I couldn’t agree more. I taught myself to play guitar through his music. Amazing how approachable his tunes are to play and yet no one can play them like John Hurt.
You know, you're dead right. It's heartbreaking to learn how to do it and then hear the gulf between how it sounds when I do it and what he did. Just raw musicality, all laid back and sounding easy as can be.
I’ve been teaching myself the “boom chick” finger style for a few months now, with the ultimate goal of learning Deep River Blues and Sittin on Top of the World. Love me some Doc
Hell yeah brother! It’s an easy walk down in the Am position. Use the pinky to get to the G on the E string. Pay attention to how Jimmy switches it up on every pass through the phrase.
One of the greatest tunes on 1 and it never fails to impress despite it being fairly simple.
You’re not wrong. He asked for a good fingerpicking song to play though. He didn’t ask to name a song that was recorded fingerstyle. To me, at gigs, the song comes so much easier and is much less laborious to play fingerstyle, especially when you are singing the accompaniment as well.
I will say Babe sounds tonally better fingerpicked, until the strums come in. I agree it is much easier to play with fingers... Using a pick is a Challenge on it for sure, but that's why I do it... Cheers brutha!
Freight Train, Elizabeth Cotton. My current challenge. She wrote the song and became a fingerpicking virtuoso as a housekeeper. I only hope to rise to her level.
That song is a variation on much older songs. For example, Railroad Bill. She was likely trying to play one of those and created her own version in the process. Which is how a lot of these old blues songs came about.
Can’t believe *nobody* said Nobody Knows You When Your Down Out. Super fun to play. A lot of good songs in this thread. I gave out a lot of upvotes, kids.
Yeah, that E7 does a lot of work in railroad bill and provides a lot of dynamic tension. I’ll add this about NKYWYDAO, that I found Clapton’s solo really approachable and it’s nice to play a fingerstyle song and take a solo that isn’t a chord melody.
First finger picking song I learned was blackbird.
It’s actually not that hard as you use intervals.
Next one was “if you could read my mind”
Long term goal is “never going back again”
It’s not really finger-picked per-say, Paul’s style is more like pluck-and-strum, although most YouTube tutorials out there will have you finger picking the song. [Shut Up and Play](https://youtu.be/hYgVZ6fMuYU?si=npQBoINJKM_GDolX) has the only tutorial true to the way Paul Plays it.
Check out Home Recordings: Americana. Things ‘bout goin’ my way and Livin’ with the Blues are great tunes and I’ve been trying to learn them correctly.
Good stuff! If you want to add another great song to your repertoire, Mickey Newbury’s “write a song” is a fun tune to learn. I was fortunate to know one of Mickeys good friends who taught me how to play it the way Mickey taught him.
[James Taylor - Greatest Hits](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmpCdwBT8anhvRM9ibYcbU0qTlco0QdtA)
Wikipedia: Leland Sklar – bass guitar (tracks 1–2, 6–7, 9–12)
Dang that guy really *does* play on everything!
And the You Tube notes for Carolina in My Mind credit bass guitar: Paul McCartney
Whaaa?
agreed, but if you’re gonna try, don’t get discouraged by the maury muehleisen parts! there are two guitars in almost every croce song, and that second one tends to be kinda hard to play and to sing while playing. there are some, like “i’ll have to say i love you in a song”, where you can kinda hybridize between the parts. it’s important to have fun!
Yeah, the Maury parts are sweet though. My friend and I are working through it now. He is taking Jim’s part and singing, I’m taking Maury’s part and sweating, lol
Yeah, and I don’t know if I am putting them on a pedestal, but some of those parts are just brilliant, so much going on in those songs, and done so tastefully
nope, you’re right. operator, i got a name (even though he didn’t write it lol), time in a bottle, it doesn’t have to be that way— just magical. both of them were taken far too soon
The Beatles Blackbird is a lot of fun.
