Before you begin Beginner lessons

Fretboard notes Guitar chords Chord formulas Major scales Minor scales

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Buying a guitar The parts of the guitar How to tune the guitar How to read tablature and chord diagrams

1. Introduction, positioning, chords D, C, G 2. Simple strumming, technique, A, A7, E, E7, easy songs 3. Arpegio, strumming technique, Bob Marley, Dm Am Em F 4. Chord progressions and fretting exercises 5. Chord and scale theory, C7, B7 (H7), D7, G7 6. Fingerpicking and arpegio exercises 7. Powerchords, 5th chords, arpegio, Nirvana 8. Rock n roll, Knockin' on heaven's door, m7, M7 9. Bar chords, (A and E shapes), Wild Thing, About a girl 10. Bar chord shapes (D and C shapes), 7, m7 and M7 11. CAGED system, G bar chord shape, Pearl jam 12. Wonderwall by Oasis

6. Fingerpicking and arpegio exercises

You will learn

• The chords Gm, Cm, Bm
• Arpegio exercises
• Easy waltz-playing
• Spanish ballad by an anomymous spanish composer
• Remember, at least at this level, that arpegio and fingerpicking mean essentially the same thing - but also that a lot of them can be played with a pick!

Tune the guitar!

First you have to tune your guitar, otherwise it will sound horrible. =)Tune with a computerized guitar, Click here

New chords

 

 

In this case the root note of Bm is not the one with the lowest pitch. Usually it is fretted in its A bar chord shape, which you will learn all about in lesson 9.

PIMA

Something that you should know about, especially if you later will want to play classical guitar, is what the fingers are called in guitar language:

Thumb            = P (latin - pollux)
Index finger   = I (latin - indicis)
Middle finger  = M (latin - medius)
Ring finger     = A (latin - annularis)

The little finger is almost never used for fingerpicking (and therefore has no letter), but is called digiti minimi for those who are interested in latin.

To make is crystal clear:

Fingerpicking exercises / Arpegio exercises

The following exercises are excellent for practicing your fingerpicking technique. Don't only stop at the chords that I based the exercises on - also try to make the same exercises with the other chords you know. This will make your practice even more effective.

When you have learned them by heart you can even sit and watch television at the same time as you practise =).

Important pointers

1. Ideally, only the fingers should move when you pluck the strings. Make sure to check that you do not move your arm or your whole hand, as one tends to do as a beginner. It's a difficult habit to get used to at first, but I promise that it is the best way to do it.

2. Make sure that you do not pluck "beneath" the string, i e into the resonance hole (do not hook your finger around the string). Simply push down on the string with the tip of your finger, making sure it has a firm fit on your finger. Then pull the string up, and release it. The same technique is used when playing with nails - it's not just using the nails as picks, the tip of the finger it equally important. The nail simply alters the sound, and helps to play a bit louder (and also aids in precision).

3. Be careful not to touch or pluck any other string than the one you are supposed to pluck. This takes a while to get used to and learn, but with patience it is a skill that you will master. Always start slowly, and only try to play faster when you are 100% comfortable at one speed.

4. In these arpegio examples - fret the chord completely while you play the arpegio. This lets all the notes ring out nicely (and usuallyl it is what you want when you fingerpick). By that I mean that even thoigh the tabulature says only to pluck one string at one time, that note should still be going strong when you pluck the next string.

5. As a general principle the thumb (P) takes care of the bass strings - EA and D, while the other three fingers (IMA) take care of the treble strings (GBe). The key is to use as many fingers as possible when playing.

Arpegio exercise 1

You know about this exercise from before, but it never hurts to repeat...

--vp--i--m-a-m-i-p-i---m-a--m-i-p--and so on
E||-----------0--------------|-----0-----------------0--|-----------------0--------|
B||--------0-----0-----------|--0-----0-----------0-----|--0-----------0-----0-----|
G||-----0-----------0-----0--|-----------0-----0--------|-----0-----0-----------0--|
D||--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
A||--------------------2-----|--------------------------|--------2-----------------|
E||--0-----------------------|--------------0-----------|--------------------------|

-----------3--------------|-----3-----------------3--|-----------------3--------||
--------3-----3-----------|--3-----3-----------3-----|--3-----------3-----3-----||
-----0-----------0-----0--|-----------0-----0--------|-----0-----0-----------0--||
--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------||
--------------------2-----|--------------------------|--------2-----------------||
--3-----------------------|--------------3-----------|--------------------------||

Ackorden i detta fall: Em, G

Listen to this tab

Arpegio exercise 2

This one is really good for agility and also practises your ability to play more than two notes at the same time - always a challenge in the start. It is also perfect for warm-up!

