did i mention i'm very anti "clone'ng" other artists styles and techniques but very pro using them for inspiration

Jack-Flash-Jr

Don't really have tips but Zep's Black Mountainside (off Zeppelin I) is a great intro to what I call repetitive drone claw technique :-[ :-[ :-[
It's dadgad and easy to play plus you can segue straight into Communication Breakdown ?

For added challenge do the tablas yourself on the soundbox...

Also check out White Summer (companion piece)

guitarboy2828

Keira WitherKay wrote: best advice is just go to you tube .find "candyrat records" they record all the fingerstyle acoustic players worth their salt......a canadian company if i recall, but they have video of all their artists there, i must say when it comes to fingerstyle with multi parts happening be it plucked or tapped the best is listen to these dudes, see what they do , and try pick up idea's from watching em, i find i use that to get an idea (say some percussive thing) hear it and go wow i like that , but then i find a way that works for me to get that sound outa the guitar ......by just sitting with the guitar and recreating it , to me it's getting the initial idea thats important .... the spark so to speak, after that develop it in your own style....... ? did i mention i'm very anti "clone'ng" other artists styles and techniques but very pro using them for inspiration

+1 to Cadyrat, great artists..

There are quite a few lessons on youtube on fingerstyle, you just godda find the goodstuff.. Tommy Emmanuel has some great lessons on using thumb picks if you're into that. Trace Bundy has some AWESOME videos on percussive playing and two hand tapping. Another great lady to look up is Vicki Genfan, she has some great video tutorials on youtube. There are others, but those 3 will get you started, I reckon.

If you want to buy a great fingerstyle dvd series, get Pete Hutlingers "Essential exercises for fingerstyle guitar". It'll get your fingers going big time.

However, the way I have progressed the most is finding a song I really like and learning it. When i get stuck with a certain technique (slapping, percussing, harmonics, whatever) I youtube that and work on that for a few weeks and then come back to the song.

Malkav

Also look into learning some tracks that incorporate the techniques, Andy Mckee's Drifting is a great one to learn as the song is honestly about 10x harder looking than it is to play. Antoine Dufour's Catching The Light is also easier than it looks, likewise with Kaki King's Carmine Street/Playing with Pink Noise/Night After Sidewalk and Justin Kings Knock On Wood.

I recommend checking out the Kaki King stuff cause in alot of ways she's far less advanced a player than people like McGee or Dufour, so her music incorporates the same techniques but at a level that is far easier to grasp in the beginning. Also she's real pretty and she uses an Ovation ?

These are just my recomendations, more or less how I started getting into the style ?