Yesterday - The Beatles

In the recording, Paul McCartney played with his guitar in Standard D Tuning (D,G,C,F,A,D) , but in his performances with the Beatles, they played it in Standard E Tuning. This song is played in a fingerpicking style where your thumb plays the bass note of every chord and your fingers play the other strings, mainly the 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings.

At the end of the song, Paul plays the D8, C#8 and C8 in a C chord shape and alternates with an open G string. It’s a little bit like in Blackbird.

The Beatles - Yesterday Lead Sheet

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Song for the Mira - Anne Murray Ukulele

Below is the lead sheet for Song for the Mira from Anne Murray. The song is played with fingerpicking, but you can strum it as well.

Anne Murray - Song for the Mira Ukulele Lead Sheet P1

Anne Murray - Song for the Mira Ukulele Lead Sheet P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

All is Found (Frozen 2) - Kacey Musgraves

This song is a very interesting fingerpicking style. The finger pattern changes throughout the song, sometimes from one measure to another, so pay careful attention to that. Also, use the chords written above the measures to help you get the right chord shape. In the actual song, there is another guitar that strums the chords and plays some hammer ons.

Kacey Musgraves - All is Found (Frozen 2) P1

Kacey Musgraves - All is Found (Frozen 2) P2

Kacey Musgraves - All is Found (Frozen 2) P3

Kacey Musgraves - All is Found (Frozen 2) P4

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Song for the Mira - Anne Murray

Below is the lead sheet for Song for the Mira from Anne Murray. The song is played with fingerpicking, but you can strum it as well.

Anne Murray - Song for the Mira Lead Sheet P1

Anne Murray - Song for the Mira Lead Sheet P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Cats in the Cradle - Harry Chapin

This is a great fingerpicking song. It’s quite challenging. Harry Chapin uses his first finger to sweep over a few strings at a time. I wrote the sheet in a way that replicates this but it’s not exact, as when he sweeps with his finger he doesn’t always hit the same strings. After the bridge, he plays with more intensity, so you could strum instead of doing the fingerpicking, but either way works. Harry himself played it differently live. Watch out for the odd time signatures and the repeat signs.

Harry Chapin - Cats in the Cradle P1

Harry Chapin - Cats in the Cradle P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Sweet Creature - Harry Styles

This is a good fingerpicking song, pretty straight forward. There are a few variations in the second chorus that are not indicated in this music sheet.

Harry Styles - Sweet Creature P1

Harry Styles - Sweet Creature P2

Harry Styles - Sweet Creature P3

Harry Styles - Sweet Creature P4

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Dust in the Wind - Kansas

This is a really good song to learn fingerpicking. The intro starts the song with a challenge, but the verse and chorus and bridge are harder to play, so it gradually becomes more difficult as the song progresses.

In the intro, the chords go as follow:

C, Cmaj7, Cadd9, C; Asus2, Asus4, Am, Asus2; Cadd9, Cmaj7, C, Cadd9; Am, Asus4, Asus2, Am.

It seems complicated but what it means is that you keep all your fingers on the same fret for 4 measures at a time, but changing the notes on the B string. So, on the chord of C you play with your first finger on the B string first fret, then without it for Cmaj7, then add your pinky for Cadd9, back to first finger for C. You do the same thing for the Am chords for 4 measures.

Kansas - Dust in the Wind P1

Kansas - Dust in the Wind P2

Kansas - Dust in the Wind P3

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Blackbird - The Beatles

This song is great for fingerpicking. It seems quite hard and intimidating when you first look at the sheet, but if you break it down into section, it is much easier. This song is build into 5 parts. The 2nd part is the hardest, because it changes chords often and quickly. The best trick is to work on the bass line first, because it goes up chromatically from fret 3 to 7 and goes back down the same way. There are three types of chords, major (finger on the A string and B string with one fret in between), minor (same thing but no fret in between) and diminished (finger on A string and high E string with the latter string being one fret lower). If you look below in part two the first chord is Major, the second one is diminished and the first one of the following measure is minor. So, what I suggest is that you learn those shapes of chords and look at the bass line while playing this part, so it feels less all over the place. One more thing, if you notice there is a G string open in between every chord, so learn to change chords first then add the extra notes in between.

The Beatles have rereleased this song several times, so the ending of the song changes slightly depending on the version.

The Beatles - Blackbird P1

The Beatles - Blackbird P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen

This song is pretty simple and it’s a great one to learn fingerpicking with. The pattern is written in the first measure and you just repeat it throughout. There is a break on the first measure of the last line, but only the first time through.

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah Lead Sheet

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Say You Won't Let Go - James Arthur

This song is based on one fingerpicking riff that repeats throughout the song. The rhythm is challenging, but once you get it you just have to repeat it.

James Arthur - Say You Won’t Let Go

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Green Green Rocky Road - Oscar Isaac Cover

This song is a cover from Dave Van Ronk called Green Green Rocky Road played by Oscar Isaac in the movie Inside Llewyn Davis. It’s a very good fingerpicking song using a thumb alternating bass line.

When practicing this song, you have to tackle the thumb part first. Your thumb should constantly be alternating between the low D string (we are in drop D tuning : D, A, D, G, B, E with a capo on fret 4) and the high D string. Once you are comfortable with that, try to add the melody one note at a time. It’s a song that you can loop easily, which means that you can practice one measure at a time repeatedly without stopping and it will still be pleasant to the ear.

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Never Going Back Again - Fleetwood Mac

This is a great fingerpicking song. It uses an alternating bass line with your thumb. The form of the song is quite simple, play to the Da Capo, repeat the song up to the same point, then play it again but starting from the first repeat sign all the way to the end. It is played in drop d tuning (D,A,D,G,B,E) with a capo on fret 4. If you listen to the live recordings, Lyndsay Buckingham plays it differently with capo on fret 3. He simplified the picking.

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com