Online Fingerstyle Guitar Lessons & Artistic Mentorship
Work with an award-winning guitarist to enhance your technique and sound.
Feeling stuck learning fingerstyle on your own?
Hit a plateau and unsure how to move forward?
Want to write your own fingerstyle songs but don't know where to begin?
Wherever you are in your fingerstyle journey, take your playing and composing to the next level with personalized online lessons from R.D. King -- international fingerstyle champion, award-winning composer and professor of music.
Lessons are custom-built for your specific musical goals and tailored to your experience level.
What type of fingerstyle student are you?
Beginner
You will learn:
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The right (and wrong) ways to practice fingerstyle
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How to coordinate the fingers independently
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How to simplify the way you see right hand patterns
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Changing chords while keeping the pattern going
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How to read tab & learn fingerstyle songs quickly
Just learning fingerstyle?
When you first try out fingerstyle guitar, it can be... demoralizing. Your fingers pluck the wrong strings, the thumb is out of time, and the patterns are tough to keep consistent.
I was there once too. But don't worry! I've taught hundreds of beginners and know how to navigate the early challenges. I can show you how to turn your practice sessions from mind-numbing exercises in futility into actual music-making.
Intermediate
Feeling stuck?
What do you do when you've been playing for a while, and it feels like progress has stalled out? Practice can feel directionless when every song you look up feels too easy, or way too hard.
This might be the most critical stage through which to have guidance. As an active and award-winning performer I can help you find the right songs and techniques to move beyond your current plateau.
You will learn:
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Thumb patterns for every time signature and texture
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How to incorporate melodies and walking basslines
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How to adapt scales for fingerstyle playing
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How to find & choose the right songs to grow
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Harmonics, slapping, and other auxiliary techniques
Advanced
You will learn:
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Right-hand versatility, complexity, speed, and mastery
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Altered tunings, contrapuntal work, polyrhythms
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Reentrant conceptual thinking & cross-string melodies
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Fretboard knowledge & chord theory for fingerstyle
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How to arrange for fingerstyle guitar
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How to compose for fingerstyle guitar
Where to go from here?
If you feel confident in your fingerstyle guitar abilities but want to ascend to new heights, you've come to the right place.
As someone who went from studying classical guitar at Ithaca College to winning an international guitar championship to becoming a Candyrat Records Artist and professor of music, I can attest that as you gain skill on the instrument, the opportunities and challenges grow correspondingly high.
Perhaps you're looking to take your right hand chops to greater heights, expand your repertoire, incorporate extended techniques such as tapping, harmonics, and altered tunings. Or maybe it's time to learn how to arrange a killer pop song, or how to utilize all these techniques to write your own music. This is where musicality & technique merge.
Artist
The artistic quest awaits
How does one deepen their creativity? What does it mean to live an artistic life? Is it possible to sustain a career in music?
If you find yourself fascinated by these questions, we'll be a great fit. As much as I love writing music and performing, I have no deeper passion than discussing artistic philosophy and helping guide people on their musical journeys.
As an award-winning guitarist and composer who built their own career in music, I can guide you through some of the thorniest of creative and professional questions, and as a professor of music who has been obsessed with absorbing art, literature, and music for the past two decades.
Many of my most advanced students end up wanting to devote at least some of their time to these challenges, and we can balance the artistic concepts with specific technical work as necessary.
Potential Topics:
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Discovering and cultivating your own sound
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How to organize & prepare for performances
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How to organize & prepare to record an album
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Potential considerations for a career in music
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Artistic & compositional philosophies & methods
Once you've applied to join the studio, we'll create a custom plan together to tackle your musical goals.
Lessons are offered on a weekly or biweekly cadence and meet for 45 or 60 minutes. I can offer one off-lessons under special circumstances.
For beginning fingerstyle students, I already have many course templates that we can tweak to your specific needs. Lessons can follow many formats but often include:
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Warmups & stretches
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Concepts & perspectives
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Technical drills & worksheets
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Songs, arrangements, etudes
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Practice tactics & strategies
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Theory & compositional exercises as relevant
How do lessons work?
Next step: application & program design
Music changed my life. I'm passionate about helping it change yours. Wherever you are in your musical journey, I can help you advance to the next level.
My teaching philosophy is built around musicality, technique, and self-expression. In addition to being an associate lecturer at UMass Boston and a Jamplay Instructor, I'm a classically-trained, award-winning guitarist and composer with over a decade of experience helping students find joy and meaning through music.
I believe that the fretboard is a microcosm of life: music is both a language of connection and compassion as well as a vehicle for self-discovery and self-actualization. Guiding people on their own artistic quest is an honor and a privilege.
Performing
2019 Finalist, Walnut Valley Festival International Fingerstyle Guitar Competition
2017 Winner, Canadian Guitar Festival International Fingerstyle Guitar Competition
TedX Performer
Candyrat Records Artist
Composing
2024 Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting, Great American Songwriting Contest
2024 Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting, Great American Songwriting Contest
2023 Finalist, Instrumental Category, International Acoustic Music Awards
2018 Winner, Instrumental Category, NewSong Showcase, Walnut Valley Festival
Meet the Teacher
My teaching philosophy
Awards and experience
Teaching
Associate Lecturer, UMass Boston (4 years)
Jamplay and TrueFire Guest Lecturer
R.D. King Music, Owner (10 years)
