Fingerpicking and scales - help to get going please

[Perra]

I am at a beginner level as guitarist, played on and off for a bit more than a year, but to be honest to much of it is "off-time".
Right now it is more like 3-4 weeks (1 month) being consistent...and then 1-2 even 3 months of sporadic pracitcing or just playing/strumming.
Started out with a dreadnought Freshman FA400d wanting to learn some chords, strumming tecniques, to be able to play more and more of my favourites.
Yeah, I know It is not in the pricerange many may look when buying your first guitar, but does not say much about my playing. Just got it at a nice price....and hey, It is usually worth paying for a little more quality, right ?!

Anyhow, love the guitar, nice solid wood guitar for a sweet price. Just great, and guess it will sound better and better with time I guess. So guitar is just fine, but my playing aint!
And most of all, more and more I am starting to enjoy and want to learn fingerpicking so now I sort of want to start of with something basically new to me again.
It is just something that feels relaxing to me, both listening and trying to play. And that is really one of tjhe things I love most about playing...do not have that need to be great, love the mix of fun and relaxation!


Problem is, much of my guitarfavourite-folders/bookmarks in chrome is based around chords/strumming/song-sites etc.

And now I would appreciate and love to get a few hinst and pointers to sites helping me get going with fingerpicking.

I follow Steve E:sa course now on Jamplay and would mainly appreicate the following to complement those episodes.

1) Some sites or youtubevideos helping with a few very simple songs, ballads etc that ) I can practice. You know, just to get the feeling and the joy of actually "playing a song".
Would be nice to have at least 10 easy beginner ballads/songs to play.
Real songs or "for practice" does not matter. Also preferebly where my left hand dont have to travel to much up and down the fretboards.
Dont mean it have to be supereasy, as in learn in a week or so. More like needs practice but very possible for a beginner to learn. (with a little patience)

2) Some site/series of youtubevideos etc around the "most importnat" scales/patterns that preferebly do so combining suggestions on practicemoments/sessions and theory.
Preferebly around those scales/patterns that will be most helpful and improtant for me to know as a beginner.

Hopefully this, together with Steve E:s courses and some free time during the summer holidays can help me get a new kickstart and a better consistency the over the summer!
Well, that together with a nice little summerpresent found on sale and ordered for myself; A new Furch vintage-guitar that accordning to reviews etc on the web should be great for some fingerpicking ....and some relaxed jamming in those summerevenings

Really appreicate all help I can get friends, and if you have any other sites, advice etc that may help me..
Well, anything helping me get going and stay motivates is a great help! Thanks in advance

[alelms]

Steve Eulberg (I assume that's who you are talking about) has some good fingerpicking lessons on JamPlay. Another good instructor is Eve Goldberg. In addition to her lessons, I highly recommend you join her live Q&A sessions on Thursday at 8pm EST. (Check out the schedule on the JamPlay home page for your time zone.) Eve has a good, patient way of teaching relatively easy songs with some fingerpicking patterns. She also starts her sessions asking what people are working on and helping where she can.

You also may want to fingerpick some of the songs you already know. You already know the chords, and I assume you like the songs, so you got a lot done there. Maybe Eve could recommend some picking patterns for one of your songs. You also could arpeggiate the chords for the songs you know, maybe a little bass-root, bass-third, bass-fifth instead of strumming. That would help get the coordination going with the right hand while not worrying about your left hand.

Good luck!

[Perra]

Steve Eulberg (I assume that's who you are talking about) has some good fingerpicking lessons on JamPlay. Another good instructor is Eve Goldberg. In addition to her lessons, I highly recommend you join her live Q&A sessions on Thursday at 8pm EST. (Check out the schedule on the JamPlay home page for your time zone.) Eve has a good, patient way of teaching relatively easy songs with some fingerpicking patterns. She also starts her sessions asking what people are working on and helping where she can.

You also may want to fingerpick some of the songs you already know. You already know the chords, and I assume you like the songs, so you got a lot done there. Maybe Eve could recommend some picking patterns for one of your songs. You also could arpeggiate the chords for the songs you know, maybe a little bass-root, bass-third, bass-fifth instead of strumming. That would help get the coordination going with the right hand while not worrying about your left hand.

Good luck!

"arpeggiate the chords for the songs you know, maybe a little bass-root, bass-third, bass-fifth instead of strumming"

See, these are the things I am embarassed to admit I still have little knowledge of. Both in theory and when it comes to "terminology" ( is that the word? ) and I guess that is partly from lack of time practicing and learning both fingerpicking and some guitar theory. But partly maybe also because I am not natively english speaking, so even if music often is a universal language some parts takes some time, or searching the web for explanations of terminology, theory etc.

