Below is the lesson for “Fingerpicking Etude no. 20”.

Helpful Tips

Learn an etude that recaps techniques and playing styles which are typically learned throughout the beginner to intermediate level. First off, if you are new to seeing how I define the beginner, intermediate, and advanced player, please take a look at this guide; which offers suggestions on what each level should be working on, as well as, have under your belt before advancing to the next level.

But for this etude, I’ve compiled the “greatest hits”, in terms of techniques and playing styles, which are typically learned throughout the beginner to intermediate level. Let’s break down this piece to see what exactly is contained within it:

Melody A: Here we have a single note melody line that is fingerpicked with Picado. This technique involves us using the index and middle fingers in an alternating picking fashion. This is a great technique for building fingerpicking speed and is also used to create a bright, punchy tone.

If you are new to this technique, check out this lesson which breaks down the mechanics behind it (premium & basic members: check out this lesson).

Melody B: In the second theme, we dive into a fingerpicked chord melody. This section can be performed with either a three or four finger approach for fingerpicking.

Melody C: If we think about the previous melody, our chords were all located within position 1 (frets 0-4). In this section, we’ll breakaway from the beginning of the neck to play chords higher up the fretboard. In essence, we are utilizing the CAGED method.

This section should also be performed more dynamically. We want the higher voiced chords to be played with more gust than the chords located at the beginning of the neck. But, we also want to make sure that the transition from softer to louder and back is done naturally.

Finally, in this melody, as well as Melody D, we’ll use one of the 2 chucking techniques to add a percussive effect to our rhythm playing. We’ll also dive into which chucking technique to use when playing chords that are strummed versus plucked.

Part 1 – Performance & Free Lesson

Part 2 – For Premium Members

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