Finger pickin' good
With the guitar, sometimes I feel that I've progressed to this stage where I don't really know where to go next. Right now I'm just trying to learn various songs that challenge me to do different things so that I can pick up on the various techniques required to play the songs and then hopefully incorporate those techniques into other music. I'm sure that if I practiced scales and stuff like I did when I took piano lessons that would also help improve my technique heaps - but that's no fun!
There's this guy on YouTube that has done a couple really good John Mayer covers and I've watched his videos over and over to check out his technique. Here's one he did of "Why Georgia":
Aside from seeing how he frets the chords, I like watching his right hand technique. For the longest time I never realized how much more versatility you could add to your playing using your right hand. Different strumming patterns, muting some strings/all strings off an on while strumming, using a pick or using your fingers...it's stuff that you can't really get from looking at guitar tabs. I started learning how to play using a pick and I've been heavily dependent on a pick for my playing. But slowly I'm realizing how much more you can do if you use your fingers as well.
Watching kman518 in that video, it looks like he starts off Why Georgia finger picking and then when he gets to the first bridge with "Cause I wonder sometimes, about the outcome..." he switches to a strumming pattern using either a pick or his fingernail (it sounds like he's using a pick with the way he can attack the strings). If he is using a pick, he switches to it very quickly and efficiently without missing a beat in the song. I think John Mayer holds a pick between his ring finger and pinky when he plays some songs and kman518 could be doing the same...
I've been experimenting with ways of switching back and forth by holding a pick in my right hand while I play. I could always hold the pick between my lips but then I'd look funny doing it and you can't sing while holding a pick between your lips. But holding a pick between my fingers was really awkward and I kept dropping it. So instead, I hold it using only my pinky finger...
I've been practicing but it's hard to switch the pick back to my thumb and index finger. Maybe I just need to practice more...
I'm hoping that if I can master moving the pick in my right hand, I will be able to switch from fingerpicking to strumming with ease - even mid-song if necessary. For example, one of my favorite hymns is by Horatio Spafford called "It Is Well With My Soul" and I've been working on a cover of it that starts off nice and mellow using some fingerpicking. But then for the last couple verses I try to pick it up a bit and use the pick to build up the song to a stronger ending. I'll have to see what other uses I can come up with for the pinky pick hold...
There's this guy on YouTube that has done a couple really good John Mayer covers and I've watched his videos over and over to check out his technique. Here's one he did of "Why Georgia":
Aside from seeing how he frets the chords, I like watching his right hand technique. For the longest time I never realized how much more versatility you could add to your playing using your right hand. Different strumming patterns, muting some strings/all strings off an on while strumming, using a pick or using your fingers...it's stuff that you can't really get from looking at guitar tabs. I started learning how to play using a pick and I've been heavily dependent on a pick for my playing. But slowly I'm realizing how much more you can do if you use your fingers as well.
Watching kman518 in that video, it looks like he starts off Why Georgia finger picking and then when he gets to the first bridge with "Cause I wonder sometimes, about the outcome..." he switches to a strumming pattern using either a pick or his fingernail (it sounds like he's using a pick with the way he can attack the strings). If he is using a pick, he switches to it very quickly and efficiently without missing a beat in the song. I think John Mayer holds a pick between his ring finger and pinky when he plays some songs and kman518 could be doing the same...
I've been experimenting with ways of switching back and forth by holding a pick in my right hand while I play. I could always hold the pick between my lips but then I'd look funny doing it and you can't sing while holding a pick between your lips. But holding a pick between my fingers was really awkward and I kept dropping it. So instead, I hold it using only my pinky finger...
I've been practicing but it's hard to switch the pick back to my thumb and index finger. Maybe I just need to practice more...
I'm hoping that if I can master moving the pick in my right hand, I will be able to switch from fingerpicking to strumming with ease - even mid-song if necessary. For example, one of my favorite hymns is by Horatio Spafford called "It Is Well With My Soul" and I've been working on a cover of it that starts off nice and mellow using some fingerpicking. But then for the last couple verses I try to pick it up a bit and use the pick to build up the song to a stronger ending. I'll have to see what other uses I can come up with for the pinky pick hold...
Labels: Music
posted by Matt at 8:23 PM
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