In lesson 3 of this Country Guitar Bootcamp, we'll explore fingerstyle guitar! This versatile concept is perfect for adding nuance to your rhythm playing, especially in slower tempo tracks like a ballad or to generally vary the dynamics in your playing.
We can adapt some core ideas from strumming patterns and alternating bass note ideas from Lesson 1 and 2 into a fingerstyle approach.
Method 1 - Finger Brush
Starting always with the root note on beat 1 using your thumb, followed by a pattern of thumb, down, up, thumb, up, down, up.
Use your first finger to brush the remainder of any chord on the 'downs' and 'ups' of this pattern shown above.
To elevate further, we can add the alternating bass notes with the thumb.
Method 2 - Finger Picking Patterns
Next, we'll dive into a more traditional finger picking pattern;
On a root 6 chord, such as our G chord, use your thumb to alternate between the root note and open D string
Use the middle finger to pluck the G string and ringer finger to pluck the B string between each thumb note
Pattern: thumb, middle, thumb, ring, thumb, middle, thumb, ring
Add swing for a more dynamic feel!
There a many variations for finger style patterns, so it is open to some experimentation, improvisation and preference!
Method 3 - Travis Picking
Finally, we’ll cover Travis picking, named after Merle Travis. This classic fingerstyle pattern involves a steady alternating bass with your thumb, combined with syncopated treble notes using your fingers. On a G chord, the thumb alternates between strings 6, 4, 5, and 4, while on a C chord, it moves from the 5th to 6th strings. This technique adds a signature "bounce" to your playing, perfect for a classic country sound.
