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 Lesson Sheetss
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'WHIPpick-a-way!' - An introduction to Finger picking.

  • Finger Picking is a technique used to play chords individually, one string at a time in certain patterns

  • There are many patterns and techniques to it.

  • In this lesson we are going to look at;

    • 'Pima' classical finger picking tecchnique

    • 'Inside/ Outside' a piece to practise finger picking

    • Applying finger picking to a song -'Knocking on Heavens Door'

 

 Classical Finger Picking Technique - Pima

  • Used to notate which finger picks which string

  • Right hand fingers labelled as below rather than numbered to avoid confusion with left hand fingers.

Pima stands for;

P - Pulgar / Thumb
i - Indice / Index finger
m - Medio / Middle finger
a - Anular / Ring finger

 

Pima Exercises and Piece

Set your fingers up as follows;

  • thumb on the G (4th) string

  • index finger on the C (3rd) string

  • middle finger on the E (2nd) string

  • ring finger on the A (1st) string

 PHOTO HERE
1) Play down through your fingers on the open strings from your thumb on the G string down to your ring finger on the A string. Do it slowly and try to make each string even in volume.
2) Play up through your strings from the ring finger to the thumb.

'A Little River Walk'

  • Set up your LEFT HAND fingers to a chord of C before you start

  • Set your RIGHT HAND fingers to Pima arrangement as above.

If you would like the score download of 'A Little River Walk' please Click Here...
To hear what the piece sounds like please press play below...

'Inside/ Outside'

 

'Knocking on Heavens Door'

  • For this song we are going to finger-pick the verse and strum through the chorus

  • The song needs 4 chords so let's learn those first;

  • They  are played in this arrangement;

          G G D D |  Am Am Am Am |

          G G D D |  C    C   C    C    ||

  • We are going to use the following score to help us with the simplified  finger picking pattern;

If you would like a score of this arrangement of 'Knocking on Heavens Door' then please Click here...
To hear what the piece sounds like please press play below...

 

 

 

 

   © J. Cockshott 2015 : Terms and Conditions