Finger Picking Method Book

Hmmm...

Hard to be sure whether a particular book will do well with various levels of foolery, but I like "Fingerstyle Ukulele" by Fred Sokolow.
 
No foolproof books out there. Just those that make sense to some, not so much for others. That's why some of us have so many damned books and are still looking for a "foolproof" one. :music:
 
PhilUSAFRet said:
No foolproof books out there. Just those that make sense to some, not so much for others. That's why some of us have so many damned books and are still looking for a "foolproof" one. :music:
Click to expand...

What Phil said. :music:
 
The best is Mark Kailana Nelson's Fingerpicking Book. I've been working with it and other books for about six years now and have become better and better. It does take work. What I recommend is also buying for about $50 a program that you install on your computer called the Amazing Slower Downer. It slows down any song but keeps it in the same key. Mark Nelson, who's a world class picker, told me he uses it every day. You can easily adjust how much the song is slowed down. I use it with Nelson's books and with Fred Sokolow's books. I've pretty well mastered Nelson's first two finger picking books and have moved on to his Slack key book. Just great, but they take patience and practice. I memorize songs which has greatly helped me understand song structure and variation.

Another great book to improve fingerpicking skills and provide musical satisfaction is Tony Mizen's From Lute to Uke.
Some of the Renaissance pieces actually really rock if you rock them rhythmically. Some pieces are very beautiful and you can see the roots of rock/folk/Appalachian music in Renaissance music. Some are actually not that hard.
Give it a whirl.
 
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Aaron Keim AKA The Quiet American is about ready to publish a finger picking book. His Clawhammer book is one of the best so I'm sure his picking book will be spot on.
 
Kimosabe said:
The best is Mark Kailana Nelson's Fingerpicking Book. I've been working with it and other books for about six years now and have become better and better. It does take work. What I recommend is also buying for about $50 a program that you install on your computer called the Amazing Slower Downer. It slows down any song but keeps it in the same key. Mark Nelson, who's a world class picker, told me he uses it every day. You can easily adjust how much the song is slowed down. I use it with Nelson's books and with Fred Sokolow's books. I've pretty well mastered Nelson's first two finger picking books and have moved on to his Slack key book. Just great, but they take patience and practice. I memorize songs which has greatly helped me understand song structure and variation.

Another great book to improve fingerpicking skills and provide musical satisfaction is Tony Mizen's From Lute to Uke.
Some of the Renaissance pieces actually really rock if you rock them rhythmically. Some pieces are very beautiful and you can see the roots of rock/folk/Appalachian music in Renaissance music. Some are actually not that hard.
Give it a whirl.
Click to expand...

I'll second those recommendations.
 
I have every book, I think, in hopes that just having them on the shelf by my ukulele will help me absorb fingerpicking greatness ;)

One that hasn't been mentioned that I'm really enjoying is Pekelo's Hawaiian Ukulele Method. It truly is a "method" book in that each lesson builds upon the previous; I happen to enjoy Hawaiian melodies, but even if you have no previous familiarity with them you'll do fine with these two books. Good, solid practice. I'm even finally "locking" in my right hand fingering. I used to "cheat" a lot and just use whatever fingers I wanted; while that works, I'm finding that having a particular finger "assigned" to each string and then consistently playing that way is really helping me now because I'm able to pick up new melodies much easier. At first, though, I felt that finger "assignment" was just an exercise from you know where... I got that finger reinforcement from working through Pekelo's books.
 
Kimosabe said:
The best is Mark Kailana Nelson's Fingerpicking Book. I've been working with it and other books for about six years now and have become better and better. It does take work. What I recommend is also buying for about $50 a program that you install on your computer called the Amazing Slower Downer. It slows down any song but keeps it in the same key. Mark Nelson, who's a world class picker, told me he uses it every day. You can easily adjust how much the song is slowed down. I use it with Nelson's books and with Fred Sokolow's books. I've pretty well mastered Nelson's first two finger picking books and have moved on to his Slack key book. Just great, but they take patience and practice. I memorize songs which has greatly helped me understand song structure and variation.

Another great book to improve fingerpicking skills and provide musical satisfaction is Tony Mizen's From Lute to Uke.
Some of the Renaissance pieces actually really rock if you rock them rhythmically. Some pieces are very beautiful and you can see the roots of rock/folk/Appalachian music in Renaissance music. Some are actually not that hard.
Give it a whirl.
Click to expand...

Wow. This is an impressive list. Thanks for the sharing.
 
Looks like there are some great suggestions here. Do any of these books include songs for low G tuning?
 
I believe the Pekelos books are for low G tuning.
 
Kimosabe said:
The best is Mark Kailana Nelson's Fingerpicking Book. I've been working with it and other books for about six years now and have become better and better. It does take work. What I recommend is also buying for about $50 a program that you install on your computer called the Amazing Slower Downer. It slows down any song but keeps it in the same key. Mark Nelson, who's a world class picker, told me he uses it every day. You can easily adjust how much the song is slowed down. I use it with Nelson's books and with Fred Sokolow's books. I've pretty well mastered Nelson's first two finger picking books and have moved on to his Slack key book. Just great, but they take patience and practice. I memorize songs which has greatly helped me understand song structure and variation.

Another great book to improve fingerpicking skills and provide musical satisfaction is Tony Mizen's From Lute to Uke.
Some of the Renaissance pieces actually really rock if you rock them rhythmically. Some pieces are very beautiful and you can see the roots of rock/folk/Appalachian music in Renaissance music. Some are actually not that hard.
Give it a whirl.
Click to expand...

thanks lad.
 
I posted on this thread and learned from this thread. I bought Pekelo's book. I thought the first volume might be too easy. Boy, was I wrong. It taught me some great Hawaiian tunes, taught me how to read better, especially dotted notes, and really exercised my mind and fingers. Fantastic and I am about to begin the second volume. I wrote Pekelo and he said he's working on a third volume. I was at the Olomana Country Club on Oahu and I was talking to Mike Keawe's sister, a former Ms. Hawaii, and she was telling me Pekelo's songs are what they all grew up on.

Nelson, Pekelo and videos and Sokolow......Tony Mizen, and many more. A lot of great teachers out there.
 
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When I received my Ohta San, loved the low G tuning. Purchased Pekelo's books and began a new journey.
Low G added a whole new dimension. Agree everything Kimosabe posted about Pekelo's books.

Also really like the Nelson books for traditional re-entrant pieces.
 
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I've enjoyed this one: 20 Easy Fingerstyle Studies For Ukulele Book/CD Set by Rob MacKillop.
51wSOhSkKHL.jpg
 
Pekelo is a great method for Hawaiian style fingerstyle in low G. Volume 1 is very basic, and 2 is intermediate. There is a lot of emphasis on playing cleanly. The practice CDs help with this. Supposed to be a third volume someday.
 
Doc_J said:
I've enjoyed this one: 20 Easy Fingerstyle Studies For Ukulele Book/CD Set by Rob MacKillop.
51wSOhSkKHL.jpg
Click to expand...


He has many uke books and they all are tops! Many have Youtube vidoes to go with them. He also smiles at the end of each video which cracks me up.
 
I'm definitely an intermediate player and can handle the harder Mark Nelson finger picking pieces and some of the Rob McKillop pieces as well as those of Tony Mizen. I still found Pekelo's first book to be very informative. When I practice I memorize pieces because memorizing helps me understand the structure and nuances, how the pieces are constructed, and the variations within. I also think it's good to internalize work. It gives you something to build with later, not to mention the fact that you have something to play without carting around various books.
 
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