Foundations of Fingerstyle Guitar

This course is Part 1 of The Crescent's Fingerstyle Guitar Beginners course.

In this first section, we’ll focus on developing essential fingerpicking techniques—using your thumb and fingers to create flowing accompaniment patterns.

You’ll learn proper finger placement, picking coordination, and thumb independence, all while working through classic beginner-friendly fingerstyle songs such as Blackbird by The Beatles and Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton.

The goal is to build confidence and fluency with fingerstyle accompaniment.

 Skills Covered:

Prerequisites:

Students should be comfortable playing open chords, switching between them smoothly, and performing basic strumming patterns. Prior knowledge of tablature is helpful but not required.

To get a well-rounded experience with Fingerstyle guitar, we recommend students to sign up to The Crescent's Continuation course, beginning after half term.

About the Tutor

Joe Kennedy is a professional guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing fingerstyle guitar, inspired by Tommy Emmanuel from the young age of 7. he has built a successful career performing music at weddings, private events, and live venues—both as a solo instrumentalist and as an accompanist for vocalists.

Watch him in action on here (Joe Kennedy La Vie En Rose, Chet Atkins covers) or visit joekennedymusic.com.