Common Fingerpicking Patterns Part 1

Applying common fingerpicking patterns to simple chord progressions. Part 1 of 5.

Rob Schumann: The subject to these tutorials is common fingerstyle patterns and we are going to be looking at some arpeggiation patterns in the right hand that you can apply to any chord progression. This comes in really handy if you are writing songs and allowing to put some different rhythmic fields with it or if you are just doing a chord progression off of the chart and doing some accompaniment, it's going to have a number of patterns in your head that you can just recall at any time and apply as you see fit. So, whether you use a real stretched classical right-hand form or your hand hovers over the strings like this -- or if you use more of a folk type of approach where your hand has a little bit flatter of a look, all these patterns should work regardless. Some people also, I should mention, will play fingerstyle with just their finger tips and that's sound just find particularly on a steel string or a lot of people, as I do, have some longer fingernails on their right hand to attack the strings with. It really doesn't matter with these different shapes you can use them regardless. So, let's start out in this first segment with a very basic fingerstyle technique and as with most of these patterns, we are going to assign fingers to the strings. So, your index finger is on the third string, middle finger is on the second string and ring finger is on the first string and your thumb will be going to whatever bass that you are on. So, we will look at this pattern. So, it's a very simple pattern. We start out with the thumb on the bass note, which in this case with the G Major chord, is going to be on the sixth string. The index finger will then hit on the third string, going to the middle finger on the second string, back to the index finger on the third string, then hitting the ring finger on the first string and then back to the index on the third string and then the middle on the second, back to the index on the third. So, slowly. You could also use your thumb if you are going to do that for more than one measure, you can use your thumb to hit other notes based outside of that chord. So, I can play the G and then go to the D, for instance, and then go and hit the B at some point as well. So, you can kind of play around with the bass in that way. Then apply it to a progression, we are going to use that same pattern and then put the thumb on the bass note on whatever chord we are going to. So, in this case, I'll go from G to C add 9 to D and D Sus 4. We will look at some more patterns in our next few segments. Pierre Bensusan: Hello, my name is Pierre Bensusan. I would like to play for a tune that I wrote some years ago. It's called L'Alchimiste and you are going to see also that in order to get there, you want to bend your ring finger towards to fourth fret. On the third bass string but I decide to not play that third bass string with my thumb -- which was my index.