called Fingerstyle 101.

The reason why I started this project is because I get a lot of comments on my videos

asking for tutorials

even though I post the tabs for my arrangements and I don't really know what else

could I be explaining in tutorial videos

so long story short that's why I decided to make some lessons starting from

the basics

this way everyone will be able to try and learn playing fingerstyle.

Please note that I am not a professional musician

I'm just trying to help out other people by sharing some

knowledge and personal experience I've gathered over the years. Keep in mind that I can't

guarantee your success just by watching these tutorials

however if you're dedicated enough and willing to practice

every day and won't give up then I can assure you that you'll succeed in the end.

So let's get into it!

So the first thing you should know about fingerstyle

is that you pick with your your fingers, so as opposed to

playing electirc guitars, you don't use any

picks and that's why it's called FINGERstyle.

Fingerstyle is played on classical and

acoustic guitars. Classical guitars have

nylon strings resulting in a warmer

and lighter tone and acoustic guitars have steel strings

which results in a more characteristics sound.

I'm gonna link 2 example videos in annotations

so click HERE the check out how

a classical guitar sounds and click HERE

to listen to a song played and acoustic guitar.

I should point out that playing on steel strings is

a bit painful at first

but with time your fingertips will get used to it and the pain will go away

Trust me, I've been there. If you're looking to buy a new guitar

then you should definitely try both types and see which one suits you better

however

acoustic guitars seem to be a more common choice.

Alright, so you're left and goes over the fretboard -

you support your hand with your thumb like THIS

and you you hold down the strings with the rest of your fingers.

Now you should place your fingers

on the fretboard and apply pressure onto the string

or strings

don't apply too much pressure because it's unnecessary and

your fingers will get hurt, however you shouldn't

apply too low pressure either because that way you won't get clean sounds.

Now let's talk about finger placement - the proper way of doing this is that you

place your fingers onto the strings in an angle like

THIS - so it's kind of..

vertical. And because if you are fingers touch the other

strings then you'll get a dull sound - especially if you're playing

chords. So

it's not

it's not right

instead of... this.

So always try

to get this angle. Also you should always place your fingers as close to the

fret as

possible - this will result in a cleaner tone

Moving your fingers further from the fret will

get you dull sounds aswell.

So always stay close to the frets.

Moving on to the right hand, you use your

thumb to pick the bass notes - usually the 6th, the 5th

and 4th strings,

and you use your index, middle and

ring fingers to pick the melody notes - usually the 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings.

The pinky finger is usually not used but every guitarist has their own style so if

it's comfortable for you then

why not try to pick with it too? Also be sure to

support your hand with your elbow, like this, this way

your hand will be stable and you will be able to

pick the strings correctly.

Generally you pick over the soundhole

but for different purposes you can also pick closer to the bridge,

or over the fretboard -

You'll get different tones but I'll explain that

later in another lesson.

Another important factor of playing fingerstyle is whether you

grow your nails on your right hand or not - Nails really effect

the way of playing,

they add a certain touch to the sound

and also some techniques are easier

and more effective with them. There's no written rule of how much you should grow your nails -

however if you can see them

from the palm side of your hand, it's a good start. As I said there's no written rule

of how much you should grow them, you should just

experiment with it until you find what suits you best. And remember, you don't want to

grow them on your left hand,

because they would just prevent you from

holding down the notes correctly for absolutely no reason.

By the way, you could avoid growing your nails

on your right hand if you use fingerpicks - you just pull them on your fingers and

you're ready to play.

You should give them a try, however

I personally grow my you nails because I just don't feel

fingerpicks the way I feel my nails,

so my playing with fingerpicks wasn't that effective.

So that was the first episode of Fingerstyle 101,

I hope it was helpful. In the next lesson we will be going through some basic exercises

and picking patterns.

If you have any questions, suggestions or requests for the upcoming lessons,

feel free to leave a comment below or send me a private message

or contact me on Facebook.

Thanks for watching, and see you next time!