The Six String Fingerpicking Method: Grade One

Everything you need to play with greater confidence, musicality and understanding as your fingerstyle journey continues.

Continue developing as a real fingerstyle guitarist

One of the biggest frustrations that many beginner fingerstyle guitarists face is that after learning a few basic patterns and songs, they often begin to feel stuck. They may know a handful of chords, a few fingerpicking patterns, perhaps even several songs. But underneath it all, there is often still a lack of real confidence, understanding and musical direction.

That’s exactly what Grade One is designed to change.

This course is the next step within The Six String Fingerpicking Method and is carefully designed to continue developing your fingerstyle technique, coordination, rhythm, musical understanding and overall confidence as a guitarist.

Rather than simply teaching exercises and isolated techniques, every lesson has been carefully structured to build naturally upon the last so that you steadily continue progressing with clarity and direction.  You’ll begin to understand fingerpicking and the guitar as an instrument much more deeply and musically.

You’ll continue developing your coordination and control, strengthen your rhythm and timing, improve your fretboard understanding, and develop your ear training. You'll  begin applying fingerpicking more naturally and musically over chord progressions so that by the end of Grade One, fingerstyle guitar will begin to feel far less confusing and much more connected, musical and rewarding.

More than just another online guitar course

By the end of the course you'll...

- Fingerpick with greater confidence, control and coordination.
- Understand fingerpicking patterns more musically.
- Feel more comfortable applying patterns to chord progressions.
- Improve your rhythm, timing and accompaniment skills.
- Develop strong fretboard knowledge.
- Better understand major, minor and dominant 7th chords.
- Continue developing your musical ear.
- Feel more connected to the guitar and the music you are playing.
- Continue progressing with far greater clarity and direction.

This course is perfect for you if...

- You have already completed the Preliminary Grade.
- You already understand basic fingerpicking fundamentals.
- You want more structure and direction in your playing.
- You want to continue developing your fingerstyle technique properly.
- You want to understand fingerstyle guitar more deeply and musically.
- You want to improve your coordination, rhythm and musical confidence.
- You are serious about becoming a confident fingerstyle guitarist long-term.

Included in the Grade One course...

- Step-by-step video lessons.
- Downloadable TAB and pdf course materials.
- On-screen TABs throughout.
- Structured fingerpicking exercises.
Beautiful and fun musical study pieces.
- Chord progressions and accompaniment studies.
- Ear training and rhythm development.
- Scales and fretboard knowledge exervices.
- A professional assessment of your performance (optional).
- Certificate of achievement upon passing.
- Lifetime access.


Your Instructor

Chris Murrin

The founder of Six String Fingerpicking, Chris, has dedicated his entire adult life to helping students master fingerstyle guitar. Now, he helps hundreds of thousands of subscribers on his YouTube channel and students at the Six String Fingerpicking Academy to reach their guitar goals every day.

He has a relaxed and supportive teaching style, putting students at ease. Learning new techniques and topics is broken down into bite-sized chunks, all with a logical progression so that the courses are easy to follow and students can learn at their own pace.

Get your playing assessed

One of the biggest reasons guitarists struggle to improve consistently is because it's all too easy to practise without any real direction or purpose.

That’s why each grade within The Six String Fingerpicking Method also has an optional performance assessment. By working towards a real musical goal, many students find themselves practising more consistently, staying more motivated and progressing far more confidently.

Upon completion you’ll receive a final grade, personalised feedback from Chris and an official Six String Fingerpicking certificate of achievement should you pass.

It’s not about perfection - it's about having a goal to steadily work towards, reassurance, confidence-building and encouragement.

The assessment is a meaningful goal to work towards as you continue your fingerstyle journey.

Turn your practice into real progress. Start today!

Grade One 
(Without Assessment)

$49.00

Single Payment (or $16.33 over 3 months)

  • Instant lifetime access
  • Option to pay in instalments
  • Email support
  • 30 day money back guarantee

Grade One
(with Assessment)

$88.00

Single Payment (or $29.33 over 3 months)

  • Instant lifetime access
  • Option to pay in instalments
  • Includes assessment by Chris
  • 30 day money back guarantee

Take the first 30 days to dive in, risk-free.

If you're not satisfied with the course, we'll refund your investment - no questions asked.  It's my commitment to your musical journey.

Still have a question? We're here to help.

Course Curriculum

What our students are saying

The way he breaks it down and slowly adds to your plate without overwhelming you is key to his effectiveness. The videos with on screen tabs or the option to download them and work at your own pace is also great.

I’m not sure you’re going to find many other people out there who are as humble and approachable as Chris. I can email him a question or comment and he gets back rather quickly. All around just a great guy and a great teacher.

Joe

I have purchased so many books and online lessons, without a lot of success. I want you to know I wish I had had an instructor like you long ago. Of all the lessons I have purchased, yours are absolutely the best. I appreciate how you break everything down.

