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Fingerstyle Journals 2

Interactive Video Guitar Masterclass

Marty FriedmanTommy EmmanuelSteve VaiEric GalesEric Johnson

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Fingerstyle Journals 2
John Knowles, C.G.P.

John Knowles, C.G.P.

Educator

acoustic, fingerstyle, singer-songwriter

Genres

About this course

In the first volume of John Knowles’ Fingerstyle Journals, John guided you through 6 fingerstyle solo pieces: Las Palmas, After Paris, Chicken In The Rain, Turning Home, Danny Boy, and Boulevard. In this second volume, John covers 6 more fingerstyle solo arrangements including Gardenia, Lately, Chihuahua Waltz, Coastin’, Subtle Blossom, and Central City Flyer.

Fingerstyle Journals 2 is full of composing tips that John picked up from Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Lenny Breau, and Tommy Emmanuel. And of course, John will teach you how to play each tune. 

Composer, recording artist and master fingerstyle guitarist, John Knowles was inducted into the National Thumb Picker's Hall of Fame, awarded the first Honorary CGP (Certified Guitar Player) degree by Chet Atkins, won a Grammy, and received two Emmy nominations,

”As a songwriter, I'm always on the lookout for a memory, an emotion, a place - something that might spark the inspiration for a song. I think of these as song-starters. For this second edition, I've chosen a half-dozen original tunes that I think you'll enjoy learning and playing. Each of these tunes comes with its own back-story, and I'll share that spark of inspiration for each as well.”

John will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson. You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.

Grab your guitar and let’s play solo fingerstyle with John Knowles!

What you'll learn

  • Execute the verse section of 'Coastin' with proper chord voicings
  • Integrate walking bass lines into chord progressions
  • Execute a complex 10-beat right-hand fingerstyle pattern
  • Apply pinky half-bar and partial index bar techniques in musical context
  • Understand how to construct melodies using scale movement
Release date: 01/30/2020 • 1h 20m runtime
intermediatelate intermediateadvancedacoustic guitarguitarfingerpickingtechnique
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Sample lessons
Composing & Learning Songs
Composing & Learning Songs
Before We Begin
Central City Flyer
Central City Flyer
Overview
Central City Flyer
Central City Flyer
Performance
Central City Flyer Verse
Central City Flyer Verse
Breakdown

What's included

37 lessons • 6 charts

Fingerstyle Journals 2
Hi, I'm John Knowles. Welcome to Fingerstyle Journals 2.

As a songwriter, I'm always on the lookout for a memory, an emotion, a place - something that might spark the inspiration for a song. I think of these as song-starters.

For this second edition, I've chosen a half-dozen original tunes that I think you'll enjoy learning and playing. Each of these tunes comes with its own back-story, and I'll share that spark of inspiration for each as well.

This course is full of composing tips that I've picked up from Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Lenny Breau, and Tommy Emmanuel. And of course...I'll show you how to play each tune.

I'll break down each tune by section and all of the performances are transcribed. Using TrueFire's learning tools, you'll be able to sync the tab and notation to the video. You can also loop or slow down any of the videos so you can work with the lessons at your own pace.

So grab your guitar, and let's open the journal!
Composing & Learning Songs
Chet Atkins was my guitar hero when I was growing up. When I moved to Nashville, he became my creativity hero. He would call me and say, "I've got this song started and I want you to help me finish it." And then he would sing me a line.

In this course, we'll be singing, looking for titles, looking for feelings in melodies, looking for rhythmic hooks, and looking for stories.

Of course, once you've composed a song, you'll want to learn how to play it. If you can already play it, you aren't creating...you're recycling. When you create something, it leaves you with new challenges...new moves to smooth out.
Gardenia
I grew up in Texas on the Gulf Coast where it was usually hot or hotter. When we moved to Nashville, I enjoyed the change of seasons...for a while. In mid-February I'd start missing that warm weather. I took that longing as inspiration to write some warm-weather music. Gardenia is a tropical flower, and it almost sings itself. Those three syllables are a great song starter.
Gardenia
I grew up in Texas on the Gulf Coast where it was usually hot or hotter. When we moved to Nashville, I enjoyed the change of seasons...for a while. In mid-February I'd start missing that warm weather. I took that longing as inspiration to write some warm-weather music. Gardenia is a tropical flower, and it almost sings itself. Those three syllables are a great song starter.
Gardenia Verse
I've got the 6th string tuned to D for "Gardenia". Then I sing the title when I play the opening phrases. After that, I establish a steady tempo.

There's a lot of shifting along the length of the neck in "Gardenia". I relax when I shift so that my hand is not leaping to the next note. Imagine your left hand floating to the melody.
Gardenia Bridge
The bridge to "Gardenia" begins with two harmonics at the 12th fret followed by a relaxed shift down to the 3rd fret.

I feel a slow tango throughout the bridge.
Gardenia
One of the composing tips I picked up from Chet Atkins was, "Help the listener hear the title in the melody." So I got right down to business and put the three-syllable title, "Gardenia", up front...twice.

I developed the melody by moving along the major scale. I can be a "theory professor", so as I'm playing the scale, I'm thinking in thirds. Then I added an octave with those thirds. I remember Chet harmonizing melodies in octaves and thirds. When I got to that middle section, I decided to go to a minor key and then return to the major key. It reminded me of a flower closing and opening.

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Reviews

13 results

Hent03

Verified buyer

06/21/25

A beautiful selection of very challenging pieces in a variety of styles. John offers great insight and talks you through each piece, offering advice for going beyond mere playing and into the realm of making your guitar really sing.

breau

Verified buyer

04/14/23

Just the job👌

seanprez

Verified buyer

09/15/21

John is the mon!!

What a great and passionate teacher John Knowles is!! From originals to essential fingerpicking songs, it’s all good. It’ll make you want to come back for more, so make sure to pick up the first fingerstyle journals as well!

edgaragerock

09/14/21

Fingerstyle Journals 2

Anyone that likes working on Fingerstyle arrangements will appreciate this course. The pieces are in standard and drop D running. They are all enjoyable to listen to and demonstrate John’s excellent understanding of the fret board. He uses chords intelligently and his playing is precise and logical. I think studying his approach to chords could be extremely beneficial for a lot of Fingerstyle players. There is always a temptation when learning Fingerstyle to become obsessed with the flashy speed driven elements at the expense of studying chord use and composition. John’s course acts as a reminder to put chords first when it comes to improving our own compositional arrangements.

mccambda

Verified buyer

09/12/21

Fingerstyle Journals 2 John Knowles review.

Anything by John Knowles is worth adding to your library. He's a CGP and his experience is worth listening to. Johnn gives you ideas for composing and playing his tunes. You get an insight as to how he approaches composing and little ideas which he picks up on for starting tunes. John puts the emotion of a song into his tunes and you can feel how the tune links to the title. I don't think this lesson is for beginners, perhaps intermediate players. I particularly liked his tunes: Lately, with the jazzy Lenny Breau theme and Subtle Blossom. Thanks.

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