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Guitar Zen: Fingerstyle

Simple Techniques for Transforming Your Rhythm Guitar Playing

Marty FriedmanTommy EmmanuelSteve VaiEric GalesEric Johnson

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Guitar Zen: Fingerstyle
Eric Haugen

Eric Haugen

Educator

—

Genres

About this course

The beauty of fingerstyle guitar lies in the balance between groove, melody, and texture. In Guitar Zen: Fingerstyle, Eric Haugen strips things down to the essentials, showing you how simple techniques can transform your rhythm playing into something more expressive, musical, and deeply connected to the instrument.

You’ll start by developing solid Travis picking and patterns, then explore hybrid picking, banjo inspired frailing, and Chet Atkins-style approaches that bring nuance and motion to your sound. Along the way, Eric will help you connect these ideas musically that will enhance the way you play songs, accompany others, and craft your own arrangements.

“Fingerstyle guitar doesn’t have to be complicated. In this course we’ll strip things down to the essentials and focus on the techniques that can change the way you think about the instrument,” says Eric.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Develop steady, authentic Travis picking patterns for classic fingerstyle groove
  • Strengthen thumb and finger independence for melodic control and clarity
  • Blend pick and fingers with essential hybrid picking techniques
  • Add rhythmic flair with banjo frailing and palm-muted flick patterns
  • Capture the smooth, syncopated charm of Chet Atkins-style playing
  • Integrate fingerstyle ideas into your songwriting and rhythm work
Each lesson builds logically toward expressive fingerstyle playing, with guided etudes that put every technique into a real musical context. You’ll see, hear, and feel how these ideas come together to shape your sound.

And with TrueFire’s interactive learning tools, including synced tab, looping, slow-mo, and fretboard animations, you can dig into every detail at your own pace and comfort level.

Grab your guitar and let’s get zen with Eric Haugen!

What you'll learn

  • Integrate chicken picking sounds into hybrid picking technique
  • Use open strings melodically in advanced contexts
  • Target chord tones while playing melodic lines
  • Learn how a compressor affects guitar tone
  • Learn about the Janglebox compressor for brightening dark pickups
Release date: 11/06/2025 • 1h 41m runtime
Start Course
Sample lessons
Flick Chords Etude
Flick Chords Etude
Overview
Flick Chords Etude
Flick Chords Etude
Performance
Flick Chords Etude
Flick Chords Etude
Breakdown
Chet Etude
Chet Etude
Performance

What's included

31 lessons • 7 charts • 7 Jam Tracks

Guitar Zen: Fingerstyle
Hi, I’m Eric Haugen.

Fingerstyle guitar doesn’t have to be complicated, and Guitar Zen: Fingerstyle will strip things down to the essentials, focusing on the techniques that can change the way you think about the instrument.

We’ll cover Travis picking, develop thumb and finger independence, and explore hybrid picking. We’ll also dig into techniques borrowed from other instruments like banjo frailing, and some Chet Atkins–style playing for even more nuance and style.

Each lesson set comes with a performance etude, so you can hear it in action and learn how to integrate it into your own playing. I really believe we can add so much depth to our rhythm playing by expanding into fingerpicking techniques.

So if you’re a songwriter, the second guitar player in a band, or someone who collaborates with other musicians, this course will be extremely helpful for you.

