Right-Hand Technique: the most valuable concept you need to knowš - YouTube this also helped a lot because it shows the anatomy of our fingers and where the correct movement comes from . Hope it helps.
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I have a question about the chord progression used in the 5 Fingerstyle Patterns lesson:
What key is this in?
The chords are Am C Dm E
These sound really nice together. Iām also working through the Strumming course and decided to use this progression in that courseās exercises to make them more interesting while helping me get better at making the changes (which is working great as an approach).
To figure out what the key is I wrote every natural noteās major and minor scale and each keyās chords - I canāt figure it out! Maybe they arenāt in a key? Any help would be appreciated (even if itās a hint and not the complete answer).
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I could be wrong, but it looks like the key of A minor, with E major being a borrowed chord. I have seen that sometimes the 5 chord in a minor key is replaced by its major version, which emphasizes the return to the tonic. So Em is replaced by E, which precedes Am in this progression.
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Am is the closest I got / interesting to learn about substituting the major 5th, thatās good to know, and sounds great!
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When doing the practice with Guitar Pro, I noticed the GP file was wrong - it said it loops 4x but itās only set to loop twice.
Here is an updated file I edited with correct looping.
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Hi there. I play much better using my little finger as an anchor, but after just one song it really achesā¦ā¦is this something you have to persist with and strengthen it???
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Hi @Craigward, Iām guessing youāre pressing down too hard with the anchor pinky. You really should just let it rest lightly on the guitar. The purpose of the anchor is just to orient your hand position relative to the guitar/strings and you only need to be touching the guitar to achieve this.
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Thanks pal
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Did the PDF file of the patterns ever get posted? Iām not seeing it in the resources tab.
[mod note - not yet, I have raised it again with the team]
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Hi everyoneā¦ā¦I have learned all the patterns pretty well. Could I just ask, are the first 2 patterns just a basic way of getting the basics right and it is the 3 more complexed patterns we use for songs?
Also I am much better at the very last one taught and feel most confident with that one, but when I play songs I just stick with that oneā¦.is it better using different patterns with different songs or even using 2 different patterns for one song?
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@Craigward canāt answer you but I find your questions all very interesting and hope theyāll be answered!
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Unlike strumming, where most or all of the strings will be sounded at once, fingerstyle allows for a little flexibility in when you move your fingers to change to the next chord. Even more so if your last note or two are open strings that will continue to sound even with a chord change happening.
The first change here is Am to C. You have two anchor fingers and an open string played last. The 3rd finger movement to make the C chord needs to happen after the count of and after 4 and before the count of 1. The next changes have no anchor finger and the last note is fretted so you simply need to make the changes clean and swift after the count of and after 4 and before the count of 1.
Thanks for the heads up @Thymas
These instructions show what you describe and how to achieve the repeats.
The 4x written above every fourth bar is Free Text. The file is actually set to play just one repeat, two times through each section.
To change the repeats from two to four, make sure the cursor is within the fourth bar.
Find the āRepeat Closeā tool.
Turn it off by clicking once.
Turn it back on by clicking once. In the new floating pane that opens, increase from the default 2 repeats to 4. Or more if you want more.
You will now see above the fourth bar that 4x appears directly above the double bar.
You need to go through this same process for all sections.
Thanks for sharing the ready-made version JK.
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The little finger anchor is not for everybody.
I can use it if I make a conscious effort but years and years of not doing so allied with not having trained myself out of not doing so mean my default is not. I do tend to anchor the outer edge of my palm on my bridge at times. A little like palm muting but further back.
One thing I would suggest is to look at the entire position of your guitar - the angle it makes coming away from you, the angle of your forearm and wrist as they approach and sit above the strings. Is your hand placed so that your thumb sticks a little to the side of your fingers, not within the same space?
This shows good thumb / finger position without a 4th finger anchor.
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The key of A minor and the E chord is used instead of the Em chord (which is the actual diatonic chord to the key) as it gives a stronger resolution back to the tonic. Using a major V or a V7 is very common in minor key progressions. It can be viewed as a borrowed chord (borrowed from the parallel major key of A major) and it can be seen as using the harmonic minor scale (which was created to give the major V chord specifically.
You can use any pattern anywhere you like really. Many songs will use patterns that are more complex than the first simple ones learned here but that does not preclude them ever being used in songs. And as you are beginning to learn the technique you can play these patterns to any song you like at first, as a step in.
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Are you conducting some old thread archaeology?
This is now fixed and the pdf is available.
Sorry that it took so long.
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Thank you!
What sort of speed should I be aiming for as a good baseline level? After some practicing I can now play through the Guitar Pro file with the 5 patterns sequentially without mistakes at 1x speed, but I saw thatās only 80bpm (albeit with 8th notes so I guess its like being able to play 160bpm quarter notes). Was wondering what a āusefulā speed is for playing a good range of songs, as Iād like to keep working on it but nice to have a target to aim for.