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GUITAR: FINGERSTYLE - INTERMEDIATE
The Fingerstyle guitar course at the intermediate level adds new patterns for the thumb, Travis picking, Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs, Chord Melody, Bossa Nova rhythm and many other ideas for the picking hand.
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COURSE LESSON TEACHER DESCRIPTION
Intermediate Finger Style Alternate Bass Pattern Susan Mazer In every lesson up until now, the thumb has played one bass per measure. It basically introduced the chord that was being played in the measure. We're going to start playing patterns where the thumb acts like the left hand of a piano player, or like the bass player in a band. The thumb will have its own part in the fingerpicking pattern.
Intermediate Finger Style Travis Picking Susan Mazer In this lesson were going to take a look at the Travis pick, made popular by - you guessed it - Merle Travis. If you haven't heard his fingerstyle playing, definitely check it out. It's probably the most common of the patterns that you'll learn and, I think, one of the nicest sounding. You'll see in the next few lessons that it has a lot of variations that go along with it. You're going really be using this picking pattern a lot.
Intermediate Finger Style Playing Bass Notes on the 4th & 3rd Strings Susan Mazer We've done a few versions of an alternate bass pattern and a Travis pick; however, we've always used the 5th or 6th strings as the bass. In this lesson, we'll learn to use the 4th string as our bass and the 3rd string as the alternate bass. This also means that there's going to be a change in fingering that we use. We'll put it together with patterns that use both the 1st and the 2nd string for the melody. This is where it really starts to get interesting.
Intermediate Finger Style Drone Bass and the Blues Susan Mazer Unlike the other fingerpicking patterns that we've played before, the style of picking that you're about to learn uses a constant, repeated bass. This is sometimes called a drone bass. It's a constant low note that reinforces the pulse of the music. The song that I'm going to teach you is in the style of an old fingerstyle blues tune. While your fingers are plucking triplets, your thumb is pulsing out the quarter note. You're going to love playing this one.
Intermediate Finger Style Drone Bass and the Blues II Susan Mazer In this lesson, again the thumb will be constantly droning a bass note. Most of the time, the bass note reinforces the chords. It can play the root or name of the chord, or a chord tone. But sometimes the bass is very different than the chords, even dissonant at times. In either case, you can't miss those low tones. Hopefully, you're starting to see why I said that playing fingerstyle is like getting two guitar players for the price of one.
Intermediate Finger Style Alternating Bass and Melody Susan Mazer In a previous lesson, we played a constant bass with a changing melody. In this lesson, were going to play an alternate bass with a melody on top. Instead of just playing chords or a standard picking pattern, we're weaving in a melodic line, while keeping an alternate bassline. The song were playing is an instrumental version of Jingle Bells, so youll be ready to play at the next holiday party.
Intermediate Finger Style Introducing Syncopation Susan Mazer In this lesson, we're going to play two versions of the same song. In the first version, every melody note is on the down beat, 1234. This means that every time a melody note is played, it's played along with a bass note. The tune is played in a similar way to Jingle Bells. Again, the thumb alternates between the bass and the alternate bass. In the second version, we use syncopation and the feel of the music totally changes.
Intermediate Finger Style Travis Pattern with a More Complex Melody Susan Mazer In this lesson, we are playing a constant Travis pick, just like the alternate bass pattern with syncopation that we played in a previous lesson. This time, however, it will be varying the treble strings based on the melodic pattern. Learning to weave a melody into an alternate bass or Travis pattern is really one of the more difficult techniques to do. But once you've mastered it, you can be sure that you really have the fingerpicking skill down.
Intermediate Finger Style Hammer-Ons & Pull-Offs Susan Mazer We've been doing a lot of fancy footwork (or fingerwork) in these lessons. By changing what the right hand was doing we added so much depth to the sound of our music. But what if I add more to the left hand as well? By adding hammer-ons and pull-offs, the sound of the music becomes much more interesting to listen to. Now, I always say that a simple chord is like vanilla ice cream. Then, you add more extensions to the chord and you add chocolate sauce. Then, you add a picking pattern and you get the whipped cream. Finally, we add the embellishments, which is what we're doing in this lesson, and it's like the sprinkles on the top. You've created a real masterpiece. I think I'll go get myself some ice cream!
