Our second finger picking lesson is another example of pattern picking. “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac uses a similar picking pattern to “Dust in the Wind”. However, the chord changes here require more movement. For your convenience, the chord shapes and fingerings are as follows: Click here if you’re not sure how to read the chord blocks. For the picking pattern, you will use your thumb (P), index … [Read more...]
Finger Picking: Comping to a walking bass line
This lesson will show you how to play a walking bass line accompanied by little chords. This is a 12 bar blues progression in Bb with a swing feel to it. To play this, you will use your thumb (P) to play the bass line and your index (I) and middle (M) fingers to pluck the chords. Work on this slowly. Once you have learned it, work on speed and also try to interpret it differently. The fingerings indicated above and below the tab represents how I feel most … [Read more...]
Finger Picking Pattern 1: part 2, Dust in the Wind
In part 1, you learned how to play the picking pattern that is used in the song Dust in the Wind. Did you notice that all of the picking was done on the middle four strings. In part 2, we will add the remaining chords for the song. You will use the same picking pattern but this time, you will be playing it on different sets of strings. For reference, I have recopied the pattern here. Click on the diagram for an MP3 audio example. Play this pattern over an open C chord. Ok, this time, I am … [Read more...]
Finger Picking Pattern 1: part 1, Dust in the Wind intro
Our first finger picking lesson features a picking pattern that has been used in a great many songs. This pattern has no name that I am aware of. To play this picking pattern, you will use your thumb (P), index (I) and middle (M) fingers on your picking hand. ( Hand diagrams coming soon ) Look at the first tab example below. While playing an open C chord, pluck the strings using your thumb and fingers as indicated by the P's, I's and M's. Notice that the first notes in each bar are plucked … [Read more...]