Fingerstyle Journals

For some time now, I've been camped out on the bridge between fingerstyle and classical guitar. My roots include a thumb pick, a Gretsch 6120 guitar, and a stack of Chet Atkins albums. Later, as an adult, I studied classical guitar.

These days, I'm playing a nylon-string guitar that was made for me by Kirk Sand in Laguna Beach, California. It's modeled after my favorite Kohno classical guitar. We made the neck a little more comfortable and added a cutaway. Kirk installed a pickup made by Rich Barbera and he made me an ebony armrest so that I wouldn't mute the top. You'll notice that my right hand looks a little more classical than fingerstyle. I'll be sure to point out a few things you may want to adapt if you play an acoustic guitar with a thumb pick. And I'll also point out a few things that I do differently than most classical players.

Folks tell me that I tend to play with my eyes closed. Maybe that's because there was nothing to see when I was learning from vinyl. But since you'll be looking, it helps to know that my neck joins the body at the twelfth fret...which Kirk marked with my signature. And recently, I asked Kirk to install a marker at the seventh fret, to help you see where my left hand is. I remember loaning my classical to Chet and he returned it with a small piece of tape at the seventh fret. I took the hint.

My left-hand approach is a little more classical, too. The biggest difference is that I don't fret the bass strings with my thumb. Even though my thumb is out of sight, I trust it as an anchor and a guide...on the back of the neck. Be prepared to adapt my approach to your instrument and technique. Let's get to work.

One night, we were having dinner at Las Palmas, our local Mexican restaurant, and my granddaughter Caroline ordered her favorite...cheese quesadillas. So, I commented, "Las Palmas, we have cheese quesadillas." Now at that point, I'm recalling the harmony and the rhythms of mariachi from my Texas childhood. So, I got to work and came up with "Las Palmas".

Let's take a look at the full performance of "Las Palmas". Next, we'll breakdown each section, so you can put it together on your own.

In the intro to "Las Palmas", I'm going for a bass line, which in a mariachi would be provided by a guitarrón...the harmony of two trumpets...and the rhythm of a guitar strumming up and down. To make the strumming work, I'm using my right middle finger to keep the spacing between index and ring, so that I can skip a string while strumming up and down...like one big finger with two fingertips.

I remember spending a little extra time working out the intro, like a practice loop. I would sing along so that the parts were clear. You're just about there when someone in the next room asks, "How much longer are you going to play the same thing over and over?"

As you work your way through the verse of "Las Palmas", be sure to hang on to the bass notes. That'll keep the bass line sounding separate from the melody. And I'm still using my middle finger as a spacer when I need to skip a string like I did in the intro. So, when I put the bass line and melody back together, you can hear the two parts dance with each other. As always, a little singing will help the phrasing of the melody. I'm making an occasional barre, but I'm careful not to hang on when I don't need to. And if you've done your homework on the intro, your listeners will still hear that strumming effect. Just keep good time and their imagination will do the rest.

The chorus to "Las Palmas" begins with an A on the third string. I remember working to get the melody to sing out over the accompaniment. I sound those first three melody notes with my index finger. At the same time, I play the accompaniment with thumb, middle and ring. Every now and then, you'll land on a familiar chord shape but be careful to move on without holding the chord. Let your left-hand fingers follow the melody. And of course, it helps to sing the melody as you practice.