Intermediate Finger Style Slides and Bends Susan Mazer In the last lesson we learned about hammer-ons and pull-offs. In this lesson I want to introduce, sliding into notes and bending notes. When you add these four things to your music is really starts to sound complete. Sometimes I'll teach a student a song they know and they'll say but it just doesn't sound like the CD. They're usually right and what I've left off is all the embellishments that they're not quite ready to play. Now that you know embellishments, start adding them to your existing tunes.
Intermediate Finger Style A Classical Guitar Piece by Aguado Susan Mazer I though it was about time to introduce another little classical piece to you. In this lesson we're going take a break from the standard PIMA patterns that we've learned. Especially in popular music, the right hand fingerings that we learned will most often remain the same. In the next few lessons, you'll see that in other styles of music, there are lots of exceptions to the fingerstyle rules that we covered.
Intermediate Finger Style Fun Riffs Susan Mazer This lesson will be a fun one; no songs, no exercises, no chord progressions... just riffs. I thought it would be nice to throw a few great sounding turnarounds and techniques at you. These sound really, really good just by themselves (or when you want to show off). Have fun with these 'odds and ends'. I'm sure they'll impress your friends!
Intermediate Finger Style The Bossa Nova Rhythm Susan Mazer We've been learning a lot of different fingerstyle patterns and they can apply to any style of music, but the tunes that we've done so far have been either popular or classical. In this lesson, I'd like to take a look at some jazz rhythms. The first one is a Bossa Nova. Your right hand actually takes the place of a drummer!
Intermediate Finger Style Chord Melody Susan Mazer In this lesson there are no repeated picking patterns. We're going to pick out the single note melody, and use occasional bass notes and chord tones to support the melodic line. This is called chord melody. It's nice to play in this style because it's almost like you're the lead and rhythm guitar player in one. You'll be reinforcing the chords and playing the melody line. Come on, I'll show you.
Intermediate Finger Style Drop-D Tuning Susan Mazer One of the great things about fingerstyle playing is that you get to isolate each individual string. You can come up with some great tonal combinations. The same is true when you change the tuning of your guitar from the standard EADGBE to something else. In this lesson, we're going to work on a song in Drop-D tuning. You'll see how it makes playing in the key of 'D' so much better sounding.
Intermediate Finger Style Open G Tuning Susan Mazer In a previous lesson we looked at a type of altered tuning known as Drop D Tuning, where we retuned the 6th string to a D instead of an E, creating a different effect. In this lesson we'll take a look at Open G tuning. In this case, when the open strings of the guitar are strummed, it sounds a G Major chord. This type of tuning was a favorite of everyone from Robert Johnson to the Rolling Stones and it's one of my favorite tunings as well. After you've mastered Open G Tuning, I'm sure your friends and family are going to be really impressed by your playing.
Intermediate Finger Style Open D Tuning Susan Mazer So far we've learned Drop D Tuning and Open G Tuning. In this lesson, I'll teach you one more tuning, Open D. Just like Open G, when you strum the guitar in this tuning, you get a major chord. In this case, it's a D chord. You'll see that the left-hand fingerings are similar to the ones in Open G Tuning. So many of the great fingerstyle players that you'll be listening to, use these altered tunings. So it's really important that you learn a few.
Intermediate Finger Style Fingerstyle Warmups Susan Mazer Remember the movies where the crotchety old piano teacher would make the student do warmup scales over and over? Well, warm ups don't have to be boring and dull. They actually serve a purpose, sort of in the same way as when we play a sport. They relax and loosen up the fingers and start that muscle memory going.

These fingerstyle warmups are just a few of the thousands of combinations that we can make when we play. Maybe you'll find a favorite exercise or tune that works better for you to warm up with. I won't tell... just warm up!
Intermediate Finger Style Review of Fingerstyle Patterns Susan Mazer In this lesson, I'd like to review all of the patterns that we did throughout these fingerstyle lessons. Having all of the fingerpicking patterns in one place will act as a great reference source for you. If you can't figure out what to play with the right hand, go ahead to this lesson and match up a pattern with the time signature and feel of the song. Remember that there may be several great choices for each tune. You play what you like.
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