Various virtuoso acoustic guitarists refer to fingerstyle guitar today. Many trace this style back to the end of 1950s, when Chet Atkins developed an extraordinarily complex fingerpicking style on acoustic guitar in his spare time as producer of the famous Nashville Sound ⁽¹⁾. 

Later, other great guitarists followed in his footsteps, notably the Frenchman Marcel Dadi - who died in 1996 in the TWA flight explosion off Long Island - and the Australian Tommy Emmanuel.

What unites these musicians is their diversity, a personal approach to play solo and simultaneously multiple rhythms and melodies on a 6-string acoustic guitar. To better understand the phenomenon, I suggest reading a series of articles commented directly by the musicians themselves.

Three Fingerstyle Nights were produced at the Montreux International Guitar Show (MIGS) in 2022, 2023 and 2024, featuring Jon Gomm (UK), Chris Woods (UK), Petteri Sariola (FIN), Vincent Schmidt (CH), Adrien Delamarre (CH), Florian Desbaillet (FR), Alex Boldin (GER) and Alexandr Misko (RU-GER).

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⁽¹⁾ In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked Chet Atkins 39th among the 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

«The guitar is at the heart of many musical traditions and can be played in many different ways. Fingerstyle brings together many techniques, tricks and influences from all traditions into a coherent toolbox that I can use for myself.  As fingerstyle guitarists, we try to make ourselves bigger than we are, to emulate a whole band with a wooden box with six strings and ten fingers. I’ve borrowed the complex harmony of jazz, the right-hand techniques from flamenco and classical guitar, as well as the tapping from shredders and so many other techniques and influences. In fact, I steal everything I love about guitar playing from all kinds of artists and mix it into my playing.

One of my musical heroes is American composer and solo guitarist Michael Hedges. He was the first to combine all of these extensive techniques in the service of his amazing compositions. The goal of fingerstyle guitar is to have fun exploring the instrument, to find new and exciting ways of expressing oneself. In this world, you can find artists playing blues, country, pop or so many other genres, but what unites them is a guitar school, an daring spirit and a desire to push the boundaries.

There is nothing like walking on stage with only a guitar in my hands and compositions in my head. You literally feel naked because you are. All of my songs are personal and I have to revisit all of these emotions in front of an audience. Playing solo is magical, it’s my favourite form of therapy. A special kind of energy is created, you open up a space in which you and the audience live for a while. As I often change chords between songs, I have time to tell stories and interact with the audience. As I only play instrumental music, I feel that people like to know a bit of the background to the songs I perform. It helps them connect to the music. 

I come from a classical guitar background where performing solo is the norm. I like to joke that I don’t have to pay other musicians and deal with the logistics of multiple instruments. But to be fair I really enjoy the independence and autonomy of being a solo artist. I can tour with only two guitars and a suitcase and that is quite liberating.»

Adrien Delamarre, August 2023