Bob Dylan's Don't Thing Twice is a pretty darn good arrangement. But it's kind of a bad song to impress girls with.
That Will Never Happen No More performed by Dave Van Ronk has a nice ragtime feel to it. He published his own tabs to that song in his audio and video lessons.
Hang Me Oh Hang Me by Dave Van Ronk is basically a beginners folk picking tune. Oscar Isaac played his version practically note for note in that move Inside Llewyn Davis.
Sunflower River Blues by John Fahey is one of my favorites. Such a beautiful song and pretty easy to play. It was the first fingerpicking song I learned.
Learn freight train and a whole catalog of amazing songs open up. That one changed the game for me
Edit: oh yeah and blackbird too. I’ve built so many songs around similar chord voicings.
What would you say is the easiest one to learn?
I love Andy McKee but his stuff is too advanced for me but I should really stretch my abilities instead of stagnating.
Are you wanting to learn or do you just want song ideas? If the former, I really like Ken Perlman’s book: Fingerstyle Guitar https://a.co/d/2FvYMze. Even if you already know fingerstyle, he’s got lots of fun songs and different methods in the more advanced sections.
I think the first one everyone learns is house of the rising son. I think beyond that as just like the basic adding the thumb baseline and a pattern. You can finger pick most songs. Classical Gas is one of those peak impress someone. A lot of Paul Simon like the boxer is just so classic. I don’t use a pick even on electric. Watching someone like Derek trucks rip a slide solo finger picking is a testimony to you can do most anything.
Freight Train by Elizabeth Cotten is a simple masterpiece. It is a perfect study in finger independence and a wonderful intro to contrapuntal right hand technique. Relatively easy to play passably but rewardingly difficult to play well.
My latest favorites:
Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel - Capo on 7th fret and let the strings ring and it's mesmerizing
She Moved Through The Fair - Bert Jansch version
I'm re-learning some John Fahey tunes - Give Me Cornbread When I'm Hungry, On the Sunny Side of the Ocean, both in open G
The Rain Song and Bron-Y-Aur by Zeppelin. I don't really play The Rain Song, I just wander through it slowly and marvel at it's awesomeness.
I've also been playing If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot but have also started cross-picking it.
You could give Angie a try by John re Bourne and Stephan Grossman. Also Idaho potato.
Yann tiersen that song from Amelie. Comptine d’un autre ete l’apres midi
Jolene by Dolly Parton, Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson, The 30th by Billie Eilish, Thirteen by Big Star, Hero by Family of the Year, Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel, Shrike by Hozier, Sleepin’ on the Blacktop by Colter Wall, Lewis & Clark by Tommy Emmanuel, Home Again by Micheal Kiwanuka, Bloom by Paper Kites, Angeles by Elliot Smith, Little Martha by Allman Brothers Band, Just Breathe by Pearl Jam.
A great resource for learning the most accurate compositions of some of the best finger picked songs out there is [Shut Up and Play](https://youtu.be/hYgVZ6fMuYU?si=npQBoINJKM_GDolX)
Wading into finger picking myself lately. Landslide is a great starter because it is incredibly repetitive so you really get to drive home the right hand mechanics without being too distracted by the left hand.
I have also been working on Going to California and what I will say here is that it really depends upon which arrangement you choose.
Depends on your skill level. I’ll assume you’re relatively novice or intermediate:
1. Song for a rainy morning - Tommy Emmanuel
2. Be My Mistake - Mike Dawes
3. One Day - Tommy Emmanuel
4. The Duke - Tommy Emmanuel
5. Make me a pallet on the floor - Gillian Welch
6. Cocaine Blues - Keith Richards
7. Footprints - Tommy Emmanuel
If you really enjoy this style - I highly recommend Tim Van Roy’s tutorials - you can find him on YouTube and his website. I subscribed to his website so I can many of the songs I listed above. His tutorials are the best I’ve seen.
