Unlock a simple STEP BY STEP Method to Fingerpick & Strum Along

Hey, guitar enthusiasts. In this lesson we're going to be doing. Jules, you were meant for me. Let's get into it.

So I had some requests for some more finger picking songs, and I think this is a really great one to work through. The chords are relatively easy. We have a CAD9, a regular C chord, E minor. We do have a G B chord that comes into play as well, is as a slash chord in the chorus that we'll go over when we get there. But let's start off with the verses because. Because that is the where all the finger picking takes place. So let's take a look at that first. All right, so before you try playing along with this with me, I'm going to explain it first and then we're going to go back. So this finger picking pattern is the same pattern from chord to chord. The only thing that's changing is what chord we're playing. So we're always going to be playing kind of the same thing. Now here's the pattern. I'm going to do the string numbers first, and then I'll tell you what fingers are playing what. I'm going to start with this C, add nine chord because that's where the song starts. So we're starting on the fifth string.

And then the third string, then the fourth string, then the third string. So that's the first four notes. Fifth string, third string, fourth string, second string. Okay? Okay. And then the end of it always ends on strings 1, 2, 3. We're coming up 1, 2, 3 on the end. So let's talk about the fingers. Now that you know the order, at least for the. The first three chords, this is going to be the order. The fifth string, the third string, the fourth string, the second string, and then strings 1, 2, 3. Okay? That's going to be the order for every single chord, except for the very end. All right, so let's talk about the fingers. Okay, now that we know the strings, it's going to be the thumb alternating between the bass notes, five and four. First finger owns the third string. Second finger owns the second string. Third finger owns the third string. Okay?

So it's going to be thumb on.

The fifth string, first finger, thumb on the fourth string, second finger. So that's the first four notes.

Again.

Okay? And at the very end, it's going to be fingers three, two, one.

Okay? And the timing of it is one and two and.

And four and.

Okay, you hear that?

So again, thumb, 1, thumb 2, 3, 2, 1.

Okay, those are our finger numbers. Now we're going to do the same thing. We're just switching chords. We're going to this G B chord. So really all that's happening is this first finger is moving up one string to the second fret on the A string. So that's our B note in the bass. But you're playing the same pattern.

Thumb one, thumb two, three, two, one.

Okay. Same exact thing. Now what we're gonna be doing is we're going to a regular C chord. So we went From C, add 9, G/B back to a C chord, same.

Pattern, Thumb one, thumb two, three, two, one.

Okay, so let's just do those first three chords for this song and then we'll talk about the last chord. So let's go back to C, add nine.

Okay. That's the first chord, the second chord.

The C chord.

And then our last chord is going to be an E minor chord. Now the only change on this is we're going to start with that circle six string as the bass note. So the thumb is alternating between 6 and 4.

So it's going to be thumb 1, thumb 2, 3, 2, 1.

But the rest of the pattern is the same. So if I play this all the way from the beginning, nice and slow.

And then it goes right back to the the beginning.

Now the real tricky part is going to be singing and playing this at the same time. I haven't practiced this, so I don't even know if I'll be able to. But let me just give it a try. Sometimes humming is easier.

I Hear the clock 6:00am.

I feel.

So far from where I've been.

Got my eggs and my pancakes too Got my maple syrup Everything but you now.

We just had a D chord come in. So let me show you that D chord. What you can do is you just shift everything down. We have the fourth string, thumb. And then the first finger is on the second string and then thumb on the third string.

So it's thumb one, thumb.

Then the second finger is going to play that high E. Then two, one thumb. So it's.

To kind of get that second E a second time. That's a good way to approach that D chord. So my recommendation would be going through learning each chord one at a time and then trying to pin them together one after each other. I wouldn't attempt doing any of the singing and playing at the same time yet until this finger picking pattern has become more autopilot for for you. So what we're going to do next is we're going to go over the chorus and the strumming pattern that we're going to use for that section. Hey, hope you guys are enjoying this lesson so far. Don't forget to subscribe and turn on your notifications this way. YouTube will let you know when I release more videos just like this one. So this chorus section, we're going to start strumming, which is really nice because it makes it much easier to sing. And we're going to be using the chords, C.

D. And then the chords I like to use for this walk down, I like to use my stuck like glue chords. It's a little brighter sounding, but I like it. For the walk down, it'll be a G chord, an F sharp slash, D chord. Really all we're doing is we're taking our G chord and we're moving that first finger up to the top string. This is a very common thing. You're going to see this a lot in a lot of these singer songwriter songs. And then we end up on E minor. So that's going to be G, F sharp slash, D, E minor. Okay. Then we go back and we do that again. The very last line has this really cool harmonic thing. We've got a C chord, D chord, the E minor chord that we start picking. And then there's this cool little harmonic thing that comes in the end that I'm going to show you. So lots of cool stuff. So the strumming pattern is going to.

Be down, down, up, up, down, up, down, down, up, up, down, up, down, down, up, up, down, up, down, down, up, up, down.

All right. And when we get to that walk down those split measures, we're just going.

To do down, down, up, down, down, up. And then for E minor, down, down, up, up, down, up.

So it sound like this.

Here's the G. Down, down, up. F slash, D. Down, down, up.

E minor.

Down, down, up, up, down, up.

So if I sing this chorus, it's.

Going to be dreams last.

I know you love me and you soon you will see you were meant for me and I was meant for you.

All right, so what we're doing on that final E minor is we're just going back to picking the picking pattern we did before for the E minor. Okay. So the same picking pattern.

And then what we're doing to achieve this harmonic effect that happens, we're taking our first finger. I use my first finger, and you're just hovering over the metal. The metal fret at the front of the 12th fret.

Okay. We call these harmonics. It's a natural harmonic of the guitar. And it happens at the 12th fret. See, you can do that. So I'm. I'm literally just resting my finger on the strings. I'm putting no pressure on the strings at all.

And you kind of get this bright sound. So what they're doing, it sounds like they're starting maybe from the fifth string.

And they're kind of doing that timing. So it goes from E minor.

It's pretty cool thing. I mean, it's interesting that it shows up in a little Jewel song, but I like when these natural harmonics pop up. All right, so we've got soon you.

Will see you were meant for me and I was meant for you.

And that's a really cool thing that you guys can practice working on those natural harmonic things. Super, super cool part of this song. Hope you guys enjoyed that. And keep practicing that little harmonic piece because it adds a lot to the song. So the final change in the song is our bridge that comes up later. And we do get a little bit of A chords changing up, a key change here. So we go. We start with A minor to D. Then we get a B minor. So we do have a bar chord that comes in just on this bridge. And then we have a split D.

And C followed by A minor, D.

And then we're going to hold the B minor, hold the E minor. So that'll sound like this.

I go about my business doing fine Besides, what would I say if I had you on the line? Same old story, not much to say Hearts are broken every day.

So you see in that split measure, I'm just using the same strumming pattern we talked about before.

Down, down, up, up, up, down, up.

And then that split measure, D and.

C. Down, down, up, down, down, up.

That's all I'm doing.

Pretty simple. It's just that same.

Down, down, up, up, down.

I mean, pretty simple. This is more of like a late beginner, early. Probably more of an early intermediate song because of the picking and everything else. So, like I said, lots of cool stuff here for you guys to play along and practice to take your time with each section, work through it one piece at a time, and then put everything together like a jigsaw puzzle. YouTube is going to pop up a couple more lessons over there. Go check those out. And I hope to see you guys very soon.