Fingerpicking

Fingerpicking Guitar Lessons

Fingerpicking is a common approach to guitar playing. It is the backbone of classical guitar, but it’s also a popular approach to acoustic and electric guitar playing.

The technique of fingerpicking allows for playing that would be impossible using a guitar pick. It’s therefore an important skill for most guitarists to develop. As with each aspect of guitar technique, fingerpicking is introduced gradually in the guitar lessons, with repertoire and focused exercises to develop and refine your skills.

Acoustic and Electric Guitar

In your guitar lessons with Stuart you will learn the fundamentals of good fingerpicking technique. This will include exercises to help you refine your fingerpicking ability.

There are many examples of well-known songs that are performed using fingerpicking or ‘fingerstyle’ playing.

Some popular examples are:

  • Tears in Heaven (Eric Clapton)
  • Blackbird (The Beatles)
  • Buckets of Rain (Bob Dylan)
  • Fragile (Sting)
  • Fire and Rain (James Taylor)
  • Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley)
  • Babe I’m Gonna Leave You (Led Zeppelin)

You can learn each of these songs, and many more, in your guitar lessons with Stuart. Each of these songs can be performed on acoustic, electric or classical guitar.

Classical Guitar

Virtually all classical guitar music is performed using fingerpicking. In your classical guitar lessons you will learn the fundamentals of fingerstyle technique; including ‘Apoyando’ (rest strokes) and ‘Tirando’ (free strokes).

Unlike the convention in popular music, fingerpicking is also employed when performing scales, arpeggios and melodic lines in general.

At each stage in your development you will learn classical guitar pieces that demand evermore precise fingerpicking technique.

Some of the most well known composer of classical guitar pieces are:

  • Fernando Sor
  • Mauro Giuliani
  • Mateo Carcassi

You will also learn fingerstyle arrangements of compositions by other well-known composers such as:

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

Booking a Guitar Lesson

To book a guitar lesson with Stuart, or to ask a question about taking lessons, send an email using the button below:

Message Stuart

“Fingerpicking is the primary technique used in classical guitar. But there are also many famous examples of fingerpicking in popular music.”

– Stuart Bahn