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Video Lessons on Youtube
About The Book This is the companion book to the Fingerpicking For Beginners video series on the HoustonGuitar Youtube channel. If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you’ve seen the videos on Youtube.
Even though the tabs for all of the Examples are included in the videos, it’s useful to have them in a book. Each Example in the video series is covered in this book. (Links to the lesson videos on Youtube are above.)
This book, the first in the HoustonGuitar Fingerpicking series, focuses on how to apply three-point picking patterns to 10 common open chords. This includes alternating bass (with the thumb), and alternating high-strings (with the middle finger).
We start with chords which use only one or two fingers. This means you can begin making music with this method even if you’re a beginner, and you haven’t yet mastered all of your open chords. Many of the left-hand parts are still-holds. Holding your chord shapes is a simple way to strengthen your hands and fine-tune your left-hand chord technique. This is helpful for electric guitarists switching to acousitic guitar with heavier strings.
The patterns and techniques we cover are easy to mix and match. They work over a broad range of musical styles. You’ll see that the guitar can come alive with simple picking patterns played over just a few fretted notes, and how repetitive patterns can create evocative musical textures. These picking patterns should remind you guitar parts you have heard in folk, country, and acoustic-rock songs.
This book use only three points in the right hand (or picking hand) – Thumb, Index and Middle fingers. These sounds originated on banjo, and on acoustic guitar, but guitarists have adapted them to electric guitar as well. This is great for anyone who wants to play 5-string banjo.
The techniques we cover here are the foundation for more complicated techniques. These exercises will help you develop a feel for the guitar, so that you can experience the sense of musical freedom that comes with mastery.This doubles as a hybrid-picking book because all of the examples can also be adapted to hybrid-picking using a flat pick, Middle and Ring fingers. You’ll read about hybrid-picking at the end of the book.