Welcome to this beginner fingerstyle arpeggio guitar lesson from award-winning guitarist, R.D. King on JamPlay. If you are completely new to playing guitar, and haven’t learned the basics like chord shapes, string names, how to tune your guitar etc., you may want to start with a different JamPlay course that explains these concepts. But, if you’re more familiar with the very basics and are wondering how to play fingerstyle guitar, you’ve come to the right place!

Fingerstyle is a broad genre, comprised of many sub-styles (including solo guitar) and techniques for performing. But, one of the defining features of all fingerstyle guitar methods is that the strings are plucked with individual fingers instead of a pick or plectrum. So, in order to learn this style, it’s important you spend time honing your right hand (or left hand for the lefties out there) fingerpicking technique. Learning to fingerpick is essential for playing songs that are arranged for fingerstyle, which usually include polyphonic rhythms and melodies.

Fingerstyle Guitar Lesson from R.D. King:

In this lesson from JamPlay educator, R.D. King, you’ll learn a fingerstyle etude from scratch. First, you’ll start by learning some basic arpeggiation finger exercises for guitar. When you’re done with your guitar warm ups, you’ll learn the fingerpicking pattern that will be used throughout the etude. Finally, R.D. King will walk you through each section of the etude note-by-note with practice sessions along the way. If you’re ready, grab your guitar, and let’s learn a beginner fingerstyle etude!

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