A list of songs good in fingerpick style

[LiveMusic]

I thought we did this some time back but I can't find it in a search. Let's build a list so we can maybe learn some more from each other. Here's a few that come to mind. Gosh, I could go on forever.

 

Yesterday - Beatles

Blackbird - Beatles

Love, Me - Collin Raye

Two Teardrops - Steve Wariner

Vincent - Don McLean

More Than Words - Extreme (Xtreme?)

Time In A Bottle - Jim Croce

Annie's Song - John Denver

Sunshine On My Shoulders - John Denver

Dust In The Wind - Kansas

Fire and Rain - James Taylor

As Tears Go By - Rolling Stones

Dimming Of The Day - Bonnie Raitt (Richard Thompson)

[signal1000]

Any Chet Atkins, Bert Jansch, Mike Seeger, Davey Graham and some Doc Watson(when he wasn't flatpicking) do it for me.

[fantasticsound]

Live, we have a lot of similar likes, in this area.

 

I always encourage new fingerpickers to learn Dust In The Wind. It's a great, simple, Travis picking pattern. Learn to play it well and you can bastardize the pattern to fit many, many songs. Some of my favorites:

 

• Leader Of The Band - Dan Fogelberg
  
• All These Years - Sawyer Brown (written by Mac MacAnally)
  
• Scarborough Fair - as done by Simon & Garfunkel (how many other S&G songs do you want?)
  
• The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
  
• You've Got A Friend - James Taylor (written by Carol King)
  
• Mr. Tanner - Harry Chapin
  
• Cats In The Cradle - Harry Chapin
  
• It Doesn't Have To Be That Way - Jim Croce
  
• for that matter, fill in the blank with just about any Jim Croce song
  
• Goodbye Blue Skies - Pink Floyd
  
• Something That We Do - Clint Black
  
• Ragamuffin - Michael Hedges
  
• Midsummer's Daydream - Triumph (played solo by Rik Emmett)
  
• Two Of Us - The Beatles
  
• St. Judy's Comet - Kenny Loggins (written by Paul Simon)
  
• Cody's Song - Kenny Loggins
  
• Never Goin' Back Again - Fleetwood Mac (really, Lindsay Buckingham)
  
• Ricky's Ride - Neil Bergman
  
• Sparkle Shoes - Neil Bergman
  

Ok, maybe those last two are a bit of wishing... but heck, I like 'em!

[strat0124]

Thats an easy one for me, cause I'm one of those odd cats who use my fingers to play on almost EVERY song...talkin electric! Just the way I learned to play. Makes poppin strangs sound just spiffy!

[Diddleydaddy]

A few that I like to play

 

Landslide (Live version on "The Dance") Fleetwood Mac

Stairway, Led Zeppelin

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Zeppelin

Little Martha, Allman Bros.

Your Time is Gonna Come, Zeppelin

Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Bach (well known classical)

Minuet, Bach (well known classical)

Intro to Tesla's Love Song

Bron-y-aur, Zeppelin

Bron-y-aur Stomp, Zeppelin

 

 

I'm learning from a book of Hymns right now, nice to play

 

Quite a few have already been mentioned. I'll probably think of some more as soon as I post this reply.

[Eric Worthington]

Donovan taught John Lennon to fingerpick when they were in India. Lennon then wrote two classics:

Julia

Dear Prudence

 

Paul Simon was a master at fingerpicking, especially while singing. Among his gems:

April Come She Will

Homeward Bound

Dangling Conversation

The Boxer

[dylumph]

What a great thread! Sometimes it seems fingerpickin' is a lost art.There are some great entries!There were a couple Badfinger songs that come to mind.One called "Your so fine" on the We Wish you were here LP. "Hey Cowboy" on Ass had good fingering.

I had to go hear "Homeword Bound" after reading this! Your right! Thats Damn good pickin'!

[Rim]

I love finger-pickin' - it's what made me stand out from other guitar players in my younger days!

 

Here's some I like playing:

 

"Never Going Back Again" - Fleetwood Mac. Man, I had enough problems learning the recorded version but then I saw a video of Buckingham play this live and he never repeated a pattern. He's freakin' awesome!

