Originally Posted by Andrew Dee
Originally Posted by DC Ron
...When I was trying to learn the guitar 50+ years ago, my sources were Fred Noad's "The (Classical) Guitar Songbook", a "Play Like Chet Atkins" 33 RPM album/booklet and a Travis picking instructional. For understandable reasons, I got REAL good at fingerstyle guitar, using my thumb to trace the bass lines and chord melody, BUT...I couldn't use a pick at all. So my journey is the opposite of yours. Now I use a pick almost exclusively. But it's like riding a bicycle with the other stuff. Well worth the effort.…
Thanks Ron for your encouraging comments. My early twenties were influenced by Simon and Garfunkel and Paul Simon solo and always loved Simon’s finger-picking … The Boxer, Peace Like a River etc. … unfortunately by then, I had plateaued in my playing reaching a fairly competent acoustic strum level and not pushing myself to learn lead and finger-picking. How I wish I had taken the opportunity earlier in life. But … it’s never too late, and while my fingers aren’t as nimble, I have time on my hands - so to speak. Life-long learning!

Andrew
PS Is your finger-picking on display in any songs of yours? If so, please let me know.

Andrew, my fingerpicking is NOT posted to date, as I tend to focus on BiaB instruments and the very occasional fill/lead guitar parts. But you've got me thinking, so...who knows??

I was a HUGE fan of Paul Simon's guitar work from the very start. "The Boxer" is a great piece to start with for sure. "American Tune" was another of my early learns, and still haunts me today. Well worth the time to learn.

James Taylor was another early fingerstyle influence, if just for "Fire and Rain". Simple but effective techniques that serve SO many song styles.

Good luck!!

DC Ron
BiaB Audiophile
Presonus Studio One
ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM
Presonus Faderport 16
Too many guitars (is that a thing?)