Fingerstyle Guitar From Scratch

This book illustrates the basics of the Arpeggio Style and the Travis Style (alternating bass) forms of guitar vocal accompaniment. More specifically, you ll be using your fingers to pick the individual notes out of common chords to backup your voice instead of strumming or picking those chords with a pick. It s just a kinder, gentler way to play rhythm guitar. Think of Dust in the Wind, "Blackbird," Scarborough Fair, Landslide, Leader of the Band and Time in a Bottle. These are among the songs we ll use to explore this style.
Learning the picking patterns themselves (presented in tablature, by the way) is fairly straightforward; the trick is in the coordination of the fretting and picking hands during the transitions from chord to chord. We'll cover a number of principles that help you navigate through these changes without losing the beat. At the end of the book, you ll see the 20 main arpeggios and the 20 main Travis patterns summarized for easy reference.


Table of Contents

Part One: FINGERSTYLE BASICS

Notation
The Picking Hand
Picking Philosophies
The Overlapping Tier System
The Fretting Hand
Bass/Tier Combinations
Practice with Arpeggio #1
The Continuity Principle
The Indiana Jones Principle
More Examples
Worst-Case Continuity Scenario
The Challenge
Other Meters: ¾ Time
Other Meters 6/8 Time
Back to 4/4 Time: Estudio
Meet the Twins
Other Simple Arpeggios
Arpeggios with Longer Sequences
Allegro
3/3/2/Time
20 Arpeggios: A Retrospective
Mixing Quarter and Eighth Notes
Meet the Threesome
More Samples from the Field
Game Show: Scarborough Fair
Bossa Nova: Girl From Ipanema


Part Two: TRAVIS-STYLE BASICS

Travis #1: Inside-Out Mechanics
Practice: City of New Orleans
Travis #2: Landslide
Travis #3: Outside-In
Variations: Travis #4 and #5
Picking Pattern Potpourri
Triple Alternating Bass
Walking Bassline
Travis #6: The Pinch Pattern
Dust in the Wind
Pinch Variations
Adding the Ring Finger
Drop D and the Ring Finger
More Variations
20 Travis Patterns: A Retrospective
Leader of the Band
Garden Party
Double-Picking
Helplessly Hoping
Travis-Style Departures
The Dance
Blackbird
The Next Level: Melodic Lines
Final Exam
Our 20 Arpeggios at a Glance
Our 20 Travis Patterns at a Glance