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| SONGS: GUITAR: BEGINNER FOLK | |||
| This course gathers some of the most popular Folk songs rooted in Bluegrass, Blues and Country music. Learn to play 'Shenandoah,' 'Wild Bill Jones,' 'Scarborough Fair' and many other Folk classics. |
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| COURSE | LESSON | TEACHER | DESCRIPTION |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | Shenandoah Part I: Basic Chords and Strums with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | There are far too many notable performances of 'Shenandoah' to list, even without the poor unnamed child's hopeless declaration of love for Shenandoah's daughter. Some of the notable artists who have recorded the song include Harry Belafonte, The Kingston Trio, Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, The Chieftains with Van Morrison, Richard Thompson, and Roger McGuinn. In this lesson, we're going to lay the most basic 4/4 strumming pattern over three chords. It won't be long until you can play a song on the guitar, so let's get cracking. |
| Songs: Two-Chord Songs with Basic Strums | Wild Bill Jones with Greg Horne | Greg Horne | Ever wonder how people entertained themselves before gangster rap and Law & Order shows? Old-time songs like Wild Bill Jones have it all: jealousy, violence, whiskey, psychological manipulation of the victim, and final justice. All this for the cost of an A and an E chord, and a new strum rhythm! This song has stayed popular for decades with bluegrass and old-time bands. There are great recordings by Alison Krauss, the Highwoods String Band, Dirk Powell, the Stanley Brothers, Doc Watson, and Bruce Molsky. Come on in and see what happened to Wild Bill Jones. |
| Songs: Two-Chord Songs with Basic Strums | Hot Corn, Cold Corn with Greg Horne | Greg Horne | This one's a bluegrass favorite. It's only got two or two-and-a-half chords. It's also a bunch of nonsense about whiskey although it never says so out loud and having fun. The guitar part won't be too hard once you get the chords down, but the lyrics are kind of a tongue twister once you get them up to speed. By the way, a demijohn is an old word for a bottle or whisky jug. If you are a teetotaler, you can pretend this song is about vegetables. Either way, let's fire up our G, D, and D7 chords and get cracking on Hot Corn, Cold Corn. |
| Songs: Two-Chord Songs with Basic Strums | Raleigh and Spencer with Greg Horne | Greg Horne | Raleigh and Spencer is yet another fabulous old-time bluegrass two-chord rave-up about whiskey, or in this case, the lack thereof. This was probably an early blues guitar or banjo tune that got turned into a breakdown by fiddlers like Tommy Jarrell from North Carolina. It is played in the key of D, and all you need to learn here are D, A, and A7 chords, and the boom-chick strum pattern. There are great modern versions of this song recorded by the bluegrass jam band Yonder Mountain String Band, Tim O'Brien, and Dirk Powell. |
| Songs: Two-Chord Songs with Basic Strums | Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss with Greg Horne | Greg Horne | Here's a great old time tune they play a lot in the mountains of North Carolina called Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss. Some folks call it Shady Grove, which is also the name of a banjo tune in a minor key. The version we'll do today is in C Major using C, G, and G7 chords with the boom-chick strum. This tune sounds good when you learn it slow but it's easy enough to rock it out at bluegrass overdrive speed too. |
| Songs: Two-Chord Songs with Basic Strums | When Irish Eyes are Smiling with Jeff Bihlman | Jeff Bihlman | There's nothing like a good old Irish ballad to tear up the eyes of any listener and this one is no exception. However, this one was actually written in America by Americans, although you might be cryin' tears of joy by the time we're done. When Irish Eyes are Smilin' has been recorded by a few folks over the years, including Bing Crosby so we're gonna be in pretty good company on this one. Ok, here is today's Irish music stumper: Irishman Gary Moore has turned into a full-blown bluesman later in his career, but what was his first band? The answer, later on. Now break out your leprechaun outfit and let's get goin'. |
| Songs: Two-Chord Songs with Basic Strums | America the Beautiful with Jeff Bihlman | Jeff Bihlman | Hey, how are ya, come on in take a seat! I hope you're fired up because today we're going to get you going on an American classic that'll be sure to leave them waving the flag and giving their moms a call. Ironically, this song was never intended to be a song at all. It was originally just a poem, written by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893. While on vacation, she was inspired by the awesome beauty from the top of a certain peak and penned this poem, which was later set to a tune, we now know as "America the Beautiful." Which brings me to my American Classic tunes stumper for today. What state was Ms. Bates in when she felt so inspired to write these uplifting lyrics? Hang tight, I'll get to the answer shortly. |
| Songs: Introducing Minor Chords | Bill Bailey with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | The song that I'm about to teach you was first introduced in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the late 1920s. The original story is about Bill Bailey who was a vaudeville performer. One night, his wife who had reached her limit for his late night partying, locked him out of his house. The composer of the song was a friend of Bailey's who suggested that he spend a night away from home. The friend assured him that this would cause his wife to plead for his return. The verses to "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" tell this story. The part of the song that we know is the very popular chorus. Here it is. |
