The song has been given different renditions by different artists and personalities all over the world. We'll teach this one sometime in the future.It is impossible not to recognize the unique melody and tune of this early 1960s song from one of America’s best rhythm and blues and soul singer. Just another great example of the versatility of this pattern.īeck's most beautiful song? Perhaps. This is a great song that combines the alternating thumb pattern with strummed chords. Apparently he's the real deal.īadly Drawn Boy - "Hour of the Bewilderbeast" I used to think he was a cheesy 70s singer until I heard this. Great example of using syncopated chord plucking with the alternating thumb technique.īoth of these songs were written and played by Jackson Browne.
Easy fingerstyle guitar how to#
This is pretty advanced, but we're trying to get inspired, right! We'll do a future post with a tutorial on how to play this song.īob Dylan - "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" It's great chord progression to practice on.īob Dylan - "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" This is an old folk standard by Hedy West, but this is a beautiful version. In case you need some inspiration to get you excited about learning this new technique, here are some of my favorite fingerpicking songs: Just by plucking instead of doing a Scruggs-style roll you've suddenly opened up a whole new way of playing.Īs long as you keep that thumb on the alternating bassline steady, you can try anything and it will probably sound good. He uses the alternating thumb along with plucked chords to give it a country blues feel. A great example is in Bob Dylan's version of "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" on his first album. Once you can play through chord changes fluidly and keep the alternating thumb going, you can start to learn different patterns of rolling your fingers and mixing and matching them. Once it can't be shaken your options will start to open up. The goal is to get that thumb rock solid. Pick up the guitar everyday and just do this for a few minutes. Here's a video illustrating how to practice this: Just like you could do that forever, and then you could add a finger." But really you can just sit and do the thumb. Around 3:10 they start talking about fingerpicking and Kurt says: "The thing people don't know-you gotta worry about the thumb first. If you don't believe us, just listen to our buddy Kurt Vile. If at any point you lose track of the bassline, strip it down and get that steady again before moving forward. Once you've got that steady, you can start rolling between the chords with those same three fingers. Once you have that thumb steady, then start plucking the chords on the offbeat with your index finger and middle fingers.
It's a simple progression that sounds great with an alternating bassline. I like to practice with the old folk standard "500 Miles," which goes like this: Keep alternating back and forth several times then switch to the next chord. Start by running through some chords and plucking the lowest string in each chord followed by the second lowest string in each chord with your thumb. But as soon as you have a steady, alternating thumb, you'll have a lot of new options. Once you have that down, you've got a sturdy foundation that you can use to start building a library of fingerpicking patterns with your index, middle, and ring fingers. It's really simple, and it's not that hard.Īll you have to do is keep a steady alternating bassline running with your thumb as you move through a chord progression. A lot of times you'll hear it called "Travis Style Picking." It's the heart of the Earl Scruggs style of banjo, but it's equally useful on the guitar.
He called it the alternating thumb pattern. The Alternating Thumb PatternĮarl Scruggs popularized this style of playing with his self-titled banjo method in the mid-20th century. Luckily for you, there's one simple technique that you can learn to open up this fingerpicking wonderland–the alternating thumb method. You'll have a great way to accompany yourself as a solo singer, you'll be more welcome at a back porch jam session, and you can even add some hill-country blues licks to you electric guitar toolbox that will quickly have you sounding like Keith Richards. Learning how to do some basic fingerpicking can really open up your world as a guitar player.
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