Good fingerstyle etudes?

Villa-Lobos's 'Etude #1' is a good place to start. It's not actually quite as intimidating as it sounds, as it's mostly based on a repetitive picking pattern, but it's got some really cool chord shapes and is certainly a great workout for both hands.

I'm going to have to disagree with you.

It's just as intimidating as it sounds. :lol:

Okay, maybe not. But I'm very guilty of being an anchored-right-hand player, so proper classical technique tends to escape me. :rofl:

I'll look for a tab, but think I might need something a LITTLE more basic. :lol:

even the basic picking patterns f me up. For some easy ones that you could do that are totally cool, try Dust in the wind by Kansas and Landslide by Fleetwood mac??? they are easy. and sound good.

Petite Etude (Alex Romanov) - YouTube

Not my favourite cover,but its the best I can find on my phone while taking a crap :yesway:

Angrychair said:

even the basic picking patterns f me up. For some easy ones that you could do that are totally cool, try Dust in the wind by Kansas and Landslide by Fleetwood mac??? they are easy. and sound good.

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+100000 for 'Dust in the Wind'.

'Horizons' by Steve Hackett would be another good one.

Wirelessly posted

Guinnevere by CSNY is another amazing finger pickin piece. It's where I started.

Ok, let's say for the sake o discussion I'd rather learn some classical stuff than folk stuff. Any suggestions?

distressed_romeo said:

H. Villa-Lobos Etude No. 1 Performed by Grace Sheppard (age 12) - YouTube

Villa-Lobos's 'Etude #1' is a good place to start. It's not actually quite as intimidating as it sounds, as it's mostly based on a repetitive picking pattern, but it's got some really cool chord shapes and is certainly a great workout for both hands.

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I can actually play that fairly well. I went through a classical phase years and years ago and drilled the shit out of that song.

Haven't tried it in a very long time, so I guess I should say "I used to be able to play that fairly well", but yeah - it's not as intimidating as it sounds. Cool chord shapes galore and once you get the right hand part of it down, it's pretty easy to improv around.

Drew said:

Ok, let's say for the sake o discussion I'd rather learn some classical stuff than folk stuff. Any suggestions?

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Neither of the above, but this is right up your alley, and an awesome tune.

Start at 1:30 to skip the intro:

Drew said:

... Longterm my interest is more blues than classical ...

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Ray

:lol: I mean, I guess I could go straight to the source...


I'm thinking, though, that getting the mechanics right probably makes sense, and the best way to do that is to start with classical. I'm kind of a 2 fingers/1 thumb fingerpicker at the moment (sometimes three, depending), so learning the proper technique and then building finger independence and strength before diving back into delta blues stuff has a lot of appeal to me.

Drew said:

I'm thinking, though, that getting the mechanics right probably makes sense, and the best way to do that is to start with classical.

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Gotcha. With my youngest taking lessons, that's where I'm at too. I'm trying to stay two lessons ahead of her. It's good "taking a step back" and focusing on technique, cleaning-up some bad habits, etc. for a while.

Drew said:

I'm kind of a 2 fingers/1 thumb fingerpicker at the moment

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I'm doing all the pieces i-m, i-a, m-a, etc. even though she's just doing them i-m. I'm also trying to add-in exercises from Giuliani's 120 Right Hand Exercises (let me know if you want a PDF) and Postlewate's "Right-Hand Studies for Five Fingers" (See Amazon.com). Basically, really focusing on right-hand technique.

Ray

i'm probably gonna get bashed for the last 2 songs, but 3 songs i learned how to finger pick from
over the hills and far away- zepplin
i will follow you into the dark- death cab for cutie
the girl- city & colour

also just take some notes out of a chord, arpeggio, scale, or what have you and just fuck around with it hitting the notes with different fingers.

Track down some of the stuff that Rik Emmett did on the old Triumph albums.

A-minor Prelude
Moonchild
Fantasy Serenade
Midsummer Daydream
Petite Etude

Emmet did pretty well with a folk/classical cross over and I've always found a lot of his pieces less "stuffy" than the traditional etudes. Most of the pieces are relatively easy to get into but have the odd challenge which makes them difficult to master. Just the right balance IMO.

John Williams stuff. It has the advantage that you will probably know most of it as well. My favourite piece that was easy to learn but always felt impressive (and is massively obvious) is Cavatina - the soundtrack to the film the Deer Hunter:

Studies - ClassicalGuitarSchool.Net

This wouldn't have happened to been the link, would it?

BigM555 said:

Track down some of the stuff that Rik Emmett did on the old Triumph albums.

A-minor Prelude
Moonchild
Fantasy Serenade
Midsummer Daydream
Petite Etude

Emmet did pretty well with a folk/classical cross over and I've always found a lot of his pieces less "stuffy" than the traditional etudes. Most of the pieces are relatively easy to get into but have the odd challenge which makes them difficult to master. Just the right balance IMO.

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Agreed. "Midsummer's Daydream" is fun to play and not crazy difficult. there's also "Mood For A Day" and "The Clap" by Steve Howe and they both have tons of tabs out there.

Another good one from Genesis is "Blood on The Rooftops" from the Wind and Wuthering disk. Steve Hackett is a great classical guitarist too, so getting his sound is a benefit in and of itself.