ANDREW SEGUIN

THE GUITAR GUIDE TO

BECOMING A

FINGERSTYLE

MASTER

A LOOK INTO THE HABITS,

EXERCISES AND MINDSET THAT
CAN TURN ANY GUITARIST INTO A
MASTER OF FINGERSTYLE
BECOMING A
FINGERSTYLE
MASTER
THE KEYS TO TRANSFORM
YOUR GUITAR SKILLS

ANDREW SEGUIN
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
LETS GET TO KNOW EACHOTHER

SECTION 1 3
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINGERSTYLE GUITAR

SECTION 2 14
MASTERING FINGERSTYLE

SECTION 3 19
PERCUSSION TECHNIQUES

SECTION 4 23
MOTIVATED
 W E L C O M E T O T H E

INTRODUCTION
I don't know who you are: you may have
never picked up a guitar in your life but
are interested; you may be a great electric
guitarist looking to learn fingerstyle; or you
mary have quit and are trying to get back
into it.

Regardless,
I have a lot
to show
you in this
mini-ebook.
One short
e-book can't
contain everything I want to show you, but
I so appreciate your time and allowing me
to begin this journey with you.

I've spent many years studying the

greatest fingerstyle guitarists like Tommy
Emanuel and Andrew Foy and in my own
journey, breaking down the steps on how
to become a master fingerstyle guitarist.
I'll start by showing you the fingerstyle
fundamentals, then move on to increasing
your fingerstyle skills, then the coolest
percussion techniques and finally, show you
how the greatest guitarists manage their
practice time and how to never quit.

"90% OF NEW
GUITARISTS QUIT
WITHIN THE FIRST
YEAR."
That's pretty sad, right? Yea I know, and I
want to make sure you are not part of that
90%. Some quit because of time, others
have personal problems but the truth is
that the reason so many people quit guitar
is because they lose the motivation that
they had in the beginning.

We all had it when we started playing,

perhaps it was picturing yourself on stage
or in front of thousands but for some the
picture fades. I'll show you exactly how to
prevent the picture from fading.
 WHO AM I?
Before we get into the book let me quickly
introduce myself.

My name is Andrew Seguin, I started

playing guitar when I was only eight. I am
classically trained and over the past few
years have focused my efforts to learning
everything I can about fingerstyle guitar.

I feel as if it is my duty to make it easy to

learn fingerstyle and to help ensure as
many as possible don't have to go through
as many roadblocks as I did.

Are you ready? Let's get into the

fingerstyle fundamentals.
 S E C T I O N O N E

FINGERSTYLE
FUNDAMENTALS
Fingerstyle Guitar:
The technique of playing the guitar by
plucking the strings directly with the
fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached
to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking
(plucking individual notes with a single
plectrum, commonly called a "pick").
Have you ever been out somewhere and
noticed a guy with really long nails? Well
there are at least two possibilities to why
that may be:

1. He plays fingerstyle/classical guitar

2. He doesn't cut his nails (lol)

Fingerstyle guitar, unlike electric guitar, is

often played using your fingernails. You
don't "need" to do this. But it makes
playing a lot easier. I've played gigs with
nails and without them and I can say that
with nails feels a whole lot better. It also
rings more clearly. Nails or even finger
picks can always be added later. For
beginners I would say fingernails are
optional but recommended.
Mastering fingerstyle guitar opens up so
many options. You can even play entire
songs with the bass line, melody and
percussion all on one guitar and play gigs
completely solo. I have been doing this for
years now and its a lot easier than having
to arrange rehearsals, but if you are in a
band and ADD fingerstyle guitar IT SOUNDS
AWESOME.

When you have mastered fingerstyle you

are no longer limited to one sound. It's the
difference between listening to one violin vs
the ENTIRE ORCHESTRA.

I am so excited to join you as you begin

your journey of mastering fingerstyle guitar.
Whether you are a beginner, or are a
seasoned electric guitarist, you will find
that fingerstyle will open up new avenues
of expression for you.