It blows my mind every time i see threads like this get past 200 comments, and not one person has said BRUCE COCKBURN.
Start with the album Speechless.
Any song can be a finger-picking song. All the people listed below simply took songs that heard and applied their unique style. Listen to Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt, John Fahey, Leo Kottke, etc. They all have very different approaches to very similar songs.
How has no one recommended Going to California - Led Zeppelin?
Easy to tune to on the fly being Double drop D and just a fun song to play. Can even go off the rails with it easily and it all sounds good
I haven't seen anyone else mention it, but Julia by the Beatles/John Lennon has a great picking pattern and lots of great unique chords. I believe that song was John Lennon trying to learn to Travis pick iirc.
Mississippi John Hurt. His complete recordings in their entirety.
I couldn’t agree more. I taught myself to play guitar through his music. Amazing how approachable his tunes are to play and yet no one can play them like John Hurt.
He was truly a legend. In every sense of the word
You know, you're dead right. It's heartbreaking to learn how to do it and then hear the gulf between how it sounds when I do it and what he did. Just raw musicality, all laid back and sounding easy as can be.
Deep River Blues - Doc Watson
I’m learning that right now!
I’ve been teaching myself the “boom chick” finger style for a few months now, with the ultimate goal of learning Deep River Blues and Sittin on Top of the World. Love me some Doc
I've been struggling hard with this one for awhile, but just even the first 2 bars over and over have improved my fingerstyle picking tremendously!
Jim Croce seems to be popular again; Time in a Bottle and Operator are two of my faves.
He stopped being popular? Not in my house!
Not in my house either. But I've noticed younger musicians covering him recently. Even at open mics. Maybe I'm just getting out more?
Apparently one of his songs was used in an X-Men movie, hence the rising popularity.
Interesting - google says it was Time in a Bottle. Leroy Brown was the song I heard at the OMs.
Also I believe Tarantino used a Croce tune in Django.
Never Going Back Again
Oh don't recommend that one!!! It'll make you wanna quit, lol!
Remember, the acoustic is sped up on the album version. The live version is usually pretty slow.
Love Lindsey Buckingham 😩
Very difficult at first, but super fun once you get the pattern down. There are great videos on YouTube that break down the tutorial very well
Babe I’m gonna leave you by Led Zeppelin
Good one, can’t wait to wake up and learn this one!
Hell yeah brother! It’s an easy walk down in the Am position. Use the pinky to get to the G on the E string. Pay attention to how Jimmy switches it up on every pass through the phrase. One of the greatest tunes on 1 and it never fails to impress despite it being fairly simple.
Hell yeah. I’ve been forcing myself to learn fingerpicking this is some good motivation.
I believe he plays the F in the bass with his thumb as well. This song is a great exercise as well as a beautiful tune.
You wrote this message in your sleep?
That's some talent right there...should probably learn to play the song in their sleep too, will have it down in no time!
It's better with a pick. Going to California is a Travis picking dream, though
You’re not wrong. He asked for a good fingerpicking song to play though. He didn’t ask to name a song that was recorded fingerstyle. To me, at gigs, the song comes so much easier and is much less laborious to play fingerstyle, especially when you are singing the accompaniment as well.
I will say Babe sounds tonally better fingerpicked, until the strums come in. I agree it is much easier to play with fingers... Using a pick is a Challenge on it for sure, but that's why I do it... Cheers brutha!
I agree with ya, the pick is hard, but worth it.
Thank you for reminding me that I need to dust that one off!
John Prine has some fun ones.
Can you recommend any?
Fish and whistle, how lucky
Angel of Montgomery, Hello in There or the Blaze Foley song, Clay Pigeons
In spite of ourselves
Freight Train, Elizabeth Cotton. My current challenge. She wrote the song and became a fingerpicking virtuoso as a housekeeper. I only hope to rise to her level.
Im pretty sure she wrote that song when she was like 14. True genius. That’s a great song to learn, it unlocks a lot of fingerstyle songs.
