Fingerstyle Guitar Lesson 2 - by Gary Shepherd

[quantise]

Really appreciating these tutorials. I'm getting there, for the first time, thanks to the good pace and clarity of your teaching style.

[number1guitarplayer]

@quantise Great. I'm always glad to hear that my lessons are assisting someone with their playing, particularly if they've tried other methods that haven't worked for them in the past.

Cheers,

Gary

[Choopzilla]

you wouldn't happen to be form New Zealand would you?

[number1guitarplayer]

@Choopzilla Close, but not quite. I'm in Australia. Specifically, in sunny Queensland, which has been more like rainy England for the past couple of months.

Cheers,

Gary

[mathiasLEcurious]

@number1guitarplayer ahaha mate it has indeed been more like rainy england...found your videos im 16 loving the style hoping to near master it. I love how you are giving me skills to use for myself instead of just teaching songs. Thanks.

[number1guitarplayer]

@mathiasLEcurious That's it mate. You've hit the nail on the head. That's EXACTLY what I try to do - give players the skills to apply for themselves instead of just teaching songs by rote. Cheers.

[TonyTheDriver100]

Hmmm, wish I had met you 40 years ago. Don't know how I'm going to use my new found knowledge but......

Thanks for posting these lessons.

[number1guitarplayer]

@TonyTheDriver100 Thanks for the compliment. I hope the lessons DO help you out. It's taken me a long time to learn how to teach this style in a way that breaks it down sufficiently to make it 'easy' for people to pick up.

Cheers from Downunder,

Gary

[5232jack]

thank u so much man u r a saver u r great

[number1guitarplayer]

@5232jack Hey, thanks for the nice comment. I'm always glad to hear my lessons are helping people to improve their playing.]

Cheers,

Gary

[Paulsouthworth]

Wow, I have picked up the guitar again after 15 years and was looking to progress in finger style. Your lessons have been a great inspiration for me and I look forward to more. Cheers, Paul

[number1guitarplayer]

@Paulsouthworth Glad to hear my lessons are helping you. Just drop me a line if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Gary

[bullham]

You're a great teacher, and the speed yu teach is brilliant. Thanks for such a great batch of lessons. I can actually see progressing :D

[number1guitarplayer]

@bullham Thank you again. It's always great to know my lessons are helping.

[number1guitarplayer]

Thanks for the nice comment. I'm glad to hear you are getting something positive from my lessons.

Gary

[MegaGnova]

wow u are great teacher i learn alot from u thx alot

[AverageKidd721]

Hey Gary, THANK U SOOO MUCH for all these lessons. i'm trying to teach myself guitar. ive been doing this for about 2 years and now im starting to take this seriously. but what is that u put on your thumb??

[number1guitarplayer]

@AverageKidd721 Thanks for the nice comment. A lot of the time I use a thumbpick on my right hand thumb. Usually I prefer either National or Planetwaves medium thumbpicks. You certainly don't NEED to use one, but I find it best for producing a sound like Chet Atkins or Merle Travis, both of whom used them. They have advantages and disadvantages. I'd encourage you to learn firstly without a thumbpick, and once you're comfortable with that, experiment with one.

Cheers from Downunder,

Gary

[wilkiecoco]

Gary Thanks for the lessons. I've been playing wrong all my life. I play one style of travis picking using only my thumb and forefinger. Please chastise me now and tell me what a fool I've been. But I'm 53 years old. Is it too late for me to change?

[number1guitarplayer]

@wilkiecoco Well ... funnily enough, that's exactly how Merle Travis played [as did his contemporaries like Ike Everly and Mose Rager]. Obviously, though, that means the poor old index finger is working pretty hard. I don't think it's too late to change, and in fact, I think with your years of experience, and a little perseverance, you'll be surprised how quickly using three fingers becomes second-nature.

Cheers from Downunder,

Gary

[Abdulla1993]

Hey Gary .. I just notice that when you played the E chord in the almost last of the lesson u didn't hit the 5th string with your right hand but you pressed it with your left hand , so is it doesn't matter or what ?!

[number1guitarplayer]

@Abdulla1993 For this tune it doesn't matter - but I do want you to hold it down, because there are bass patterns which use that note, and it's better to get used to playing the whole chord, even if there's a note you don't play with the right hand.

Cheers,

Gary

[Abdulla1993]

hey gary .. when u played the E chord u didn't hit the 5th string with your right hand , but u press it with your left hand so it doesn't matter ?!

