Get stories like this in your inbox (free!)

Posted by Andrew DuBrock
Excerpted from Acoustic Rock Essentials

Some picking patterns “flow” across the guitar’s strings in ascending and/or descending patterns behind the vocal line. These types of patterns usually feature rolling picking-hand fingerings that may eschew a strong sense of rhythm for a more ethereal tone. 

Example 2 shows a pattern in 6/8 time, the way many players interpret the traditional classic “House of the Rising Sun.” Many flowing patterns use individually plucked strings to create an ambient feel, but you can bolster a song’s rhythm by adding some thumbed bass notes. Example 3 uses an alternating syncopated thumb to create a little more of a driving feel underneath a shortened pattern. Make sure you hold off your second thumb stroke until the and of beat two. 

Excerpted from Acoustic Rock Essentials

BUY NOW