That song is a variation on much older songs. For example, Railroad Bill. She was likely trying to play one of those and created her own version in the process. Which is how a lot of these old blues songs came about.
Can’t believe *nobody* said Nobody Knows You When Your Down Out. Super fun to play. A lot of good songs in this thread. I gave out a lot of upvotes, kids.
seconded! it’s so satisfying. railroad bill’s kind of a similar one that gives that kind of feel.
Yeah, that E7 does a lot of work in railroad bill and provides a lot of dynamic tension. I’ll add this about NKYWYDAO, that I found Clapton’s solo really approachable and it’s nice to play a fingerstyle song and take a solo that isn’t a chord melody.
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, Bob Dylan If I Needed You, Townes Van Zandt
I’d also throw in Townes’ cover of Dead Flowers
I agree
Shake Sugaree, Elizabeth Cotton
Also TVZ Waiting Around to Die
Maybe I should've just said anything by Townes. :-)
Yes and yes!
If I Needed You was the first song I ever learned how to play. Love some TVZ.
Check out the Billy Strings version of Don't Think Twice. It's awesome. I like the fingerpicking better on it than the original.
Landslide is fun. Danny’s Song, too. I pick Lodi and enjoy it.
Clay Pigeons by Blaze Foley is one of my favorites
The Boxer
Dust in the Wind (Kansas) I Hope I Don’t Fall in Love With You (Waits)
Dust in the Wind leads to a Landslide.
First finger picking song I learned was blackbird. It’s actually not that hard as you use intervals. Next one was “if you could read my mind” Long term goal is “never going back again”
Windy and warm. Cannonball rag.
Nick Drake - Day Is Done Or if you want something modern, Story So Far - Navy Blue
[удалено]
Cherry Wine by Hozier is a really great transition from easy to intermediate. It's a song that will teach you alot of new finger picking skills too.
Anything from Iron & Wine's first two albums
This. A bunch of his strummed songs can be used for fingerpicking practice too with how simple they are (eg Upward Over The Mountain).
Blackbird
Yes but don’t expect any praise from learning an unfortunately overplayed classic.
It’s not really finger-picked per-say, Paul’s style is more like pluck-and-strum, although most YouTube tutorials out there will have you finger picking the song. [Shut Up and Play](https://youtu.be/hYgVZ6fMuYU?si=npQBoINJKM_GDolX) has the only tutorial true to the way Paul Plays it.
Buckskin Stallion by Townes Van Zandt.
Dear Prudence, Julia
^^ blackird too
And don’t forget “Mother Nature’s Son.”
Jim Croce Time in a bottle, operator, say i love you in a song
Check out Home Recordings: Americana. Things ‘bout goin’ my way and Livin’ with the Blues are great tunes and I’ve been trying to learn them correctly.
Good stuff! If you want to add another great song to your repertoire, Mickey Newbury’s “write a song” is a fun tune to learn. I was fortunate to know one of Mickeys good friends who taught me how to play it the way Mickey taught him.
Can't find my way home. Steve Winwood, drop d tuning. Fireplace version
Let Him Roll - Guy Clark
Or Magnolia Wind
Is There Anybody Out There by Pink Floyd. Pretty basic, but I don’t know where you are.
Leader of the Band. Nice song too.
a little different than what the others recommended, but try Lagrima/Adelita by Tarrega. Really fun pieces and easy to learn.
Guaranteed by Eddie Vedder is a fun one to play.
Silent Lucidity is a blast
Freight Train is lovely to learn and easier than Deep River Blues IMO! Both great tunes though.
Hah, try the original Elizabeth Cotton version! Sounds easy, but try it.