Grab your guitar — let’s roll.
Basic Travis Picking
We’re kicking things off by putting the pick down and diving into Travis picking — the classic fingerstyle approach made famous by Merle Travis. We’ll start with a simple C chord and get our thumb comfortable alternating between bass notes while keeping the hand relaxed and steady. From there, we’ll build the independence between thumb, index, and middle fingers, learning how to create that steady rolling rhythm that perfectly fills a bar of music. We’ll explore how this pattern applies across common chords like C, A minor, G, and D/F#, and how to adapt our thumb movement for different bass notes. We’ll also talk about anchoring, hand position, and how to develop muscle memory even without a guitar in hand. By the end, we’ll have a solid foundation in the Travis picking pattern — a timeless rhythm used by everyone from Merle Travis to Bob Dylan.
Travis Etude
In this lesson segment, we’re exploring how using a thumb pick can add clarity, liveliness, and low-end definition to our fingerstyle playing. We’ll talk about how each thumb pick feels different, how to find the one that fits best, and how to get comfortable with the new motion it requires. Then we’ll apply it to a simple, modal-style etude that moves familiar chord shapes up and down the neck — like shifting from G to F — while mixing in open strings for a rich, ringing sound. With the Travis picking pattern underneath, we’ll hear the chords come to life as the notes dance between the bass and melody strings, giving our playing more color and texture.
Travis Etude
In this lesson segment, we’re exploring how using a thumb pick can add clarity, liveliness, and low-end definition to our fingerstyle playing. We’ll talk about how each thumb pick feels different, how to find the one that fits best, and how to get comfortable with the new motion it requires. Then we’ll apply it to a simple, modal-style etude that moves familiar chord shapes up and down the neck — like shifting from G to F — while mixing in open strings for a rich, ringing sound. With the Travis picking pattern underneath, we’ll hear the chords come to life as the notes dance between the bass and melody strings, giving our playing more color and texture.
Travis Etude
In this lesson segment, we’re exploring how using a thumb pick can add clarity, liveliness, and low-end definition to our fingerstyle playing. We’ll talk about how each thumb pick feels different, how to find the one that fits best, and how to get comfortable with the new motion it requires. Then we’ll apply it to a simple, modal-style etude that moves familiar chord shapes up and down the neck — like shifting from G to F — while mixing in open strings for a rich, ringing sound. With the Travis picking pattern underneath, we’ll hear the chords come to life as the notes dance between the bass and melody strings, giving our playing more color and texture.
Pinch Travis Pattern
In this lesson segment, we’re taking our Travis picking to the next level with what’s called Pinch Travis — a simple but powerful variation that adds a whole new rhythmic feel. Instead of starting with the usual thumb pattern, we’ll begin each bar by pinching the outer bass and treble strings together, creating that distinctive syncopated groove you’ve heard in songs by The Beatles and in classics like “Dust in the Wind.” We’ll work through common chords like C, A minor, G, D/F#, and E minor, focusing on keeping that steady thumb pulse while the pinch adds a touch of rhythmic lift. It’s a small change that makes a big difference, giving our fingerpicking a more dynamic, expressive sound.
Pinch Travis Etude
In this etude, we’re diving into a Pinch Travis pattern inspired by John Lennon’s iconic fingerpicking style from songs like “Dear Prudence” and “Julia.” Using a thumb pick, we’ll explore how emphasizing that top note at the start of each bar creates a subtle melodic line that guides the listener’s ear — making even simple chord progressions like C, E minor, A minor, G, F, and E feel rich and musical. We’ll focus on using that pinch to bring out movement and melody within the chords, giving our playing that unmistakable Beatles-style flow and expressiveness.

+ 24 more lessons

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Reviews

4 results

diggmo

Verified buyer

03/13/26

The Tools Are Here. . .

… you just have to do the work! Eric has laid out a great overview of the finger-style world. He has given us foundational tools to incorporate into our playing. The rest is up to us. Where I’ve struggled learning finger-style in the past, his course so far has dramatically moved me in the right direction. This is the second course from Eric I’m working on and I’m very pleased with his content. It took me a minute to sort of grasp his approach. It seemed as though he started simply then jumped ahead. But after sticking with it, things start to make sense. Thank you, Eric, for putting this out there. I’m primarily a drummer who is more enthused about guitar than ever! Cheers!

PSchwander

Verified buyer

01/25/26

Highly recommended

This course is highly recommended for players at every level. Like all courses by Eric Haugen it focuses on the basics. The excursuses yields immediate improvement of your playing.

Sindibad

Verified buyer

11/29/25

Eric Haugen's Guitar Zen: Fingerstyle

The game of fingers is vast; therein lies the model of efficiency through style.

arpeggio5

Verified buyer

11/25/25

very good explaining all technique of finger style video

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