Christy

My main interest in learning guitar was to be able to play fingerstyle. There is some instruction out there but much of it is spotty and disjointed.

Chris also takes the time to actually email you back if you have a question not already addressed in any of his lessons. I recommend you give it a try.

Barry

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Anyone who wants a clear and inspiring step-by-step path designed to develop fingerstyle technique alongside the fundamentals of general guitar playing. You can be at any level and find a suitable grade for your needs. If you have any questions about your specific circumstances then get in touch via hello@sixstringfingerpicking.com and we'll be more than happy to advise you on the best option for you.

You can start The Six String Fingerpicking Method with no experience of fingerpicking or guitar at all but you'll want to begin with the Preliminary Grade. To start with Grade One, you'll need to understand the very basics of fingerpicking and feel comfortable with foundational patterns and chords.

If you can already play guitar competently and now just want to learn fingerpicking, then I'd recommend you join the Complete Guide to Fingerstyle Guitar courses as these focus purely on the techniques of this style.

No. Course materials and on-screen written music is both in standard notation and guitar TAB. The course materials teach you how to read both at a level appropriate for this course. All pieces are also explained verbally so you will be able to follow along.

It's suitable for any age so long as you can guide yourself through the course.

It's never too late to start learning something new or to come back to it after many years away. Fingerstyle guitar is a skill that can absolutely be learnt at any age.

Grade One is designed to gently continue developing your fingerstyle technique and musical understanding without feeling overwhelming. Everything is taught step-by-step and there are written course materials to work alongside the video lessons.

It's a perfect next step from the Preliminary Grade or a good place to start if you already have the very basics of fingerstyle guitar and feel comfortable with foundational patterns and chords.

The Six String Fingerpicking Method is designed to go from Preliminary all the way to Grade 8 so they'll be a suitable place for you to join. Take a look at the overview of all the grades and if you need any advice, please do get in touch.

This is up to you - always go at your own pace and be realistic about the amount of time and practice you can commit daily/weekly. There's no time limit in which to take and complete the course.

If you're taking the assessment, please make sure you feel ready before triggering the start because this element is time limited.

The more you can practise, the better. However, everyone has other demands on their time so it's best to be realistic with how much practice you can do. As a minimum, for this grade, we would recommend at least four 30-minute practice sessions per week. It's always better to have this spread out across the week rather than in one two-hour block on the weekend to maximise your progress.

This course is designed for a steel strung acoustic guitar but everything contained in the course could be learnt on a nylon strung classical guitar if this is all you have available. However, this course will not teach you how to play classical guitar.

No you cannot download the courses (i.e. video lessons) but you can download a pdf of the course materials so you can work on that away from the computer.

You have two options. You can either do the Grade One assessment to make sure that you've met the required standard, or you can move through the higher grades within The Six String Fingerpicking Method as they become available.

The course materials include a detailed description of how the assessment works and the criteria for achieving the best marks. In Grade One, you'll need to play 3 chords, 1 scale, 1 fingerpicking pattern over a chord progression, 2 short performance pieces, 1 accompaniment, and be tested on your ear training. But don't worry - all of this is taught clearly and concisely in the course. There's even an example assessment submission so you know how to film it.

Your video will be reviewed and assessed by Chris. You'll then receive your final score and the grade achieved (fail/pass/merit/distinction).

It's really important that you feel confident enough to take the assessment before submitting anything because there is no option to re-take without paying for a second assessment fee. Currently, for the Preliminary Grade this is $29.

Yes you will receive a certificate when you pass the grade. The version of the course without being assessed will not issue a certificate.

When you enrol in the course you'll be able to set up your account and password. If you need any help, email hello@sixstringfingerpicking.com.

If you have a problem or any questions then just use the Support link at the bottom of the page or email hello@sixstringfingerpicking.com.

I hope you really enjoy my courses but if you find it's not right for you then I offer a 30 day money back guarantee. To request a refund use the 'Support' link at the bottom of the page or email hello@sixstringfingerpicking.com. Please note that if you buy the assessment and submit your video, you will not be eligible for a refund even if you are within the 30 days as you will be deemed to have been satisfied with the course.

No, purchasing a course does not include access to popular song TABS due to copyright. This is also why the song lessons do not include TABS but there are links on the song lesson pages so you can buy the tabs separately, which ensures that the royalties are paid to the rights holders. You can also get a discount on TABS with Musicnotes if you join my email newsletter.

Join today to continue your journey towards being a confident fingerstyle guitarist

Grade One 
(Without Assessment)

$49.00

Single Payment (or $16.33 over 3 months)

  • Instant lifetime access
  • Option to pay in instalments
  • Email support
  • 30 day money back guarantee

Grade One
(with Assessment)

$88.00

Single Payment (or $29.33 over 3 months)

  • Instant lifetime access
  • Option to pay in instalments
  • Includes assessment by Chris
  • 30 day money back guarantee

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