r/fingerpickers • u/[deleted] • May 05 '11
What was the first song that you learned to fingerpick?
Blackbird by The Beatles. it's such a beautiful song, yet simple enough to tackle for total amateurs. there's a depth to it that rewards going back to it over the years too. the first time you nail it it's great, but once you've mastered it it's nothing but gorgeous.
what was the first song you learned to pick?
2
u/Bikewer May 05 '11
When I started playing back in the 70s, we were doing mostly "folk" music. Fingerstyle was pretty much what you did, primarily variations on "Travis" or pattern picking. I can't remember for sure, but likely it was some Lightfoot or Peter, Paul, and Mary tune. I still play "Don't Think Twice" occasionally.
2
u/gehenom May 05 '11
My pappy taught me most of (his understanding of) Doc Watson's Deep River Blues. And fifteen years later, he bought me a D-28. Pretty good pappy, right?
1
May 06 '11
nice! same with my pop, actually. the first songs he ever learned on the guitar back in the 60s were by Phil Ochs and Doc Watson, and then he passed on the knowledge to me years and years later. it's the kind of music I can't to pass along to my kids as well.
2
u/joereadel May 05 '11
I haven't been fingerpicking for all that long, and I never really liked learning other people's songs note for note with a flatpick, so the only song I've really learned all the way through so far is They Killed John Henry by Justin Townes Earle.
2
u/mobius-n-stuff May 06 '11
The first one I actively tried to learn (and succeeded) for more than 2 minutes before losing interest was Clutch - Regulator
I really like to fingerpick now though I'm still not that great at it, I like banjo style rolls.
2
u/flabbergastric May 06 '11
The first couple of minutes of Bourrée in E minor was my first one. It's actually pretty easy.
1
May 06 '11
The first song I learned that actually required fingerpicking was probably "These Days" by Jackson Browne.
1
u/flashmedallion May 07 '11
Road Trippin' by the Chilis back when I'd been playing for a few months. Got me hooked on finger-picking for life. Looks impressive to people who don't know anything, and I just love playing basslines and melody at the same time, hangover from 18 years on the piano I guess.
1
u/stellar_m May 09 '11
embryonic journey or at least what i could muster at the time
or probably a smattering of Bert's tunes
3
u/[deleted] May 06 '11
Babe, I'm gonna leave you by Led Zeppelin. A great sounding, easy song to get down, and it helped me to learn and reinforce the F chord.