--vavvmvivm-------------------------------------------avvmvvivvmva
--vpvvpv.pvp         ----------------------------------pvp     pvp
E||--3-----------3-----------|--3-----------3-----------|--0-----------0-----------|
B||-----3-----3-----3-----3--|-----3-----3-----3-----3--|-----1-----1-----1-----1--|
G||--------0-----------0-----|--------0-----------0-----|--------0-----------0-----|
D||--------0-----------0-----|--------0-----------0-----|-----2-----2-----2-----2--|
A||-----2-----2-----2-----2--|-----2-----2-----2-----2--|--3-----------3-----------|
E||--3-----------3-----------|--3-----------3-----------|--------------------------|

--0-----------0-----------|--0-----------0---------||
-----1-----1-----0-----0--|-----0-----0------------||
--------0-----------0-----|--------0---------------||
-----2-----2--------2-----|--------2---------------||
--3--------------2-----2--|-----2-----2------------||
--------------0-----------|--0-----------0---------||

Chords: G, C, Em - try the same exercise with Am, E, A, etc.

Listen to this tab

Arpegio exercise 3

This exercise is meant to get you to think about how to vary your fingerpicking style, and therefore get a different feeling.

--vpvaav-ivm.-p-i-a-m--vpvaav-ivm.-p-i-a-m... etc
E||-----0--------------0-----|-----0--------------0-----|-----0--------------0-----|
B||-----------1-----------1--|-----------1-----------1--|-----------1-----------1--|
G||--------2--------2--------|--------2--------2--------|--------0--------0--------|
D||--------------2-----------|--------------2-----------|--------------2-----------|
A||--0-----------------------|--0-----------------------|--3-----------------------|
E||--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|

-----0--------------0-----||
-----------1-----------1--||
--------0--------0--------||
--------------2-----------||
--3-----------------------||
--------------------------||

Listen to this tab

Arpegio exercise 3 - arpeggiospel med basgång

This is a simple arpegio with a bassline. From now on I will now write with the PIMA letters to show you which fingers to use - you should have gotten the point by now.

E||-----------0--------------|-----0-----------------0--|-----------------0--------|
B||--------1-----1-----------|--1-----1-----------1-----|--1-----------1-----1-----|
G||-----0-----------------2--|-----------------0--------|-----------2--------------|
D||-----------2--------------|-----2-----------------2--|-----------------2--------|
A||--3--------------2--0-----|-----------2--3-----------|-----2--0--------------2--|
E||--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|

-----------3--------------|-----0-----------------3--|-----------------0--------|
--------3-----3-----------|--0-----0-----------3-----|--3-----------0-----0-----|
-----0-----------------0--|-----------------0--------|-----------0--------------|
-----------0--------------|-----2-----------------0--|-----------------2--------|
--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
--3--------------2--0-----|-----------2--3-----------|-----2--0--------------2--|

-----------3--------0----||
--------3-----3-----0----||
-----0-----------0--0----||
--------------------2----||
--------------------2----||
--3-----------------0----||

Listen to this tab

Exercise 5- playing waltz-tempo

The following is a simple way of playing chords using fingerpicking. It is used in folk musik, but it can always be fun to play around with.

Remember to count 1-2-3.

E||-------3----3---------3----3----|-------0----0---------0----0----|
B||-------3----3---------3----3----|-------0----0---------0----0----|
G||-------0----0---------0----0----|-------0----0---------0----0----|
D||--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
A||--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
E||--3--------------3--------------|--0--------------0--------------|

-------3----3---------3----3----|-------0----0---------0----0----|
-------3----3---------3----3----|-------0----0---------0----0----|
-------0----0---------0----0----|-------0----0---------0----0----|
--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
--3--------------3--------------|--0--------------0--------------|

-------0----0---------0----0----|-------2----2---------2----2----|--3----------------|
-------1----1---------1----1----|-------3----3---------3----3----|--3----------------|
-------0----0---------0----0----|-------2----2---------2----2----|--0----------------|
--------------------------------|--0--------------0--------------|--0----------------|
--3--------------3--------------|--------------------------------|--2----------------|
--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--3----------------|

-------------------|-------3----3----3--------------|-------0----0----0--------------|
-------------------|-------3----3---------3---------|-------0----0---------0---------|
-------------------|-------0----0--------------0----|-------0----0--------------0----|
-------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
-------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
-------------------|--3--------------3--------------|--0--------------0--------------|

-------3----3--------------3----|-------0----0--------------0----|
-------3----3---------3---------|-------0----0---------0---------|
-------0----0----0--------------|-------0----0----0--------------|
--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
-----------------2--------------|--------------------------------|
--3-----------------------------|--0--------------0--------------|

-------0----0----0--------------|-------2----2----2--------------|--3----------------||
-------1----1---------1---------|-------3----3---------3---------|--3----------------||
-------0----0--------------0----|-------2----2--------------2----|--0----------------||
--------------------------------|--0--------------0--------------|--0----------------||
--3--------------3--------------|--------------------------------|--2----------------||
download as PDF
Listen to this tab

 

Video demonstration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spanish ballad

To finally tie all of this new knowledge together I woudl like you to try and lern a beautiful classical spanish song.

Click here to learn the spanish ballad.

More songs with arpegio that you can try to learn=)

Metallica - Nothing else matters

Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven

Plain White T's - Hey there delilah

Crash Test Dummies - Mmmh mmmh mmmh mmmh

Green Day - Good riddance (time of your life)

Allright

Know you have enriched your skills a lot - but before moving on remember to:

• try and playu some arpegios both with and without a pick (of course, some require fingerpicking only)
• make sure to have nice long-ringing clean notes when you pluck the strings =)