Giuliani’s 120 Right Hand Studies

Mauro Giuliani was a guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century and one of the first to provide instruction for this young instrument. His 120 Right Hand Studies are famous for working out various finger picking combinations. I find these studies useful not only for classical guitarists but also for folk, jazz or any other fingerstyle guitar students out there. Instead of providing all 120 (very exhausting!) I have provided 10 excerpts below that are fairly representative of the studies’ different patterns.

The studies simplify the work for the left hand by using just two chords: C and G7.

The right hand fingerings are shown using the classical abbreviations for the picking hand fingers:

• P = Thumb
• I = Index
• M= Middle
• A = Ring

Practice these slowly and in time. Be conscious of your left hand technique, as well, and try to have all notes ring out.

These can be tiring both physically and mentally. Hearing the same two chords repeatedly is an unfair form of torture! I would recommend choosing two or three patterns at the most to work on in a given practice session.

Some other resources here:

• Giuliani 120 Right Hand Studies on Songsterr
• Giuliani Right Hand Studies (PDF)
• Giuliani Right Hand Studies Excerpts with fingerings & tab (PDF)