Fingerstyle Learning Pathway

We're with you every step of the way in this Learning Pathway. In every lesson, Collin will break down a new concept then run through drills with you so you can lock it into your muscle memory. To cap off each day's work, you'll put what you learned in a musical context so you can level up fast.

‍

‍Day 1. Get Set Up

Before you start plucking away, it’s important to get set up for success. Establishing proper technique will help you avoid injury and make playing acoustic fingerstyle as easy as possible. Today, you’ll work on finding a default position for your picking and fretting hands so you feel comfortable every time you pick up the guitar.

‍

‍Day 2. How to Feel Rhythm

Every great six-string slingin’ finger pickin’ player knows that rhythm is king. In today’s session, you’ll get to grips with how to feel rhythm and use it when strumming chords.

‍

‍Day 3. Motor Skills 101

Fingerstyle guitarists rely on fine motor skills to bring out the secret melodies hidden in chord progressions.

Today, you’ll start on the first leg (or finger!) of your acoustic fingerpicking journey. To do this, it’s important to spend time training the motor skills in each of your fingers.

‍

Day 4. Developing Motor Skills

Today we’ll continue building up your fine-motor-skill foundation by switching focus to your fretting hand. Your goal is to have clear notes ring out when you play, free of any buzzing sound.

‍

Day 5. G Major Scale

Today, we’ll review some key points, then shift focus to making music by applying fingerpicking patterns to the G major scale – a staple for guitarists of any style.

‍

Day 6. Stepping Stones

With some solid technical skills locked in, we'll start playing songs. Fun! This lesson is all about putting your skills to the test in a musical context. 

‍

Day 7. Coffee Break

Recap what you learned and learn a final song to make sure you're ready for Grade 2.

‍Days 1-3. T123, T321, and T213

Over the first three days of Grade 2, we’re going to get your fingers moving independently in all sorts of ways. You'll learn new chords as you drill various patterns into your muscle memory.

‍

‍Day 4. 6/8 Fingerpicking

Today we’ll look at a fingerstyle pattern in 6/8 time. Fear not, it won’t take much to fit your techniques into this new time signature – you'll have done so much work with 4/4 patterns in previous days, adding two more plucks into the mix will be a walk in the park

‍

‍Day 5. The Pinch

Feeling crabby? 🦀 Today, you’ll expand your bag of tricks with a new move, the pinch! This is a beautiful compositional tool that will add a strong sense of melody to your fingerpicking progressions.

‍

‍Day 6.  Folky Thumbpicking

Today you’ll get familiar with folky thumbpicking technique. Don’t be surprised if this picking pattern sounds familiar. Songs like Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours and countless other hits have used this folky feel in recent years.

‍

‍Day 7. Recap, Check-Ins, Star Gazing

Here, you'll review what you worked on in Grade 2, take a series of assessments to make sure you're ready to move on, and wrap up with a new song.

‍Day 1. Key of C

The key of C major is perfect for incorporating open-string chords. We'll kick off the grade by exploring colorful extended chords, then tackle expressive hammer-on and pull-off techniques.

‍

‍Day 2. Expanding the Key of C

Next, Collin will show you how to get more out of any major key by accessing its relative minor scale. You'll also build on what you learned in Day 1 by playing micro-melodies within a chord.

‍

‍Day 3. The Keaggy Stretching Exercise

On Day 3, you'll hit the finger gym with a finger-stretching exercise that'll help you fret some seriously stretchy chords.

‍

‍Day 4. Key of G

After that, we'll switch gears to G major as you identify different ways to incorporate a walking bassline into your playing with leading tones and triad inversions.

‍

‍Day 5. Expanding the Key of G

Today is all about expanding your chordal vocabulary. Collin will guide you through lush extended chords that'll bring your rhythm playing to life.

‍

Day 6. Capo Unlocked

On Day 6, you'll unlock the ability to play colorful open-string chords in any key with the help of your handy-dandy capo. We'll put today's lesson through the lens of CAGED system chord shapes to help you better visualize the concepts.

‍

Day 7. How to Break Free From Patterns

In nearly every style of guitar, rhythm is king. Acoustic fingerstyle is no exception. Today, you'll work on shaking up the rhythm of your picking patterns with a series of drills and exercises that'll put your sense of groove to the test.

‍

Day 8. How to Add Melodies to Chords

This lesson is a game changer – at this point in the Learning Pathway, you'll have developed a solid foundation for rhythm, bass, and chords. All that's left is the melody. Today, you'll work on adding this final piece of the puzzle into your playing so you can make your guitar sound like a three-piece band.

‍

Day 9. Setting Sun

Today, we'll focus solely on taking what you learned and making it musical. You'll learn an original composition by Collin that'll cover everything you've learned in Grade 3.

‍

Day 10. Composition Challenge

To cap off the grade, we'll review what you learned and challenge you to arrange your own fingerstyle tune within a set of creative parameters.