Finger Picking

This man is Mark Knopfler and he is an amazing guitarist. In this Youtube video (Knopfler, 2009), he tells how he learnt to finger pick on his own, originally starting out with a plectrum then learning the art of finger picking for his friend's big sister. The way he talks about it is very simple and he puts on this calm demeanour which I think is important whenever somebody is trying to teach or demonstrate something musical such as this.

Being able to finger pick is a skill that as I guitarist, I wish to learn. I can do simple songs that have finger picking such as the well known 'Hey There Delilah' by The Plain White T's however to finger pick that song is quite simple. It only requires to the thumb for the root note (for example, a C chord - the opening note - which is the 5th string/A string) and the index and middle finger for 3rd and 2nd strings respectively (or the G & B string).

Although I know I won't be able to perform like Mark straight away, I have to start somewhere. I already have a basic understanding of how to finger pick (meaning 'Hey There Delilah') so the next step for me still as a beginner is to be able to finger pick while strumming chords. I think that would give me a better understanding of how to 'organise my fingers' on a guitar, which should in theory help me to become a better finger picker. What I'd like to learn is a song called 'Sex' by The 1975 which the lead singer Matt Healy performs acoustically here (Last.fm, 2013). The combination of finger picking and strumming the chords creates a beautiful sound that I'd like to recreate when I'm in my bedroom on my guitar. This should be a fairly straight forward piece to learn as half of it is still using chords. The challenging part will be the actual picking of each string in time (which I seem to get right when I play along on my imaginary guitar, just not when it comes to the real thing).

Practice makes perfect!