[Pogue999]

Thank Gary, I am only on the second video, but your instruction looks good and the time you took to put this together is much appreciated--Eric in Vancouver BC.

[number1guitarplayer]

@Pogue999 Thanks, Eric. Glad it's helping your playing.

Cheers from Downunder,

Gary

[chinhchinh2808]

another question if you don't mind... so i just want to play another song with fingerstyle but it's really hard to read notes you know like my eyes an hands can't come together fluently ... do you have any suggestion to improve my note-reading skills while playing?

[number1guitarplayer]

@chinhchinh2808 I'm not too sure what you mean by "read notes". Are you trying to read the melody, or chords? If it's the melody; and you're trying to work out an arrangement for fingerstyle, you'll have to have a knowledge of inversions and maybe some chord substitution. Most songs, of course can be broken down to 3 or 4 chords. Work out the melody and then find the chord inversions that fit the melody, rather than the other way round. I'm going to film some more advanced lessons soon.

Gary

[chinhchinh2808]

hey Gary i can't find a way to stretch my little finger and it's really frustrated when i tried to change this chord to another chord... any tips to help me practicing stretching my fingers and moving them around nicely?

[number1guitarplayer]

@chinhchinh2808 The simplest one is to play each string, starting with the Bass E at the 10th fret with your index finger, then 2nd fret middle, 3rd fretring finger, and 4th fret  little finger. Hold each one down as you add a new finger [so, by the time you're playing the little finger, you've got all four fingers on your left hand down. Work across the guitar string by string, and then move down one fret and do it all again. As you move down the neck the frets get wider, so there's a stretch.

[pjwidgtar]

hey Gary...i was just worried about positioning my hand...and becoz i am a beginner i feel bad habits may creep in fast....any tips???

[number1guitarplayer]

I think you should position your hand however it feels comfortable. For barre chords I usually like to make sure my left hand thumb is in the middle of the back of the neck. In terms of your right hand, just let it fall naturally. Look at how my hand is sitting when I'm talking at the beginning of this video. There's no great mystery to it all - if it feels comfortable for you then it's right. Everyone's hand is different, so there's no one technique that works for everyone.

Cheers,

Gary

[Cemsacoolcat]

Hey i became interseted in learning fingerstyle after seeing sungha jung play, if anyone does not know who he is you should really type him into yourube he is insane. Anyway i play electric guitar to and your lessons are really helping me so far with my fingerstyle :)

[number1guitarplayer]

@Cemsacoolcat Thankyou for the nice comment. I'm really glad when I hear that my lessons are helping someone to expand their guitar playing skills. Stay tuned because I'll post some more lessons in the near future.

Cheers,

Gary

[idku711]

Gary, I was wondering

if I was suppose to be able to learn the first lesson

In a couple of hours

[number1guitarplayer]

Well, I guess that depends on how good you are. A couple of hours should be sufficient :-)

I go a little slower with my lessons than some teachers, because I think that many teachers presume too much. I'd rather see a student accomplish something positive from each lesson.

Cheers,

Gary

[idku711]

Oh ok thank you..

I was just making sure that I wasnt rushing through

the lesson

Because I'm kind of a beginner

[DardisMusic]

Your first FS lesson was a nice intro. and this (I admit) was much more of a challenge for me. But I have really enjoyed learning this new pattern and the couple of new chords I have had to learn (I neglected my little finger for far too long) - I will move on to your third lesson in a day or two! Hip hip ..

Thanks for these lessons anyway - this old dog is learning new tricks!

[number1guitarplayer]

Glad to hear that my lessons are helping to advance your playing. It's always a great pleasure for me to know that the stuff I'm passing on leads players in the right direction with respect to fingerstyle guitar.

Gary

[number1guitarplayer]

@DardisMusic Just touching base to see if the lessons are still working for you. How far have you progressed?

Cheers,

Gary

[jernieg]

Hey, Gary - you're a great resource. I became interested in learning fingerstyle after seeing Doc Watson play Deep River Blues at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass fest. in CA last year. I'm guessing (Shallow Creek, haha) that's where we're going? Thanks again!!!

[number1guitarplayer]

Thanks for the nice comment. I'm always glad to hear that someone is getting something positive from my video lessons.

Cheers,

Gary

[Corrimeala]

Just a suggestion Gary, how about starting a yahoo group? They are free. You could upload pdf files to them and I'm sure you would get a number of your followers from here. Thanks for your lessons, I'm really finding them helpful.

