Fingerpicking help.

Bucket

Trying to learn this gorgeous acoustic piece:

I've found a tab, which seems to be accurate:

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/r/rival_sons/nava_tab.htm

Starting just with the opening riff, it's straight eighth-notes on the two low D strings, which is obviously fine, but then the melody on the top strings is kind of syncopated and while I can play the two separately, I can't put them together even at slow speeds.

How can I approach learning this?

dtr

Count out LOUD (one AND two AND..) while learning the bass and melody lines separately.  I find if I don't do this I don't associate the syncopated notes with the ANDs so well.

Sometimes it's good to get used to where the pinches are (like maybe for the 2nd riff, which has 3 pinches), so do your bass and melody lines while counting out loud but play the pinches too.

P.S.  Nice piece by the way.  Will give it a go myself!

BigLicks67

Usually the answer is in the tab itself - make sure you are hitting the bass notes exactly where indicated in the tab and you should start to get the counterpoint working. Alternatively, try just practising the rolling bass on its own for a while before trying to add the melody.

Fuzzdog

BigLicks67 said:

 Alternatively, try just practising the rolling bass on its own for a while before trying to add the melody.

That always worked for me when first learning things like that - may be boring and drive you mental after a while, but just keep playing the bass part by itself until it's crammed firmly into your muscle memory, then adding the rest normally comes remarkably easily.

mgaw

break it down into little phrases....learn say 5 notes together, get that down then move to the next

Sambostar

Although I hate sheet music, for stuff like this and wandering bass lines it is simply the best and really comes into it's own and it knocks that TAB shite out of the park.

Can you not find some sheet music?

Lewy

Nice piece.

The thing that opened up this style for me - let's call it travis picking - was a video called something like "Demystifying Alternate Bass" by Happy Traum. Basically it teaches you to get the bass solid first, and then gradually practice adding in different subdivisions of the beat as melody notes on top....and that really is the key here.

Just get that video and work through it. Soon you will hear pieces like this and even if it's still work to get them together, you'll at least know how to tackle them.

thomasross20

I'm playing a lot of acoustic just now - there's a special edition of Guitar Techniques out which I just bought and will be working through (check it out). Bass first and foremost, defo! WHat I usually have trouble with are the insane chord shapes you usually have to play with this sort of stuff. Nice piece!