These next few pages will be directed

toward absolute beginners to fingerstyle, or
toward anyone who needs a little refresher
on the fundamentals!
 HOW DO I START
Fingerstyle is a long journey but a fantastic
one to ride!

We must first become familiar with the

right hand fingering (letters we use)

The well known letters for the right

hand fingering go as P-I-M-A.
This isn't something that
needs to be drilled into your
head if your just trying
to have some fun playing
fingerstyle since now
you can just read tabs but
its good to know.

Fingerstyle also has a lot

of arrangements (fingerstyle
versions of songs) that go high
up the neck. I'd recommend printing out a
tab sheet like the one below and not only
memorizing it, but also reviewing it often.
Once you get that down, you should start
experimenting with playing the strings with
your fingers instead of using a pick.

I will now get into the exercises to start

learning fingerstyle guitar. Start by placing
your thumb on the low E-String (6).

Once you have that down

(make sure wrist is not
resting on your guitar. It's
a bad habit you won't like
later) go up and down all
6 strings with your thumb.
Do this until you become
comfortable with the
strings then pick random
ones at random times. You
want to be
comfortable playing the
strings with your thumb.
 EXERCISE 2: FINGERS
Now do the same with your I (1) and M(2)
fingers. Simply run up and down the
strings with them.

EXERCISE 3: TWO AT ONCE

Place your thumb on the A(5)-string and
index on the B(2)-string. Pluck the strings at
the same time until you get comfortable with
this motion
 EXERCISE 4:
ALTERNATING THUMB
This is very similar to the exercise before.
Place your thumb on the E(6)-string and
index on B(2) or high E(1). Alternate your
thumb by switching between the E(6) and
A(5) string in between index plucks.
 EXERCISE 5:
ALTERNATING FINGERS
For this exercise place your thumb on the
E(6)-string and one finger on the B(2) string.
Pluck both at the same time but in between
plucks alternate your fingers by switching
from playing the B(2) with your first finger
then your high E(1) with your second finger.
 MORE EXERCISES?
I could on and on with more exercises to keep
increasing your fingerstyle guitar skills.
Unfortunately I don't want this book to be 300
pages!

If you're serious about going to the next level,

you might be able to be my next Fingerstyle
Guitar Apprentice, but only if you can agree to
this three terms.

✔ You will use what you discover in the

Fingerstyle Guitar Academy To Show Your Music
To The World.
✔ You are prepared for the fiery jealousy sure to
come from friends, family, even former
bandmates.
✔ You will commit to the training. It’s no secret,
from J.S.Bach to Chet Atkins, they all put in the
work to get to where they are.

If you can agree to these three terms then I'd

love to have you in the Fingerstyle
Guitar Academy of Mentor-ship.

To see if enrollment is open for you

right now, go to...

MASTERFINGERSTYLEGUITAR.COM
 S E C T I O N T W O

MASTERING
FINGERSTYLE
PRACTICE MAKES
BETTER
You've heard it a million times, but its true.
The only way to become a master at
something is to do it over and over. It's said
that it takes 10,000 hours to completely
master something but I'd say its even longer
then that.

The good news? You can completely shrink

that time down. One of the easiest ways to
do that is by managing your practice sessions
and making them as effective as possible. I
will cover this in section 4 of the book.
The way I went from a beginner electric
guitarist to a great fingerstyle guitarist was
simple. I learned from people who did it and
copied what they did to get there. I was
even lucky enough to get a lot of classical
lessons. (This is something I completely
recommend for new fingerstyle guitarists)

So what if you don't have access to private

classical guitar lessons? Well I think its fate
that has brought you here. We are in a day
and age that older guitarists could only have
dreamed of. You have access to millions of
guitar tabs on the internet, free e-books (like
this one) and the ability to be taught
ONLINE! This can be far more rewarding than
private lessons at times because the people
teaching these lessons can put much more
time into them and have you guided along.
Not to mention private lessons can cost
upwards of $100+ a WEEK!
So to master fingerstyle guitar you have to
be willing to put in the work. Here are
options that have worked for me and many
others across the globe.