 

"4+20" - CSN (and sometimes Y).

 

"Here Comes the Sun" - Beatles. I think Harrison flat picks it but I play it finger style all the way.

 

"Mother Nature's Son" - Beatles. Another flat-pickin' song I play finger-style.

 

"Moonshadow" - Cat Stevens

 

And mentioned before: Blackbird, Landslide, Dear Prudence, plus a lot of JT and S&G.

 

dylumph, I hope fingerpickin' isn't a lost art. That would make me sad. But after thinking about it, I haven't heard any new finger pickin' songs on the radio in quite a while. The most recent thing I remember hearing is Smashing Pumpkins' cover of "Landslide".

 

Anyone out there know of new artists breaking ground with finger pickin'?

[Tedster]

How about the mother of all more modern (within the last 30 or so years) fingerpickin' songs...

 

Alice's Restaurant.

 

Of course, you might want to trim it back from however long Arlo plays it.

 

One song I really like, I believe the tuning is a bit different and there are two guitars sorta doing a contrapuntal thing, is "Toulouse Street" by the Doobies. I figured it out once. Can't remember it now.

 

Then, there's my version of "Pencil Thin Moustache" by Jimmy Buffett. I play it a bit like "Alice's Restaurant".

 

I've got a version of Blind Joe Death's (John Fahey) "In Christ There is no East or West". I can't do it quite like Fahey...he made that guitar sound more like a five string banjo. I use the standard clawhammer pattern.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by riffing:

I love finger-pickin' - it's what made me stand out from other guitar players in my younger days!

Ditto, Riffing!

 

Originally posted by riffing:

"Mother Nature's Son" - Beatles. Another flat-pickin' song I play finger-style.

Once again, ditto! Mother Nature's Son is a great tune to fingerpick.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by Tedster:

...Of course, you might want to trim it back from however long Arlo plays it.

18:20 seconds long. That's a lot of Thanksgiving dinners that can't be beat!

 

One song I really like, ... is by the Doobies. [/QB]

 

Your comment regarding the Doobies reminds me of Black Water. Wonderful fingerpicking in it.

[Fingerstyle_Jim]

Originally posted by Diddleydaddy:

 

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Zeppelin

 

I have been playing this song since it came out, as an acoustic solo, in fact, (oh oh, here comes the shameless self promo!) I have just released a CD with my version on it. I also play Zep's "Tangerine" and I haven't seen any mention yet of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", I still get students asking for it(young teens).

 

You can hear part of my "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" at:

 

http://www.guitar9.com/dulcettones

 

Jim in Canada

[Ziggy]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned any of Merle Travis' songs yet. His songs "Walkin' the Strings", "Guitar Rag" and "Kansas City Blues" display some incredible finger pickin'. Merle is withouth a doubt my favorite finger picker.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by Ziggy:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned any of Merle Travis' songs yet. His songs "Walkin' the Strings", "Guitar Rag" and "Kansas City Blues" display some incredible finger pickin'. Merle is withouth a doubt my favorite finger picker.

Have you heard anything from Merle's son, Thom Bresh? He's a wonderful guitarist and performer, with a wicked sense of humor. (He recorded our mutual friend's song, White Trash Christmas.) His latest is a collaboration with another amazing fingerpicker, Buster Jones.

 

Merle was the first to bring that style of guitar playing out of the mountains. He was a great talent.

[LiveMusic]

Originally posted by Ziggy:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned any of Merle Travis' songs yet. His songs "Walkin' the Strings", "Guitar Rag" and "Kansas City Blues" display some incredible finger pickin'. Merle is withouth a doubt my favorite finger picker.

What IS travis-picking? I mean, is there a simple explanation of the basic pattern or not so? Is that the style that Donovan taught John Lennon? When I fingerpick, I don't consciously "know" what I'm doing. I just wing it and my fingers (thumb plus index, middle, ring... four fingers) just kinda find a rhythm. Would it "help" to know some type of technique?

