Guitar fingerpicking: American folk styles
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- Start Date: 15 Jul 2025End Date: 29 Jul 2025This course is fullTue (Evening): 19:00 - 21:00In PersonFull fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00
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What is the course about?
In this short course we will explore the guitar styles and techniques of American folk revival in the 1960s and the various influences that led to their use.
Supported by original recordings and contemporary guitar publications, we will build a context for the blossoming of acoustic guitar technique in 1960s America.
What will we cover?
The Piedmont picking of Etta Baker
• Blues pickers: Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Josh White, Lead Belly
• Travis Picking: Merle Travis and Chet Atkins
• Folk Picking: Woody Guthrie, Martin Carthy, Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
• Recognise and play in distinct folk picking styles
• Play guitar with more authority and confidence
• Have a meaningful understanding of the place of the American folk revival in contemporary music.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
• This course is suitable for players who have played guitar for two years or more
• You should have a basic grasp of guitar tablature or standard music notation
• The ability to play simple barre chords will be helpful
• A basic grasp of the note names on the lower two strings.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
The work will be in groups and individually, through tutor demonstrations and practice. You will need to process and practise the material from each session before the next session.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Any six-string acoustic guitar is suitable. You will also need a capo. If you have a device to make audio recordings of parts of the sessions you are welcome to do so.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
This is a supplementary study to our folk and pop and classical guitar courses.
David Harrison studied at Oxford Brookes university before taking a post-graduate diploma in saxophone performance at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. David has been teaching at City Lit since 1994. In 2004 he wrote a guitar player’s guide for Collins and joined Music Sales in 2005 to update the famous A Tune A Day tutor series, eventually producing over 40 titles as series editor of the relaunched A New Tune A Day books, which has since become the biggest-selling music tutor series worldwide. Since 2010, David has worked freelance writing, editing and producing mainly educational titles, including Abracadabra Beginning Theory (Collins Music); The Complete Ukulele Player (Music Sales) and most recently the Bob Dylan Complete (Hal Leonard), the authorised collection of every Dylan song, together with an extensive introduction covering Dylan’s acoustic guitar technique, his song-writing and Dylan’s place in the American folk music revival. Aside from his guitar and saxophone classes, David runs a course in song writing. a series of talks on the music of The Beatles, and a series on the songs of Bob Dylan’s 1960s albums.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
