Fingerstyle exercises

[Solodini]

Solodini, what else will the book cover? Sweeping? Hybrid picking? Eight finger tapp- faints

All of the above, plus various legato approaches: bends, prebends, behind the nut bends and whammy bar stuff, slides; bending tapped notes with either hand such as using the fretting hand to bend a note tapped with the picking hand, harmonics right up to 8th or 9th harmonic and the various nodes up the string, bending harmonics, various approaches to muting. There's also a bunch of chapters dedicated to various approaches to combining techniques, such as the bending tapped notes, bending harmonics, using prebent harmonic (including with the whammy bar) to expand your range of quickly available harmonics in addition to artificial harmonics, and so on. Also, economy picking and combination of sweep picking and hybrid picking, too. Good fun! I plan to release it in smaller volumes related to a uniting area of techniques so I can get each chunk out sooner and take people's advice on board in future volumes.

That's obviously pretty advanced stuff and that absolutely doesn't mean I'm not interested in playing classical masterpieces, but I guess most of the less naive electric players wants to go for a more creative approach.

My main gripe is that it's a real shame that some stuff has trade-off.
I mean, like...grow your nails for fingerpicking and you get better attack but you almost kill your tapping.

Yeah, as I say, I'm keen on the snap of plucking hard with your fingers and the available delicacy of going softer. I think it's nice to have contrasting options.

My goal is obviously for creativity, so the text and diagrams (of which there are many more than in the first book) offer various possibilities for the technique, such as the different sorts of runs you can get when sweep picking with your pinky on the root not as opposed to your index finger, and suchlike. Lots of creative exercises with guidance to help people to discover things for their own style.

 

[octatoan]

All of the above, plus various legato approaches: bends, prebends, behind the nut bends and whammy bar stuff, slides; bending tapped notes with either hand such as using the fretting hand to bend a note tapped with the picking hand, harmonics right up to 8th or 9th harmonic and the various nodes up the string, bending harmonics, various approaches to muting. There's also a bunch of chapters dedicated to various approaches to combining techniques, such as the bending tapped notes, bending harmonics, using prebent harmonic (including with the whammy bar) to expand your range of quickly available harmonics in addition to artificial harmonics, and so on. Also, economy picking and combination of sweep picking and hybrid picking, too. Good fun! I plan to release it in smaller volumes related to a uniting area of techniques so I can get each chunk out sooner and take people's advice on board in future volumes.



Yeah, as I say, I'm keen on the snap of plucking hard with your fingers and the available delicacy of going softer. I think it's nice to have contrasting options.

My goal is obviously for creativity, so the text and diagrams (of which there are many more than in the first book) offer various possibilities for the technique, such as the different sorts of runs you can get when sweep picking with your pinky on the root not as opposed to your index finger, and suchlike. Lots of creative exercises with guidance to help people to discover things for their own style.

All of that is fine...





But will it djent?

 

[Solodini]

No.

It will deedlydwee and bawm-bawm-hupdoogadaddle, though.

 

[metaldoggie]

Does that sit in the realm of something which would really be pushing you or you'd be comfortable but challenged by?

I think anything Bumblefoot does is in the realm of really pushing me.

Seriously though, as long as I can get it down at a slow speed I can play anything.

I try to find anything that feels odd to play and practice it over and over.

I feel I have accomplished more if it feels weird at first than just something with different notes.

I will try all these exercises you have posted!

 

[Solodini]

Have you seen the Guitar Player tutorial of Real as presented by Bumblefoot on YouTube? It gives you the gist of the riff, although I'll still do something similar as an exercise.

 

[metaldoggie]

Now that you come to mention it.....I think I have.

 

[Solodini]

I've been busy lately so not really made much progress with new exercises I've been happy with. How do you guys like this one? If anyone would care to try it on bass, too, that'd be appreciated.

How many exercises would you guys want in the book? Would you likely think "right that's enough" move on to the next chapter but then go back later for more exercises from the fingerstyle chapter?

 

[octatoan]

I, for one, would (if only to get closer to my long-term goal of a flawless Asturias!)

 

[Solodini]

So how many exercises would be enough/too much for you?

 

[octatoan]

icanhaz trem(e/o)lo?
Apart from that, something on the scale of Giuliani would be enough for me - something to keep coming back to.

 

[Gothic Headhunter]

I find that the intro to Rush's "The Trees" is a great piece to practice for someone just starting with fingerstyle.


Maybe you could use something similar to that as kind of an intro/beginner piece? Unless you already have something for that but that's what I use to practice fingerstyle and I find it works really well.

 

[Solodini]

icanhaz trem(e/o)lo?
Apart from that, something on the scale of Giuliani would be enough for me - something to keep coming back to.

Fingerstyle tremolo picking you mean?
So you're fine with having a smaller set of exercises which you return to?

I find that the intro to Rush's "The Trees" is a great piece to practice for someone just starting with fingerstyle.


Maybe you could use something similar to that as kind of an intro/beginner piece? Unless you already have something for that but that's what I use to practice fingerstyle and I find it works really well.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll have a listen later. There's quite a variety in the exercises on the previous page but no harm in having a few using similar mechanics.

 

[Solodini]

More!

 

[Solodini]

Metaldoggie, the first bar of this exercise is pretty much the same mechanically as Real, with the remainder following in a similar vein.

Let me know what you think.

Adam

 

[megadave2002]

Below is something I have used for a while to practice alternate picking between the thumb and index finger. This is more of a Chet Atkins/Mark Knopfler kind of exercise as opposed to classical though. Hope this helps.


e|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|------2-3-2---------------223322----------------------222333222-----------|
A|--2-5-------5-2-------2255------5522---------222555------------555222---|
E|3---------------3---33-----------------33--333-----------------------------333|


e|---------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------222233332222---------------------------------------|
A|------22225555-----------------22225555-------------------------------|
E|3333----------------------------------------3333---------------------------|

 

[Solodini]

Yeah, there's plenty for classical out there. I'm wanting to give exercises which are more stylistically general to expand people's creative possibilities. Is the Knopfler vein of things something you'd like to see more of?

 

[octatoan]

^ I know I would.

Edit: Iznaola's Kitharology is fab, might wanna take a look at it if you haven;t already.

 

[Solodini]

Is the Knopfler rhythm or lead playing of more interest, or both?

 

[octatoan]

Both, actually.

 

[Solodini]

Any particular songs, riffs, solos or sections of him you particularly like? Ideally something which doesn't really use legato, bends, slides too much, for comparison.