Finger Style Guitar Lessons!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Finger-picking guitar lessons are available in five basic forms: by book, book + audio, personal, DVD and through a membership site. Each has its own benefits, although it is up to you to decide which you would prefer for yourself. Before discussing each of these, however, let's first discuss what is involved in finger-picking as a guitar playing technique.
The basic definition of finger-picking is using each finger of your playing hand, as opposed to your fretting hand, to play each note individually. You do not use a pick, or a plectrum which is its Sunday name, and you do not generally strum, although there is room for a form of strumming while finger-picking. The technique is primarily a means of playing distinct notes rather than chords. Bass guitarists, for example, basically finger pick when they play, although their style is known more as 'plucking'.
Fingerpicking is used predominantly by country players and classical guitarists, although many of the better rock and metal guitarists also use that style of playing. Some of the more famous exponents of fingerpicking are Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler in the rock genre, John Fahey and Merle Travis of folk and country fame and classical guitarists Andre Segovia and John Williams. Although their musical styles are worlds apart, their playing styles are very similar. It is an indication of how the type of music you use your guitar to play does not dictate the way you play your instrument.
Why, then, should the way you are taught how to play guitar be so important? Why should it matter whether you are taught by video or an online membership site? Let's have a look at the various possibilities - in fact each of the five basic forms mentioned above in which finger-picking guitar lessons are offered.
1. GUITAR LEARNING BOOK
If you have ever tried to learn guitar using a book and nothing else, you were likely born sometime between the Second World War and the Vietnam War. You would also likely have been fairly unsuccessful with your fingerpicking guitar lessons, because it is next to impossible to teach picking techniques using only a book.
You can learn chords using a book: in fact that is ideal for chords that need specific finger positions that can be shown using chord charts. However, even for finger-picking the individual notes in open chords, a book is not the best medium because you can't see how the strings are picked, in what order, how they are picked and how fast. You can't even hear what it should sound like.
2. GUITAR BOOK + AUDIO
If the book comes with audio then that is a step forward, since at least you can hear what the tune or exercise should sound like. However finger-picking guitar lessons are very difficult to get across without that very critical element of technique. Unless you can see what you should be learning you will find it very difficult, which takes us to:
3. PERSONAL TUITION
Personal tuition is the ideal way to get finger-picking guitar lessons because you have your guitar teacher right there with you who can help you out both with your fret fingering and your picking. It is also expensive, and once you have your guitar teacher that is it: you could change but that would likely be even more expensive to do. Personal tuition is the best of the options so far.
4. DVD (VIDEO) TUITION
A video is the next best thing to personal tuition, particularly if that DVD is produced by an expert guitar finger-picker. The benefit of a video is that you play it over time and again, and you can also play it in slow motion to spot the details of the fingering and finger-picking you are being shown. After personal finger-picking guitar lessons there is little to beat video tuition, other than:
5. MEMBERSHIP GUITAR TUITION SITES
A membership guitar teaching site can provide you with everything you need to learn, and online finger-picking guitar lessons are generally more productive than any of the four alternatives previously mentioned. Membership sites have a lot going for them, not the least of which is the fact that the best of them can offer you a choice of guitar teachers, and styles of guitar instruction. More...
The basic definition of finger-picking is using each finger of your playing hand, as opposed to your fretting hand, to play each note individually. You do not use a pick, or a plectrum which is its Sunday name, and you do not generally strum, although there is room for a form of strumming while finger-picking. The technique is primarily a means of playing distinct notes rather than chords. Bass guitarists, for example, basically finger pick when they play, although their style is known more as 'plucking'.
Fingerpicking is used predominantly by country players and classical guitarists, although many of the better rock and metal guitarists also use that style of playing. Some of the more famous exponents of fingerpicking are Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler in the rock genre, John Fahey and Merle Travis of folk and country fame and classical guitarists Andre Segovia and John Williams. Although their musical styles are worlds apart, their playing styles are very similar. It is an indication of how the type of music you use your guitar to play does not dictate the way you play your instrument.
Why, then, should the way you are taught how to play guitar be so important? Why should it matter whether you are taught by video or an online membership site? Let's have a look at the various possibilities - in fact each of the five basic forms mentioned above in which finger-picking guitar lessons are offered.
1. GUITAR LEARNING BOOK
If you have ever tried to learn guitar using a book and nothing else, you were likely born sometime between the Second World War and the Vietnam War. You would also likely have been fairly unsuccessful with your fingerpicking guitar lessons, because it is next to impossible to teach picking techniques using only a book.
You can learn chords using a book: in fact that is ideal for chords that need specific finger positions that can be shown using chord charts. However, even for finger-picking the individual notes in open chords, a book is not the best medium because you can't see how the strings are picked, in what order, how they are picked and how fast. You can't even hear what it should sound like.
2. GUITAR BOOK + AUDIO
If the book comes with audio then that is a step forward, since at least you can hear what the tune or exercise should sound like. However finger-picking guitar lessons are very difficult to get across without that very critical element of technique. Unless you can see what you should be learning you will find it very difficult, which takes us to:
3. PERSONAL TUITION
Personal tuition is the ideal way to get finger-picking guitar lessons because you have your guitar teacher right there with you who can help you out both with your fret fingering and your picking. It is also expensive, and once you have your guitar teacher that is it: you could change but that would likely be even more expensive to do. Personal tuition is the best of the options so far.
4. DVD (VIDEO) TUITION
A video is the next best thing to personal tuition, particularly if that DVD is produced by an expert guitar finger-picker. The benefit of a video is that you play it over time and again, and you can also play it in slow motion to spot the details of the fingering and finger-picking you are being shown. After personal finger-picking guitar lessons there is little to beat video tuition, other than:
5. MEMBERSHIP GUITAR TUITION SITES
A membership guitar teaching site can provide you with everything you need to learn, and online finger-picking guitar lessons are generally more productive than any of the four alternatives previously mentioned. Membership sites have a lot going for them, not the least of which is the fact that the best of them can offer you a choice of guitar teachers, and styles of guitar instruction. More...
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