 

BTW, in my early days, I learned a lot of James Taylor songs. Now, that mofo can PLAY. It sounds like no big deal but he's got some real complicated stuff. Some, I never could do it "right."

 

I broke my thumbnail again last night. It was my best nail and it's proof once again, I cannot grow nails. If I can't keep a thumbnail, it's hopeless. Geez, I wish I could find some good finger picks.

 

And... another one... Kenny Loggin's "House At Pooh Corner." Man, he recorded a second version of that a few years ago, years after the original and it's awesome. Great arrangement.

[DC]

You folks have covered a bunch of my favs with one glaring omission I think. John Prine, Mulenburg Co. There's a Hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes (can't remember the name), Hello in there, etc.

 

Teach your Children, many CSN & Y

 

Lover's Cross, Have to say I love you in a song and other Croce.

 

Glouchester Cathdral - Al Stewart.

 

'52 Vincent Black Lightning -Richard Thompson.

 

Working Class Hero -Lennon

 

Can we include Mood for a Day -Steve Howe?

 

Yeah, anything to do with Lindsey Buckingham.

 

How 'bout Joni Mitchel? Alt tunings, but great guitaring.

 

I'll have to think on this some more.

 

ps I know a few are played with pick, but same spirit I think.

[fantasticsound]

Duke, here's an explanation of simple Travis picking, a la Dust In The Wind.

 

Think of each bar as 8 - 1/8th notes.

 

For any chord, choose 4 strings to play. Visualize them as outside (the lowest and highest strings, of the 4) and inside (the two center strings).

 

In basic Travis picking, your thumb plays the lower two strings and the higher two are index and middle fingers.

 

The first pluck is actually a 1/4 note, using both outside strings.

 

After that, all strings are played in succession as straight 1/8th notes, from low to high, inside then outside then inside.

 

For C, using the 5th - 2nd strings as the 4, you pluck 5th & 2nd for a 1/4 note, then (consecutive 1/8th notes) 4th, 3rd, 5th, 2nd, 4th, 3rd.

 

Does that clarify or confuse the issue? It's outside pair, inside pair, outside pair, inside pair. (Where the lower note of each pair leads.)

 

If you're still with me, it's the accents that make Travis picking sound like more than a 1/4 note followed by a bunch of straight 1/8th notes.

 

It's a lot easier to show than to describe.

[Eric Worthington]

For a great beginner's guide to Travis picking, go here:

http://www.bradpriddy.com/paul_simon/travis.htm

[Emperator]

Acoustic songs are where ever you find them in any decade. A lot of songs can be interpeted on the acoustic. That's the beauty of it with all the fingers you can interact a lot of harmonies and melodies simultaneouly. Like an orchestra. Start with simple picking patterns and just keep adding them. The goal is to fluently go from pattern to pattern smoothly. After you've collected so many of them you'll be able to seemlessly react to a situation without having to be to selfconcious about it and that's a good thing.

Noodling around is a thing most musicians do and it's good thing to let yourself go and enjoy the moment and experiment with the possibilities. I'm not talking about on stage or driving your bandmates to distraction at rehearsals etc. but as a natural way players explore and gain familiarity with their instrument as they learn.

I'm seeing a lot of the classic acoustic songs which I know posted here.. Here's a few more that have always worked really well for me. I'd classify these as a little more advanced to play then some.

"The Rain Song" off of "Houses of the Holy" album by Led Zeppelin tuning low to high E A D A D E.

"The Water Song" by Hot Tuna off of the "Burgers" album. In G Tuning Haven't done this one lately (last decade). I need to review the record again.

Dire Straits; the "Making Movies" album the song "Romeo & Juliet" double D Tuning (Low & High E tuned to D).

Led Zeppelin "Black Mountainside" Dadgad tuning (D A D G A D).

"Leader of the Band" by John Fogelberg This is a good one for example to learn how to pick patterns at the same time that you incorporate a built-in melody.

As far as learning to fingerpick and chords. I'd say James Taylor songbooks and his albums. Especially the early stuff and on. As albums went by the chords got more complex. His stuff is kind of a bible for fingerpicking in my opinion (at least it was for me). Also check out Missiissippi John Hurt and Robert Johnson for the blues amongst others.

