I have recently completed the Justin Guitar Beginner Course and have developed an interest in fingerstyle guitar. I have been working through YouTube to learn a few fingerstyle songs and wanted to put together a ‘best-of list’ for channels that teach fingerstyle and where you can learn fingerstyle songs and arrangements. on guitar.
If you have any more suggestions, please let me know in the comments section.
1. Six String Finger Picking
Six String Finger Picking is a channel run by Chris Murrin and is dedicated to fingerstyle guitar.
Chris teaches in a calm and relaxed manner and teaches you how to play an ever-growing number of popular fingerpicking songs. He also has arrangements of some of the greatest songs ever written, plus all the fingerstyle techniques you’ll ever need.
He has his own website with some paid content which is excellent where you can get a solid grounding in learning fingerstyle guitar and I highly recommend his Complete Beginner’s Guide to Fingerstyle Guitar.
If you are a little more advanced and want to learn how to arrange one of your favorite songs then check out his step by step course here a How to Arrange Songs for Fingerstyle Guitar.
Chris’s YouTube Channel is currently an ‘up and coming’ channel when measured against some of the large guitar tutorial channels but his videos offer so much value that it won’t be long before is right up there with them.
For me, you should start with his Top 60 Fingerpicking Songs Of All Time (Beginner to Advanced) in the video below.
This list of songs is covered in the one video and then he has created individual tutorials, one for each of those songs so that you can learn it. An excellent project for those who want to progress their fingerpicking.
Check out Chris’ YouTube channel here Six String Fingerpicking and his website here.
2. Gareth Evans – Goliath Guitar Tutorials
Gareth has two YouTube channels and a website that offers 100% free tuition (it makes money from ads). It is an excellent resource and includes free tabs as well as a video breakdown.
Gareth breaks down each lesson in excellent detail so that you can take your time learning whether you are a beginner or a more advanced guitar player. Not all of his tutorials are fingerstyle but many of them are.
On both his website and his YouTube channel the lessons are split into songs for Beginners, Intermediate players, Advanced players and then Master Players. So if you wanted somewhere you could progress and measure your success this an excellent place to learn.
Check out Gareth’s YouTube channel here Gareth Evans and his website here.
3. Let’s Play Guitar
Now, this channel covers more than fingerstyle but it has an entire playlist dedicated to Fingerstyle arrangement. It currently has over 1 million subscribers so is a very popular channel.
Chord sheets and tabs are available on the channels Patreon page.
Check out Let’s Play Guitars YouTube Channel here.
4. Drue James
A prominent guitar teacher based in London, UK. At the time of writing this, he has over 200 thousand followers on YouTube and for good reason, he is clear in his instruction and his arrangements are excellent.
Drue specializes in acoustic guitar and fingerstyle so there is a huge amount of material to get in to. He has playlists dedicated to fingerstyle guitar from beginner to intermediate. In addition to this, he has a website where you can download tabs and join his beginner course for free.
Drue’s Beginner Fingerstyle playlist is here and his intermediate songs tutorials are here. His website for free tabs and the beginner course is here.
5. Lick N Riff
Assaf from Lick N Riff has a lot of fingerstyle arrangements aimed at beginners through to intermediate and more. There are many full arrangements with tabs onscreen so you get the breakdown to help you get to grips with a song.
He has close to 500k subscribers at the time of writing and his tutorials are thorough and easy to understand. The fact that you have tabs on screen helps you pause and take your time when you need to. However, he also has free tabs download on full arrangement songs and his two cool dogs often next to him, Lick N Riff!
Check out Lick N Riff’s channel here and a good place to start is his beginner to intermediate arrangements.
6. Andy Guitar
Andy has over 1 million followers on YouTube and has some great lessons covering many styles. He has paid fingerstyle content on his website that is excellent and ranges from the beginner through to more advanced.
His YouTube channel also has a playlist dedicated to fingerstyle, check out Andy Guitars fingerstyle playlist here.
7. Justin Guitar
If you have ever tried to learn guitar online then you have likely heard of Justin Guitar. He has been running his website and YouTube channel for over 10 years. Nearly all of his courses are free and he provides so much to the aspiring guitarist.
His channel doesn’t have fingerstyle tutorials in a playlist but his website does (42 song tutorials at time of writing) and he has a course dedicated to fingerstyle guitar.
You can find Justin’s Fingerstyle songs here (go to tags and select ‘fingerstyle’) and his Fingerstyle Course here.
8. Swift Lessons
Rob Swift has a YouTube channel and Website that covers many areas of the guitar. His videos are clear and well explained and he has a playlist dedicated to fingerstyle guitar.
At the time of writing this, he has close to 500k subscribers and it is easy to see why, he covers many areas of guitar, his videos are through and he has a relaxed style of teaching. He also offers tabs from his patreon page.
He tends to play each song through at the beginning of the video so you get a feel for the song. He also has a dedicated playlist for fingerstyle guitar.
You can find Rob’s guitar channel here SwiftLessons, that link takes you directly to his fingerstyle playlist.
9. Guitar Zero To Hero
Guitar Zero To Hero is run by Dave Tran from Australia, his tutorials are super effective as he has on-screen tabs, the BPM and excellent close-ups of both hands. His tutorials are so easy to follow and excellent when you are playing a particularly tricky part on a song and just want to pause the video and practice a section until you have it nailed.
Not only does he have a very popular YouTube channel (close to 500k at time of writing) but he also has his own website which includes his free content as well as his premium course which is a paid course but has an area dedicated to fingerstyle and has new lessons added every month.
Dave’s YouTube Channel is here and his website is here.
If you have any more suggestions, I would love to hear them in the comments below.