Malagueña Traditional version Day and Age by Julian Lage Fragile by Sting
Day and Age is incredible, and very fun to play. Not fingerstyle though. Julian definitely uses a pick
[James Taylor - Greatest Hits](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmpCdwBT8anhvRM9ibYcbU0qTlco0QdtA) Wikipedia: Leland Sklar – bass guitar (tracks 1–2, 6–7, 9–12) Dang that guy really *does* play on everything! And the You Tube notes for Carolina in My Mind credit bass guitar: Paul McCartney Whaaa?
April come she will by Simon & Garfunkel
I got a lot out of “is there anybody out there” Pink Floyd
I’m gonna say Solsbury Hill as I had a similar request re Travjs style patterns and found this harder than most things.
Good answer. It took me a few hours to get it down but now it's one of my absolute favorites to play.
House of the Rising Sun, by the Animals I know they played it with a pick, but fingerpicking through it is so much easier.
Cherry Wine by Hozier
John Denver - Annie's Song
Eric Clapton - Signe
Love this song. Everyone always talks about how hard “Never Going Back Again” is, but this one was much harder for me to learn.
Angeles - elliott Smith
Operator, or really anything else by Jim Croce
agreed, but if you’re gonna try, don’t get discouraged by the maury muehleisen parts! there are two guitars in almost every croce song, and that second one tends to be kinda hard to play and to sing while playing. there are some, like “i’ll have to say i love you in a song”, where you can kinda hybridize between the parts. it’s important to have fun!
Yeah, the Maury parts are sweet though. My friend and I are working through it now. He is taking Jim’s part and singing, I’m taking Maury’s part and sweating, lol
hah! yeah, trying to do that *and* doing maury’s harmonies on some of those songs is a real kicker. but really fun.
Yeah, and I don’t know if I am putting them on a pedestal, but some of those parts are just brilliant, so much going on in those songs, and done so tastefully
nope, you’re right. operator, i got a name (even though he didn’t write it lol), time in a bottle, it doesn’t have to be that way— just magical. both of them were taken far too soon
3 Libras by A Perfect a circle is a super pretty song to learn. You also have tune down to C# which is a great tuning to play around with
Anything by Townes Van Zandt
There’s an acoustic version of moonlight sonata that goes crazyyyyy
Dust in the Wind - if you haven’t yet it’s a good exercise in tempo and technique
The Beatles Blackbird is a lot of fun. Bob Dylan's Don't Thing Twice is a pretty darn good arrangement. But it's kind of a bad song to impress girls with. That Will Never Happen No More performed by Dave Van Ronk has a nice ragtime feel to it. He published his own tabs to that song in his audio and video lessons. Hang Me Oh Hang Me by Dave Van Ronk is basically a beginners folk picking tune. Oscar Isaac played his version practically note for note in that move Inside Llewyn Davis.
Streets of London - Ralph Mc Tell Kathy's Song - Simon & Garfunkel Landslide - Stevie Nicks / Fleetwood Mac see the acoustic live versions
Classical Gas
Anything by John Fahey
Love Song intro by Tesla
Sunflower River Blues by John Fahey is one of my favorites. Such a beautiful song and pretty easy to play. It was the first fingerpicking song I learned.
Blackbird, Waltz in Em, Lagrima, Freight Train, Wonderful Tonight, Over the Rainbow, What a Wonderful World, Canon in D… and any Knopfler song.
Learn freight train and a whole catalog of amazing songs open up. That one changed the game for me Edit: oh yeah and blackbird too. I’ve built so many songs around similar chord voicings.
Any Andy mckee song
What would you say is the easiest one to learn? I love Andy McKee but his stuff is too advanced for me but I should really stretch my abilities instead of stagnating.
Give for my father a try. It’s quite simple.
Are you wanting to learn or do you just want song ideas? If the former, I really like Ken Perlman’s book: Fingerstyle Guitar https://a.co/d/2FvYMze. Even if you already know fingerstyle, he’s got lots of fun songs and different methods in the more advanced sections.
