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Beginner Finger Picking Piedmont Blues | Adding the Melody Pt 3

4,242 views · Published 27 January 2014 · 3:03 · Indexed 28 September 2026

Channel: Blues Guitar Institute · 2014 · Music

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What trips most new finger pickers up is trying to learn how to play the melody of a song while holding down the bass.

This isn't easy and takes practice. But the guiding principal of Blues Guitar Institute comes in handy here:  Start Small. Keep at It.

In this series on Piedmont picking, we build a ragtime based tune from the ground up.  We laid the foundation of a straight forward alternating bass line to be played with the thumb.  Then we worked on the melody through the first 8 bars. 

If you've missed the first few lessons in this series, I definitely recommend checking them out first.  You can find them here:

http://www.bluesguitarinstitute.com/fingerpick

Now, we work on this stop time break down kinda thing happening in bars 9 - 12.  This is probably the most characteristic part of the ragtime progression and really gives the piece a little lift.

Preview for the next lesson:  We'll start adding some flash to the tune. That's where things really get fun.

If you're serious about improving your blues guitar skills, join the Blues Guitar Institute Community to get quick tips, licks and lessons:

http://www.bluesguitarinstitute.com/YT041

If you are new to fingerstyle blues and want to get started, check out this video:

http://www.bluesguitarinstitute.com/intro-fingerstyle-acoustic-blues 

There, I'll show you how to get started playing some sweet finger picked acoustic blues.

Play Hard!

PS - If any of these finger picking lessons make you think you'll never be able to play them, think again!  Start small with lesson one in the series and build from there. These lessons are designed to get you comfortable with the fundamentals then brick by brick we build to a pretty cool Piedmont-tinged tune. So, keep at it!

PPS - If you found this video useful, please share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.  Here's the link:

http://youtu.be/2Xa0Ftq2IV8

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