Al Di Meola, Steve Vai and Tosin Abasi are in awe of his technique – learn the signature style of Matteo Mancuso, the maestro of fingerstyle fusion shred

Matteo Mancuso was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1996 and was immediately exposed to guitar playing through his father Vincenzo, who has been a renowned session player since the ’70s. 

Matteo started playing blues and rock, but his years at the Palermo Conservatory of Music helped him develop jazz knowledge and a classical fingerstyle technique that sets him apart from other players. His playing has gained the attention of guitarists such as Al Di Meola, Steve Vai and Tosin Abasi.

Matteo’s touch and tone is similar to that of Brett Garsed, who also uses his picking-hand fingers to play Frank Gambale-style arpeggios and lines. Matteo, however, eschews the pick altogether, and plays everything from chords to scales to riffs using his fingers and thumb. 

He employs two main picking-hand positions, the first being a classical or flamenco shape like that of Paco De Lucia, where the first, second and third fingers pluck the strings in an alternating fashion.

The second is more akin to players like Richie Kotzen, using thumb and fingers to pluck the strings. Throughout the examples we will utilise both styles, as well as two-handed tapping to add an Allan Holdsworth style legato element to the mix.

Example 1 acts as an introduction to fingerstyle employing the thumb and fingers. The thumb is marked as ‘p’ and the first to fourth fingers are labelled ‘i, m, a and c’ in the notation. Use these fingerings as a guide, but if different fingers are more comfortable for you, or even hybrid picking, this is fine.

Our second example demonstrates how Matteo shreds through scales. For the initial 16th-note based phrase use your first and second fingers to alternate-pluck evenly through the scale. For the ascending triplets Matteo would switch to first, second and third fingers, three-notes-per-string fashion.

Example 3 uses 4th intervals to ascend the neck with a lick that’s easier to play fingerstyle rather than with a pick.

Example 4 is a two-handed minor pentatonic tapping lick, but the approach can be applied to any scale. When initiating a new string with your fretting hand, a first-finger fretting-hand tap is required. Make all the notes similar in volume.

Our final example combines fingerstyle with tapping for the full Matteo experience. Mancuso is a master of blending various techniques to create uninterrupted lines. Play slowly and accurately at first and gradually speed up in small increments whether you use fingerpicking or not. 

Get the tone

Amp Settings: Gain 7, Bass 4, Middle 6, Treble 5, Reverb 1

Matteo’s tone mostly comes from his fingers and fingernail attack on the strings. He uses a custom Yamaha Revstar electric guitar with two Lollar Imperial pickups and favours the Line 6 Helix amp modeller. Go for a mellow, jazzy clean tone or a smooth blues fusion drive sound. Matteo also often loosely places a fret wrap at the 1st fret to aid with string muting.

Example 1

Based in E Dorian (E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D) this lick is played with wide arpeggio based intervallic jumps. Lightly form chord shapes with your fretting fingers but only press down one note at a time, keeping the unused string muted. Use your thumb and fingers to pluck the strings following the pima indications in the notation.

Example 2

This lick is in A harmonic minor (A-B-C-D-E-F-G#). Matteo plays scales such as this with alternate fingers. In the first bar descend the scale using your first and second fingers with even 16th notes. Pick the ascending triplets in bar 2 with your first, second and third fingers.

Example 3

Use your thumb and fingers to pluck these ascending arpeggio shapes while phrasing in straight 16th notes. Use your fretting fingers to play the 4th intervals by barring and rolling your finger to apply pressure to the specific string you are plucking.

Example 4

This tapping lick is based in the A minor pentatonic scale (A-C-D-E-G) arranged three-notes-per-string in the fretting hand with one additional tapped note. Keep the lick clean by using your first finger to mute the treble strings and your palm to mute the bass strings.

Example 5

This lick combines fingerstyle and tapping techniques starting with a quick ascending arpeggio using all four fingers of both hands. Descend the first string within
A blues scale (A-C-D-Eb-E-G) while tapping at the 20th fret and finish with a fingerpicked diminished arpeggio pattern.