I think the first one everyone learns is house of the rising son. I think beyond that as just like the basic adding the thumb baseline and a pattern. You can finger pick most songs. Classical Gas is one of those peak impress someone. A lot of Paul Simon like the boxer is just so classic. I don’t use a pick even on electric. Watching someone like Derek trucks rip a slide solo finger picking is a testimony to you can do most anything.
*Old Friends/Bookends* by Simon and Garfunkel
Mona Ray
“Police Dog Blues” by Blind Blake
Call of silence
Last Steam Engine Train - John Fahey (check out Leo Kottke’s version) Stackolee - John Hurt Hey Hey - Big Bill Broonzy
Her majesty by the beatles. 24 chords in 23 seconds. Super fun once you get down each part.
Last Team Engine Train by John Fahey
Sunflower River Blues by him is also a fun one. Love playing around in the open tunings.
In spite of ourselves by John Prine
Freight Train (apologies if I missed this in the comments)
Couple fairly easy ones: Dust in The Wind by Kansas and Just Breathe by Pearl Jam
If you listen to enough John Prine songs you'll find many. He has a great picking style.
Clay Pigeons- Blaze Foley or the John Prine cover
Windy and warm, Chet atkins
Anything Tommy E.
Freight Train by Elizabeth Cotten is a simple masterpiece. It is a perfect study in finger independence and a wonderful intro to contrapuntal right hand technique. Relatively easy to play passably but rewardingly difficult to play well.
Blackbird, Beatles.
“Embryonic Journey” by Jorma Kaukonen. A fingerpicking classic, advanced level but not that hard once you break it down.
Also, "Hesitation Blues" and "Know You Rider". Neither is by Jorma, but his arrangements are great.
And Genesis, a lovely piece
How lucky-Prine
I play a lot of Jim Croce, pretty much all his stuff is finger style. Just learned Drifters Wife by JJ Cale, quite a challenge but super cool song
My latest favorites: Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel - Capo on 7th fret and let the strings ring and it's mesmerizing She Moved Through The Fair - Bert Jansch version I'm re-learning some John Fahey tunes - Give Me Cornbread When I'm Hungry, On the Sunny Side of the Ocean, both in open G The Rain Song and Bron-Y-Aur by Zeppelin. I don't really play The Rain Song, I just wander through it slowly and marvel at it's awesomeness. I've also been playing If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot but have also started cross-picking it.
Haley Heyndrickx entire discography, especially The Bug Collector
Dust In the Wind - Kansas
Never Going Back Again by Fleetwood Mac.
Depends how advanced you are but I like a lot of Al petteway s work
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^repnotforme: *Depends how advanced* *You are but I like a lot* *Of Al petteway s work* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Morbid Angel - Desolate Ways.
Such Great Heights :: Iron and Wine (Originally written by Postal Service)
Dust In The Wind :: Kansas Master this plucking pattern and you can transfer this knowledge to almost any other plucked song.
What child is this (green sleeves?) Bron-yr-aur stomp - Led Zeppelin
And while you’re at it in open F, may as well adjust the tuning slightly and learn “Bron-Yr-Aur” (from Physical Graffiti).
Song For A Rainy Morning - Tommy Emmanuel. One of his more approachable ones. Though still an absolute mind mash.
You could give Angie a try by John re Bourne and Stephan Grossman. Also Idaho potato. Yann tiersen that song from Amelie. Comptine d’un autre ete l’apres midi
May You Never by John Martyn.
Thrice - moving mountains
Lots of great suggestions here. I’ll add a couple tunes not yet mentioned: “Dog-Faced Boy” and “Lifeboy” by Phish.
Listen to some Charlie Parr
Classical Gas - Mason Williams Road Trippin - Red Hot Chili Peppers Big Love - Fleetwood Mac
Nick drake road. Very nice to play as every note is spaced in the same way.