Important, it is not that I do not appreciate your help. Just that I am not really there at that "level" yet to talk the talk you talk

But the the suggestions on teachers and livechats sounds great! Will check Eves courses and also try attend her livechat if it is at hours that works for me in an european timezone. Thanks for the suggestions, appreciated

[alelms]

Sorry for the confusion. Sticking with the JamPlay lessons that you feel comfortable with is the best thing to do. JamPlay has great instructors.

I am like you and still learning to play. I get a lot from the JamPlay lessons. What I meant by arpeggiate is to fingerpick the notes of the chords. As you play your song, strum the chord, then pick each of the strings separately. Once you get used to that, pick the strings in different orders that sound nice to you and match the song. It’s a fun way to learn finger control while making the songs your own.

Lessons from Steve and Eve will help with the fingering and picking.

Some of the standard advice from the different instructors on JamPlay is to practice a little each day. They say 10 minutes per day is better than 1 hour every 4 or 5 days. I try to do that, and find it helps.

[nwhy]

And most of all, more and more I am starting to enjoy and want to learn fingerpicking so now I sort of want to start of with something basically new to me again.
It is just something that feels relaxing to me, both listening and trying to play. And that is really one of tjhe things I love most about playing...do not have that need to be great, love the mix of fun and relaxation!

Search on YouTube for fingerstyle guitar songs, or even 25 fingerstyle songs and you will find lots to choose from, and some are relatively simple.

To get the feeling and the joy of actually "playing a song", what could be better than learning an Eric Clapton song? This one is pretty easy -- "Tears in Heaven" -- and you will find over a dozen YouTube videos about how to play it (and some with Eric Clapton playing it too) and tabs and sheet music are available in many arrangements. This lesson is aimed at beginners:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdjo9FSjVjs

[Perra]

Search on YouTube for fingerstyle guitar songs, or even 25 fingerstyle songs and you will find lots to choose from, and some are relatively simple.

To get the feeling and the joy of actually "playing a song", what could be better than learning an Eric Clapton song? This one is pretty easy -- "Tears in Heaven" -- and you will find over a dozen YouTube videos about how to play it (and some with Eric Clapton playing it too) and tabs and sheet music are available in many arrangements. This lesson is aimed at beginners:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdjo9FSjVjs

Great! Thanx a lot, will check it out.
This is kind of exactly the things I was looking for.
And, yeah...I know there is lots of stuff on YouTube but that is also booth great and still just the thing that makes up for trouble as a beginner.

There is loads of vids tagged something like ...easy, beginner ... with songs, scales, hints, help.
And still not as many of them are that easy or lack in explaining and showing anyways. Sure, some are good and some mean well. Still not as many are great, really Well done, and those who are is not that easy to find since YouTube and searching ...well,, let us just say it is kind of frustrating from time to time haha

Hence as a beginner I really appreciate anytime anyone can point me to videos, lessons, teachers etc they have tried and tested, and got the feeling they where great.

So thanx again, and hopefully there will be a few more links to nice vids etc. greatly appreciated!

[nwhy]

Right, YouTube (and the internet in general) is a both blessing and a curse. It's good that stuff is there, but it is up to you to find the right stuff for you.
For one thing, 'easy' means different things to different people. If you want easy finger picking songs, well, songs aren't generally written to be easy, and even the ones which are simple to start with are not so simple by the time the producer is done with them. So what you should do is watch the video of someone playing a song to see how complicated it is. Since finger picking songs can have melody, harmony, bass lines, and whatever, all being played on the guitar, they can be complicated. Look for the things that make it harder: awkward chords and finger stretches, complicated rhythms, speed, and so on. So evaluate that when you see songs played; find something that looks simple and that you like. You will end up having to play it a lot to learn it, so make it something you like. Then when you do find one, remember that "easy to play" is not the same as "easy to learn". Everything is easy once you know how ... and you practice it enough. So do it a little bit at a time. Don't do the whole song at once. I would even say to learn the melody line alone first. And memorize everything. It sounds hard, but it's easier in the long run. Then you can concentrate on playing and not have to keep looking elsewhere and thinking about what it means. Do a little bit at a time and you will get a little bit better each time. Just keep doing it; it takes time.

For learning fingerpicking, the classical guitar lessons on JamPlay are good, even if you are not interested in classical guitar. Those techniques are helpful.

[nwhy]

These are not all fingerpicking, and I won't say they are easy, but these 20+ guitar intros might inspire you.
https://youtu.be/9UNuqYFP-pM
Rick Beato: "In this video I countdown my Top 20 Acoustic Guitar Introductions of All-Time."