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what do

how did you pickers learn?

I used to pluck away with my thumb and index finger but not much else. Then after I while I learned this song, which has three note arpeggiations throughout. I'm still not that great with my middle finger, and I haven't even started with my ring finger really, but something simple and repetitious like this definitely made it easier to get used to.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WrILPqRaDo[/youtube]


So I guess just find a song with some arpeggiated chords and get to work

Practice
I played classical for years, so it was a no-brainer for me to ditch the pick.
I've got some good exercises if you want em.

are there any good online resources that you guys like to use for this sorta thing?

I started fingerpicking when getting into the folk-ish jank. All I did was start learning songs, but I'm not really an exercises/practice guy.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbW08aKDoQ4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmHVU0BUTF4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX5Dan0VE7w[/youtube]

Officer Bukowski and I had a finger-picking time nexus last week with "Don't Think Twice It's Alright". There's a perfect song to learn how to fingerpick.


C

devnulljp wrote:Practice
I played classical for years, so it was a no-brainer for me to ditch the pick.
I've got some good exercises if you want em.

ooooh please share your knowledge

lots of practice.

devnulljp wrote:Practice

Yup. I only play guitar with my fingys because I stopped playing guitar for a year and didn't bother to buy picks ever again. I learned a bunch of Seu Jorge, and Chet Atkins to really get my fingers moving.

But, yeah, practice. Just don't think about it too much, either.

I took Nine Inch Nails' advice.

(I tried, I gave up)

i started out in the simplest way possible, which is by taking a chord and playing a bass note with my thumb and a single note or a strum in the top of the chord with one finger on the opposite beat. from there you can add more notes with the one finger. once that starts to feel comfortable, add another finger. then try playing patterns with the two fingers. then try playing an alternating pattern with the thumb. it sounds particularly good in D with the low string dropped; you can "palm mute" with the side of your hand so the bass note on the low string just goes DOOMP DOOMP DOOMP like Son House and you're your own rhythm section. in general, keys with open strings are preferable because you can leave drones hanging out there to cover you while you move to different positions and so you can get open strings in the bass, tonic, 5th, or 3rd when possible.

If you're really keen, Pumping Nylon by Scott Tennant is a great book of exercises -- right and left hands.
Play arpeggios until your fingers know where the strings are
Kinda like this
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjoizxBHYgQ[/youtube]

The Guiliani right hand exercises are good. So are the Sor and Carcassi progressives.

I can scan some of these and post em if you want or can't find them anywhere.

The biggest thing is to not move your fingers too much -- watch John Williams or David Russell. The right hand looks like it's hardly moving.
Depends what you want to do really, but those Guiliani exercises worked for me. So, Albert Collins or Freddie King is a piece of cake (Getting the feel right is another thing altogether though).
I have one of those silent travel guitars and used to sit and play scales and arpeggios and exercises on it while watching movies.

you want to be particularly aware of your right hand and right wrist position. it's important for the wrist to be relaxed, and not twisted at an uncomfortable angle; bad hand/wrist position can restrict your range of motion and speed, and also cause carpal tunnel-type problems you really don't want. in particular, you can't have your forearm or wrist nailed to the top of the guitar.

dubkitty wrote:you want to be particularly aware of your right hand and right wrist position. it's important for the wrist to be relaxed, and not twisted at an uncomfortable angle; bad hand/wrist position can restrict your range of motion and speed, and also cause carpal tunnel-type problems you really don't want. in particular, you can't have your forearm or wrist nailed to the top of the guitar.

Listen to the kitty -- very important unless you fancy giving up completely in 5 years because of the pain.