Start fingerpicking on guitar today with this quick beginner lesson

(Image credit: Future)

Guitar skills: "The right hand is one of the first things you need to focus on when switching over to fingerstyle," says acoustic virtuoso Andy McKee. "It can be a bit of a challenge at first. What I normally do is assign my thumb to the sixth, fifth and fourth strings, then my index on the third, [middle] on the second and the ring finger on the first.

"That’s my basic approach… If you experiment, even in standard tuning, there are all sorts of patterns that it’s good to get familiar with. Alternating bass with the thumb is a great place to start – it gets that feeling of rhythm in all your fingers.”

With that advice in mind we've designed a lesson below to get you started with fingerstyle. 

Click in top right of tab to enlarge

(Image credit: Future)
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