Fingerstyle Guitar from Scratch – Picking Patterns for Vocal Accompaniment

This book illustrates the basics of the Arpeggio Style and the Travis Style (alternating bass) forms of guitar vocal accompaniment. More specifically, you ll be using your fingers to pick the individual notes out of common chords to backup your voice instead of strumming or picking those chords with a pick. It s just a kinder, gentler way to play rhythm guitar. Think of Dust in the Wind, “Blackbird,” Scarborough Fair, Landslide, Leader of the Band and Time in a Bottle. These are among the songs we ll use to explore this style. Learning the picking patterns themselves (presented in tablature, by the way) is fairly straightforward; the trick is in the coordination of the fretting and picking hands during the transitions from chord to chord. We’ll cover a number of principles that help you navigate through these changes without losing the beat. At the end of the book, you ll see the 20 main arpeggios and the 20 main Travis patterns summarized for easy reference. Table of Contents Part One: FINGERSTYLE BASICS Notation The Picking Hand Picking Philosophies The Overlapping Tier System The Fretting Hand Bass/Tier Combinations Practice with Arpeggio #1 The Continuity Principle The Indiana Jones Principle More Examples Worst-Case Continuity Scenario The Challenge Other Meters: 3/4 Time Other Meters 6/8 Time Back to 4/4 Time: Estudio Meet the Twins Other Simple Arpeggios Arpeggios with Longer Sequences Allegro 3/3/2/Time 20 Arpeggios: A Retrospective Mixing Quarter and Eighth Notes Meet the Threesome More Samples from the Field Game Show: Scarborough Fair Bossa Nova: Girl From Ipanema Part Two: TRAVIS-STYLE BASICS Travis #1: Inside-Out Mechanics Practice: City of New Orleans Travis #2: Landslide Travis #3: Outside-In Variations: Travis #4 and #5 Picking Pattern Potpourri Triple Alternating Bass Walking Bassline Travis #6: The Pinch Pattern Dust in the Wind Pinch Variations Adding the Ring Finger Drop D and the Ring Finger More Variations 20 Travis Patterns: A Retrospective Leader of the Band Garden Party Double-Picking Helplessly Hoping Travis-Style Departures The Dance Blackbird The Next Level: Melodic Lines Final Exam Our 20 Arpeggios at a Glance Our 20 Travis Patterns at a Glance