[Corrimeala]

Think your lessons would be enhanced if it was possible to download a pdf of those E7th and diminished chords. Even the tab of the music. Are you an Aussie, certainly sound it. I'm in Victoria

[number1guitarplayer]

Yeah, you're right ... if only I could figure out how to do that. I'll investigate and get back to you. I am an Aussie, from Redland Bay, outside of Brisbane.

Cheers,

Gary Shepherd

[31danielx]

Thanks a million for these lessons

[number1guitarplayer]

You are most welcome. I'm glad to hear you are getting something from my lessons.

Cheers,

Gary

[BashYouLongtime]

You rock! These lessons helped me learn alot about fingerstyle, I've always wanted to play it, and now I can thanks to you! Haha I enjoy it, say have you heard of Andy McKee? And also, on an unrelated note, you look like my best friend's dad so awesome heh.

[number1guitarplayer]

Thanks. Glad you're getting something from the lessons. I'm posting some more in the next few days. Andy McKee is a fine player.

Cheers,

Gary

[soulspirit86]

thx for your vids. it really helped me on improving with my right-hand

[number1guitarplayer]

You're more than welcome. I hope to be able to post some new videos soon. It's just difficult to get the time.

Cheers,

Gary

[otothefuck]

You are a great teacher! For starters this could be a really useful lesson! A lot of great chords there, easy to understand explanation and that nice accent! I agree on the thumb picks, I recently got my first one (i usually play with a regular pick) and the edge seems too far off the thumb. Messes a lot of things up by that way.

[number1guitarplayer]

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you like the lessons. I hope to post some more as sson as I can get the time to do the filming.

Cheers,

Gary

[number1guitarplayer]

Thanks so much for the nice comment. I've seen Sungha Jung - wonderful player. I hope to post some more lessons soon.

Gary

[Swdea93]

I hope you do too :P I like your accent, easy to listen to. Thanks once again for the great videos!

[renuthuf65]

sungha inspired me

[alidi13]

me 2

[Swdea93]

Great lesson! Gonna follow your videos all summer! Been seraching for quite a while for a good video lesson but the others are mainly doing commercial in theirs. I got the idea of playing fingerstyle from Sungha Jung, which plays extremly good! Check him out if you haven't done that. Thanks ALOT once again, this stuff is really gold worth for people like me :)

[XZTsunamiXZ]

Cheers, this helps loads you're very good at what you do

[number1guitarplayer]

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you like the lessons.

Gary

[ikobikob]

hey hey, i love your vids!!! one question.. i feel like my thumb picks are too big in the edge.. could you please tell me the fabricator and the model of the pick you use, if possible of course, i'd be glad to know , so i can buy one :) thanx again for your beautyfull vids! have a nice day and keep on teaching and rocking!

[number1guitarplayer]

Thanks for the compliment. I use Planet Waves thumbpicks most of the time, although I prefer National mediums [they're hard to get in my neck of the woods]. Thumbpicks are strange things - you can try ten of the same brand and gauge just to find one that suits. So don't assume that they'll all feel the same. I don't know why this is - you would think they could be all made the same. I like a short protrusion, so that I can mute effectively with the fleshy heel of my hand when I want.

[lerninguitar]

"I don't know why this is - you would think they could be all made the same."

Whether plastic that's molded and formed while curing, or stamped and formed, the variations in manufacture are greater than your tactile sensitivity. It's acute in humans to begin with and as a guitar player yours is no doubt even more fine-tuned.

[Vegeta101691]

i havent seen all of ur videos but will you be teaching any full fingerstyle songs?

[goshep1]

Yes, hopefully I'll be able to post some lessons on complete songs. I have to look out for copyright infringement though. I'm also hoping to post some lessons on fingerstyle 'tricks' of some of the well known singer/songwriters, so that people can use them to work out the actual songs, without breaching any copyright laws.

[jteblue]

Thank you for the lesson it was another good one

[number1guitarplayer]

Thanks again. Check out lesson 3. It sort of brings it all together. In the next lesson I post, I'll be showing a couple of other trick variations that be be put to good use, and starting a new tune.

[pilings]

when will you post more lessons

[pilings]

when will you post more lesson

[number1guitarplayer]

I will try to get more lessons posted in the next few weeks. It's just trying to find the time that's difficult. I'm glad you like the lessons. If there's anything in particular that you'd like to see in future lessons let me know.

Cheers,

Gary