Learn the Essential Techniques of Fingerstyle with Doug Young

Learn "New Beginnings" by Yasmin Williams
The Care and Feeding of the Picking Hand
Book cover for Alex de Grassi Fingerstyle Method
Fingerstyle Books

What is fingerstyle? Fingerstyle guitar is a technique that uses the thumb and fingers to sound individual strings instead of relying on a pick. The ability to leverage individual fingers allows guitarists to play multiple parts at once, with separate bass lines, melodies, and accompaniment, often leading those who first hear a fingerstyle recording to think they are hearing more than one guitar.

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Get a Bell-Like Tone—Learn to Play Natural Harmonics

Natural harmonics are produced at specific locations, or nodes, that divide an open string into equal parts. The pitch is determined by the number of divisions. Dividing the string in half at the 12th fret produces the first harmonic; dividing the string into three parts at the seventh fret produces the second harmonic; dividing the string into four parts at the fifth fret produces the third harmonic; and so on.
Mary Flower playing an acoustic guitar

Lesson: How to Play the Guitar Rag ‘Jitters’

Often called Piedmont guitar—after the East Coast regions, running from Virginia to North Carolina, where many of the players lived—this challenging style makes use of an upbeat fingerpicking technique, which I’ll break down for you in this lesson.

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How to Play Notes Legato with Hammer-Ons, Pull-Offs, and Slides

Play notes legato with hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides. Play through today’s examples from the Alex de Grassi Fingerstyle Guitar Method to hear the difference once legato embellishments are added. The melody in Example 2 is very plain, consisting of only half notes and quarter notes. Play it through a few times, using an alternating i–m pattern…

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Photograph of fingerstyle guitarist John Doyle.

John Doyle Shows You How to Play Celtic Guitar

I met up with Doyle at a Philadelphia-area house concert where, joined by fiddler Duncan Wickel, he performed a stunning show that displayed the full range of his powers on guitar, from rollicking rhythm to beautifully melodic fingerstyle (actually played with a pick and one finger). Before the show, the easygoing virtuoso sat down with his left-handed Muiderman flattop to shed light on how he honors and stretches tradition as a guitarist and songwriter.

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Alex de grassi fingerstyle

Play a Syncopated Fingerstyle Rhythm

This asymmetrical alternating bass groups the eighth notes into two groups of three and one group of two in what is sometimes referred to as a 3–3–2 pattern by playing the bass notes on beats one, two-and, and four of each measure.
Alex de Grassi cross string picking

Cross-String Picking Basics

In third position or higher, it becomes possible to combine open and fretted strings to play ascending/descending intervals on nonsequential strings.