Fingerstyle 01 - Single Finger Exercises

These two exercises are for those who are completely new to fingerstyle. It can also be used for those who want to double check their technique with the principals covered in the introduction on the previous pages.

To get started, we’re going to play each string one at a time using the correct digit on the finger picking hand. We’re going to stick to a C chord only for now, but you could do this for any chord or chord sequence you like. Try this same exercise with any other chord you like if you need more time to get used to this new fingerstyle techniques.

I have written which digit to pluck the string with above each barre, use this same digit for every two bars until the next digit is written. This should be played at a stead pace of around 80 bpm, which is a little faster than a ticking clock.

Single Finger Exercise 1

Single Finger Exercise 2 - add a strum

Here we are simply going to add a strum of the normal C major to the above exercise. Strums in fingerstyle are commonly done with the nail of the first finger, which should emulate the sound of a pick.