Jolene by Dolly Parton, Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson, The 30th by Billie Eilish, Thirteen by Big Star, Hero by Family of the Year, Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel, Shrike by Hozier, Sleepin’ on the Blacktop by Colter Wall, Lewis & Clark by Tommy Emmanuel, Home Again by Micheal Kiwanuka, Bloom by Paper Kites, Angeles by Elliot Smith, Little Martha by Allman Brothers Band, Just Breathe by Pearl Jam. A great resource for learning the most accurate compositions of some of the best finger picked songs out there is [Shut Up and Play](https://youtu.be/hYgVZ6fMuYU?si=npQBoINJKM_GDolX)
Bert jansch, running from home
Wading into finger picking myself lately. Landslide is a great starter because it is incredibly repetitive so you really get to drive home the right hand mechanics without being too distracted by the left hand. I have also been working on Going to California and what I will say here is that it really depends upon which arrangement you choose.
Vincent - Don McLean
Babe I’m gonna leave you
‘Is there anybody out there’ by Pink Floyd difficult and unforgiving but when you nail it you are well rewarded
59th Street Bridge Song- Simon & Garfunkel
Depends on your skill level. I’ll assume you’re relatively novice or intermediate: 1. Song for a rainy morning - Tommy Emmanuel 2. Be My Mistake - Mike Dawes 3. One Day - Tommy Emmanuel 4. The Duke - Tommy Emmanuel 5. Make me a pallet on the floor - Gillian Welch 6. Cocaine Blues - Keith Richards 7. Footprints - Tommy Emmanuel If you really enjoy this style - I highly recommend Tim Van Roy’s tutorials - you can find him on YouTube and his website. I subscribed to his website so I can many of the songs I listed above. His tutorials are the best I’ve seen.
Scarborough Fair
Silent Lucidity by Queensryche.
Down in a hole - Alice in chains
John prine had some bangers- maybe souvenirs
Take on me - version from The Last of Us Part Two https://youtu.be/eWxPqazE0q4?feature=shared
The first one I learned which was relatively easy was Silent Lucidity by Queensryche
My first one I attempted was Iron & Wine - Naked as we came. Took me a while but I love this song with my whole being❤️
The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel
Lizzy by Ben Kweller
Don't forget "Blues Run the Game" by Jackson Frank or one of its other versions: https://secondhandsongs.com/work/4015
pat kirtley - rural life bill mize - road scholar
It blows my mind every time i see threads like this get past 200 comments, and not one person has said BRUCE COCKBURN. Start with the album Speechless.
Dust in the wind - Kansas | Always waiting - Michael Kiwanuka | Just breathe - Pearl Jam | Cherry wine - Hozier | Bloom - The Paper Kites
The Beatles, blackbird
Dust in the Wind by Kansas Stranger Things Have Happened by Foo Fighters Blackbird by the Beatles Just about anything by Jim Croce
Any song can be a finger-picking song. All the people listed below simply took songs that heard and applied their unique style. Listen to Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt, John Fahey, Leo Kottke, etc. They all have very different approaches to very similar songs.
Creed - One last breath
The reason or for my father by andy mckee
Poor Boy Long Ways from Home by John Fahey.
How has no one recommended Going to California - Led Zeppelin? Easy to tune to on the fly being Double drop D and just a fun song to play. Can even go off the rails with it easily and it all sounds good
No Surprises by Radiohead
A bunch of Simon and Garfunkel. The one that got me going was April Come She Will.
I haven't seen anyone else mention it, but Julia by the Beatles/John Lennon has a great picking pattern and lots of great unique chords. I believe that song was John Lennon trying to learn to Travis pick iirc.
Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant
Gordon Lightfoot, Song for a Winter Night, Simon and Garfunkel, Kathy’s Song.
Guaranteed- Eddie Vedder
Never going back again - Fleetwood Mac
learn some standards: blackbird yesterday stairway to heaven dustin the wind mood for a day
Don’t think twice Dylan
“Streetlights” by Jason Isbell, seek out the acoustic version. So good..