How to Arrange Finger-Styles
"Finger-style" guitar, also known by the term "fingerpicking," is the art of playing the guitar with your fingers rather than a pick. The main difference between this older style of guitar playing and the modern styles of guitar playing is that when you write and arrange a finger-style piece of music, you write multiple, distinct parts that are to be played by a single person. These multiple parts are most often arranged as two melody lines, which fall under the categories of "bass" and "melody" or "lead."
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Instructions
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Select the key of the song you want to arrange. Unless you use a capo, this key should be "C" or "G" to allow both hands maximum freedom for movement across the strings.
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Begin to play a chord progression, such as G, F#/D or D, Em and C, which is an extremely common and basic musical progression.
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Pick individual notes with your "index," "middle," "ring" or even "pinky" fingers once you have determined your chord progression. This should be done on the thinnest, or higher-pitched, three or four strings.
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Practice until you develop a melody you are pleased with and can replay it comfortably at will.
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Develop an accompanying bass line, which should be plucked with your thumb on the thickest, or lowest, two strings. Usually, your bass notes will be "home" notes, the note that share the same name as the key you play any chord in. In the G-F#/D-Em-C progression, the home notes are G, D, Em and C, but playing the bass as G, F#, Em, C will give it a unique harmony that can be substituted for a D at any time.
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Practice the arrangement, playing both parts together, until you have mastered your arrangement.
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Write out the guitar tabulature, which is the sheet music of modern guitar-related music reading, if you have a difficult time memorizing music. This can be done while you create the song or after you finish the creation process. You can also record yourself playing the song if you are unable to write tabulature.
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Tips & Warnings
You can strum or pick the notes until you decide which chords to use.
Many songs are easier to arrange when the bass and melody lines are created simultaneously, as the song may flow better.
Recording an original song automatically gives you a form of writer's copyright, which protects your ideas from being stolen.
Avoid using bar chords when possible, as they hinder your note-holding hand, which is the left hand for most guitar players, from ever being able to assist your picking hand by playing extra notes using the "pull-off" and "hammer-on" methods.
Resources
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