I usually work any material I play in 3 ways. Situations sometimes dictate that I use one technique over the other. Fingerpicking, just a pick (not to strum for instance just to pick all the notes in patterns), or pick and fingers. It's always good to work at having an internal strum you are able to do instantly inside of your fingerpicking if it seems appropriate. McCartney is masterful at that for instance. Get a Beatles Complete songbook. Those songs are always recognizable which makes it easy to learn.

[Emperator]

I keep forgetting to mention Lindsey Buckingham. IMO He's the best that I know of. Also has the ability to make it all work in an electric guitar sense. Check out the "Out of the Cradle" solo album. Fleetwood Mac "The Chain" etc.

Of course their are excellent classical guitarists out there. Stylistically, I'm a little partial to the artists that have a folk rock background but really extend it into virtuosity like Lindsey though. Also songs that are singable.

[Diddleydaddy]

The Rain Song" off of "Houses of the Holy" album by Led Zeppelin tuning low to high E A D A D E.

I learned "Rainsong" with a pick, and I think in a different tuning, although it's been a while since I played it. I hate to go through all that trouble changing tunings back and forth

[rog951]

Originally posted by Diddleydaddy:

The Rain Song" off of "Houses of the Holy" album by Led Zeppelin tuning low to high E A D A D E.

I learned "Rainsong" with a pick, and I think in a different tuning, although it's been a while since I played it. I hate to go through all that trouble changing tunings back and forth

If you learn the Rain Song correctly, it's almost worth buying another guitar to have around in that tuning. God that song sounds so good...especially the ending. Yummy.

[rog951]

Originally posted by MisterMe:

Dire Straits; the "Making Movies" album the song "Romeo & Juliet" double D Tuning (Low & High E tuned to D).

My absolute favorite Dire Straits song of all time. I dunno if it just hits close to home for me or what, but the music and words are just perfect IMO.

[lrbreez]

"Beantime" by Leo Kottke

Buddy

[Emperator]

Rain Song I originally figured it out in standard tuning in A just out of my head. Then I had gotten a Led Zeppelin Complete song book that showed it in standard tuning in the key of G using mostly open chords. G, Gmay7, G7 etc. Then I happened to pickup a special issue of Guitar World (about a dozen years ago) that had the tab and the tuning. Nothing like the real tuning and yes It does have such a clever ending. I get nothing but compliments from the other guitar players when I do that one. Always want me to teach it to them. It's not so easy to teach though. It's a good example of needing to know the exact picking and change up of technique to make such a unique song . Not just what you play but how you play it.

 

About "Romeo and Juliet" the same could be said. A good exercise in how important the timing of arpeggiations or simultaneous fingerpicking pluck of whole chords have to be to get the song right.

I had a Dobro looked pretty much like the one Mark Knopfler has on one of the album covers. I think his might have been a National though. Just a great sound picking on a Dobro. They always remind me in sound of cross between a guitar and a banjo. It had a man in a boat fishing in the sea with palm trees and coconuts on each side and a volcano in the background etched on it. So pretty. Only the intonation was just terrible; if it worked on a D chord it would be close to out on a open E chord. Dobros of course are usually used with a high action for slide work. I read there was somewhere a modification to make the bridge compensate so they could be intonated better. Didn't do it. Traded it off only to see how much they've appreciated in value over the years. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I've written a zillion tunes with that Double D Tuning. Very pretty tuning. It's always interesting to see what you can come up with using the Tunings you learn from others

[baronedo]

Classical Gas by Mason Williams

[dylumph]

Mood for a day was mentioned above so I'll include The Clap.Steve Howe did it live on the Yes album.

[rog951]

Since we're gettin' kinda progressive, I'll throw in the opening from the title track of Rush's "A Farewell to Kings." A cool little classical thingie to play with your fingers.

[Sylver]

I'm learning St. Louis Blues by Doc Watson at the moment. It's my first foray into finger picking. What an eye opener!