1. Learn a new
fingerstyle song
every week

The key to success is not how much work

you put in in a short amount of time. it's
about persistence and consistency. If you can
only practice guitar 15 minutes a day but
you do that every day. Its far better than
practicing one a week at 60 minutes. If you
learn one song per week (or even 2 per
week) it keeps you motivated and will
increase you skills.
 2. Keep increasing
the difficulty
Its easy. Start small and go big. Its a good
way to learn everything and is the way I
structured the Fingerstyle Guitar Acamemy.
Don't just learn a super easy song every
week if you've been practicing for a year.
Keep upping your game and soon, you can
have your first difficult and harmonic songs
down.

3. Take lessons
This isn't a must. There are many great self
taught guitarists in the world. But in life it's
always great to have a mentor. Someone
better than you to keep you motivated and
teach you what you know. You never want to
think that you know it all. For fingerstyle
guitar I would recommend short classical
lessons and do fingerstyle all on your own.
You can also teach yourself classical guitar.
 4. Take Courses
One thing that all top guitarists do is
constantly learn. Taking guitar courses from
people who have been there can be even
better than taking lessons. You can go at
your own pace during courses which is
awesome since it manages your time well.
Also, never let the price of knowledge
discourage you. You can see more about our
course at... masterfingerstyleguitar.com/fga

5. Find what works

for you
Every fingerstyle guitarist is different. Each
have their own unique style. If you want to
be a great fingerstyle guitarist you have to
find your own unique style. Many use
percussion to their advantage (which will be
explained in next session) while others play
elegantly. To be a great fingerstyle guitarist
you must find what works for you and
surrender to it.

These are 5 tips on mastering fingerstyle

guitar. I am not close to mastering it at all
but I can guarantee that these tips will help
you on your journey.
 S E C T I O N 3

PERCUSSION
You have probably seen Youtube videos that
show people using the guitar as a
percussion instrument while at the same
time playing full songs (bass and melody
included).

This might overwhelm you and you might

think that it is impossible to do but I
assure you it is in you grasp. As said
before, practice makes better. You will to
practice all of these techniques for many
hours for them to truly fit your style. I will
now explain the 3 most used techniques.
1. The Slap (Snare)
The most popular percussion
technique used is the one that simulates
the snare. You can do this technique once
you get the hang of it at the same time as
playing.

Start by playing your thumb on the low

E(6)-String. Your goal is to use the bone
part in the middle of thumb thumb by
bring it up and down in a snap-like
motion. This will take a lot of getting used
to and probably hurt a bit at first, but in
the end it will be rewarding.

Tip: when I first started I couldn't play both

the song and the snare at the same time. I
had to go super slow and eventually pick
up the pace. If you are struggling do this.
 2. The Palm Hit
(Bass)
This technique is done by hitting your palm
and lower wrist against your guitar right
under the hole. Lot's of people do this
differently but to get the hang of it, Simply
just do what feels right but don't hit to
hard. Just hit the guitar with your palm and
lower wrist.

Don't get too carried away with this

exercise. It can hurt your wrist if you do it
too much and can be dangerous. Try not to
have crazy practice sessions with it and be
safe.
 3. Misc Percussion
A lot of fingerstyle guitarists add their own
little misc persussion items in their
arrangements. The best way to learn this is
just by testing everything out. A good way
to do this is by just adding little drum rolls
when there is an opening in the beat. A
great fingerstyle guitarist who does a lot of
this is Eddie Van Der Meer. Check him out
if you want to see how cool you can make
it.

