efore you can begin to really start ,making music as a fingerstyle guitar player, you need to get your

r right hand educated. (If youre a lefthanded player, just adjust accordingly.) Thats true whether youre playing classical or country. My style of picking depends a lot on the thumb keeping a steady bass line going, while the fingers take care of the melody and the rest of the accompaniment. In the first nart of this lesson
Ill talk about ways to educate your right hand so working your thumb will come naturally. I neverwas one to just play exercises-scales and things like that. Id do them a little bit, because I heard thats what other people did, but1 preferredto just make up little tunes to practice the techniques I wanted to work on-like Ex. 1. Id start out with a 2-4 alternating bass: The thumb picks the bass notes on the first and third beats,

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and-in one stroke-simultaneously hits the rhythm notes on the second and fourth beats. In other words, on those 2 and 4 beats, the thumbpick is hitting the fourth string and just brushing the third string, which is muted slightly (except when the melody is on that string). I generally mute the strings with the palm of my hand so I get more of a chiff sound on the rhythm beats. This not only gets a percussive effect, but, just as important, prevents those notes from sustaining and making things muddy.
Ex. 2

In making up exercises along these lines, I would next add melody notes, first on the first and third beats (Ex. 2), and then maybe on the second and fourth (Ex. 3). Try all those things yourself, in sequence. Its good practice. Do each one slowly until it comes easy When youve got everything down so that you dont have to think about it, pick up the tempo. Later on, you can try adding a simple melody to the pattern (Ex. 4). I also use a lot of pull-offs and slurs in my melody picking. Of course, its important to work out tunes in keys that work well on the guitar. Since a basic part of my style is the boomchick1 play behind solo lines, lets look at how that works with eighth notes. Ex 5 shows an eighth-note pattern on the first string, played against an alternating bass by the thumb. To stretch yourself, try diiferent patterns on the first string once you get this pattern down. Pay attention to the right-hand fingering. You should get to a point where your thumb can pretty much go on automatic pilot. I use the heel of my right hand to damp the bass strings. That keeps the bass notes from getting muddy, and it makes the backup a little more percussive. Remember, I play with a thumbpick. If you play with your bare thumb, youll probably find it harder to get the same effect. Without a thumbpick, youll probably have to hold your hand at a higher angle so your

thumb can attack the strings better. When your hand is up like that, its awkward to damp the strings with the heel of your hand. Ex. 5 is a good bare-bones exercise for working the fingers against the thumb. Once the technique comes naturally you can try applying the ideas to other music. By working pieces out on your own, youll come up with your own style. Youll be a lot happier when someone says, Where did you learn to do that! than if they say, Oh, I see you do Atkins-style picking. And I wont mind a bit.

Flex Your Picking

Fingers

Heres some picking exercises that ought to keep you going awhile-and something else to test those of you who think youre starting to get pretty salty at this fingerstyle business. Arpeggios-notes in a particular chord (like the A-C#-Eof an Achord, for instance) played in a regular pattern-are things Ive been messing around with since I was a kid. I still limber up with them, because theyre good for getting all your right-hand fingers working smoothly together. Try the beginning of Ex. 6. Play a firstposition A chord with your fretting hand. With the other hand, pick the fifth stringwith your thumb and then, one after the other, pick the third string with your index finger, the second string with your middle finger, and the first string with your ring finger. Finish the

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Ex. 5

Ex. 6

Ex. 7

Ex. 6

sequence by going back down (pitch-wise), playing the second string with the middle finger and the third stringwith the index iinger. Then start the next sequence by playing the fourth stringwith your thumb. If being talked through an arpeggio seems confusing for you, just look at the music. The top part is standard notation. That shows you the pitch and time value of each note, along with the fingering. The bottom part is tablature. It shows you which strings to play and what frets the notes are on. Together, tablature and notation make a pretty good roadmap for what youre sup-

posed to be playing. In reading the fingering, youll see the letters p-i-m-a. That comes from the traditional Spanish method of indicating fingering, used by classical guitarists. P is for pulgar, the thumb; i is for indice, the index finger; m is for medio, the middle finger; and a is for anular, the ring finger. Some people use an Americanized system, t-i-m-r (thumb-indexmiddle-ring). If it helps you to mark that on your music, be my guest; but p-i-m-a is what Im used to, and its what youll find on a lot of guitar music.

Now try the second part of Ex. 6. This shows you what it can feel and sound like when you work an arpeggio sequence off the a finger instead of off the i finger. Try putting together different arpeggio patterns like these, on different chords. Practice until you can roll them off like clockwork. Ek 7 takes you a step further. You use two of your fingers, the i and the m, to pick simultaneously. I think every fingerstyle player has worked through this at one time or another. Its a good exercise for building finger independence, and it also makes a nice rhythm lick.
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In Ex. 8, try playing through an A chord progression with that pattern, and note that the m and a fingers play together. Work to get everything sounding nice and regular. It might help to count aloud--one-and-atwo-and-a-three-and-a-four-as you play, with the thumb picking on the one-twothree-four beats and the fingers on the

and-a beats. You dont want your picking to be uneven or jerky Ex. 9 starts you on the same sort of pattern, except this time the i and the m fingers are coupled and the a finger picks alone. If all this has seemed too simple for you, then check out Ex. 10. Its pretty much the pattern from Ex. 8, but its got a different feel

to the timing and its plugged into a nice little chord progression. I think youll have fun with it. n ...,...... ... . ..........,.. ........,..... . .... .., Chet Atkins has recorded more than 100 albums and is one of the most famous and influential pickers of all time.

Ex. 9 A D E

Ex. 10 Amaj7 A7 Dadd9

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