Tip: The best fingerstyle guitarists learned a

lot of their percussion techniques by
experimenting. Don't be afraid to do this!
 S E C T I O N 4

MOTIVATION
I stated in the beginning of the E-Book
that 90% of new guitarists quit in the first
year. In this section I wanted to give you
the best tips to staying motivated and
creating great practice sessions. Thank you
so much for getting this far!

PRACTICE TIPS
1. Create small goals
If you're new don't go into this and say
"I'm going to learn classical gas in 2
months". Set hard to reach but achievable
goals. Do this while practicing as well.
Instead of learning an entire song. spend
an hour working solely on a section of the
song that needs improvement. Will Smith
has a great quote on this:

“You don't set out to build a wall. You

don't say 'I'm going to build the biggest,
baddest, greatest wall that's ever been
built.' You don't start there. You say, 'I'm
going to lay this brick as perfectly as a
brick can be laid.'
 2. Don't Get
Discouraged
This is easier said than done and I can
guarantee that on your journey you will get
discouraged. There will be times where you
don't play for a week, or even a month but
you need to try your best to stay in good
habits. Here are a few tips will help:

1. Keep watching people who are better

than you
2. Visualize
3. Create good practice habits
4. Take guitar lessons or courses

These are just a few ways to keep your

guitar drive burning
3. Practice Everyday
Try to always make time to practice guitar.
Your goal should be the get just a little bit
better every day. If this means just picking
up the guitar and playing a few fingerstyle
chords that work. Try to always keep the
ball rolling and the momentum flowing.

Tip: Don't try to have super large practice

sessions at the beginning. break them up
into smaller segments. If I started with the
2 hour sessions that I do now I would
never have progressed because I would
have gotten bored and the momentum
would have stopped flowing.

ALTHOUGH IF YOU ARE HAVING FUN,

PRACTICE AS LONG AS YOU WANT!
Once again I could go on forever with
these tips, here are a few more:

1. Post about your guitar journey to keep

you on task
2. Add fingerstyle guitar music to your
playlist
3. Review songs you already know everyday
4. Meet other guitar players or people who
have similar music interests
5. Start a band
6. Have set times to practice everyday
7. Don't overdue it but don't under due it
8. HAVE FUN WITH IT! It can turn into a job
as it has for me but don't get sad if it
takes a while
 L A S T W O R D S

THANK YOU
I can not explain how thankful I am that
you have listened to all the words that I
have shared and I hope that you have
taken a lot away from it. I can only have
so much information in this little E-Book.

As I said before, you might be an electric

guitarist who wants to learn fingerstyle, or
a new guitarist wanting to learn fingerstyle
or you might be a longtime player.
Whatever your path, I'd to love to
personally teach you. (If you agree to my 3
terms as mentioned)

So what is the Fingerstyle Guitar Academy?

Well it's all explained here or on

masterfingerstyleguitar.com, but I'll give you
a little more of an explanation.
 What Is in Our
Private Mentorship?
The Academy is a Fingerstyle Guitar
Program composed of 7 different modules,
teaching confidence, motivation, fingerstyle
and every single aspect of the guitar.

You can't buy these trainings or mentorship

anywhere. They're not for sale. You can
only receive them as one of my apprentice
in the fingerstyle guitar academy.

They're yours to keep as soon as you start

your training. So if you meet all the
qualifications hurry up and join in because I
am only keeping the gates open for 3 days
(depending on when you're reading this…

You can join here at

masterfingerstyleguitar.com

I promise it'll be one of the

best decisions you've made 
this year for your guitar 
journey.
 My Guarantee For
You (Thank You)
Joining a new Academy can be a bit nerve
wrecking…

Specially when you’ve been told so many

empty promised before.

So Here's My Guarantee for you.

If after 30 Days you feel that you aren't

progressing on guitar the way that
you thought or feel would…

I will refund you every penny back.

That's how confident I am that you will

learn fingerstyle and leave your musical
imprint in this world.

See if it's right for you here...

Andrew Seguin,
Masterfingerstyleguitar.com