| Songs: Introducing Minor Chords | When Johnny Comes Marching Home with Ralph Agresta | Ralph Agresta | The song that we'll be playing for this lesson is called 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home.' This timeless tune about soldiers coming home from war features the open A minor and E chord forms as well as the open C chord form. We'll also be using a very simple strum pattern played in 4/4 time that moves the song along quite nicely. After the first run through of the song, we'll get into further detail about fret-hand and strumming techniques. |
| Songs: Introducing Minor Chords | Keep Your Lamps Trimmed with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | Black American spirituals are one source for much of today's gospel music. For more than a century, these Afro-American religious songs served as a way for the Black Americans to express their dissatisfaction with their position in life. The songs of the slaves represented sadness, rather than the joys they were feeling. Slaves sang more to make themselves happy than to express their happiness. Through songs, they vented their desire to live freely. 'Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burnin'' has always been one of my favorite spirituals. Now I'll teach you how to play it. |
| Songs: Introducing Minor Chords | Dark Eyes with Ralph Agresta | Ralph Agresta | The song I'm using for this lesson is called Dark Eyes. It has a very exotic melody and is played in the key of D minor. Dark Eyes is also played in 3/4 time and though we'll be looking more closely at 3/4 time strums a little later, here we'll simply strum three times for each measure. I'm also going to introduce three new chords. The D Minor, the A7 and the G Minor. Oh, and one more thing, the G Minor chord appears only in measures 10 and 11. |
| Songs: Introducing Minor Chords | Scarborough Fair with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | In this lesson I'm going to teach you the folk song 'Scarborough Fair.' Simon and Garfunkel made it popular in the 1960s, but it was written long before that. Folk songs in general were written by the common people about very common subjects--in this case, love. The song tells the story of a man who was jilted by his lover. This is only after he asks her to do impossible tasks to prove her love. Back in the Middle Ages when this was written, people didn't like to take credit for their works, so the author is unknown. As people sang the song from town to town, both the verses and arrangements changed. Today there are dozens of ways that the song can be played and sung. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | John Henry: Part I with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | "John Henry" is among the most-recorded folk songs in the English language. The basic man vs. machine story of John Henry is well-known and very popular in bluegrass circles. We're going to take the John Henry approach to this song and hammer out all the pieces. We will be using four chords: the I, IV, V, and vi chords. The vi chord is the relative minor to the I chord, so we will be playing three major chords and one minor chord. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | John Henry: Part II with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | Researchers believe that John Henry was born a slave in the 1840s or 1850s. No one knows for sure if John Henry really existed, that is one of the things that makes the legend so intriguing. According to legend, he grew to be six feet tall and 200 lbs, which was a giant in that day. Steel driving men like John Henry used large hammers and stakes to pound holes in the rock, which were then filled with explosives which would blast the cavity deeper and deeper into the mountain. In this lesson we'll continue pounding this song out, we'll get a nice rhythm going over the chord progression, and in no time, we'll have a classic song under our belts. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | Old Dan Tucker with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | Some folks say Old Dan Tucker was a dog. Still others say he was a reverend from Georgia. No one really knows for sure, but there is one lesson to be learned here: Back in the day, if you were late for supper, you got no love. A gentleman by the name of Dan Emmett popularized this song back in the 1840s, but they say he likely didn't write it. We're going to nail this song using three chords and a pretty basic strumming pattern. Have some fun with this and you'll see, in no time, you could take your place as the guitar player at a hootenanny. |
| Songs: Alternating Strums | Shortnin' Bread with Jeff Bihlman | Jeff Bihlman | Hi there, come on in, have a seat. Today we're gonna have a look at a really fun little number that's sure to put a smile on your face, called Shortnin' Bread. In fact, this tune was a bit of sensation around my house growin' up because my Dad used to sing it to us and it could very well be the first tune I ever heard. It's near and dear to my heart, man. Anywho, if you've got kids they're gonna love this one. So let's do a little cookin trivia. Here's one. Who invented pizza? Stick around, the answer is coming up shortly. Let's take a look at the tune. |
| Songs: Alternating Strums | Kumbaya with Ralph Agresta | Ralph Agresta | This song, Kumbaya, is probably the quintessential campfire sing-along. The title comes from an African dialect and its literal translation is "come by here." Obviously, the lyric, kumbaya my lord, kumbaya, represents a kind of prayer that calls upon the presence of God. This is a great little beginner song to strum and it features four of the most often used, garden variety forms of the G, C, D, and D7 chords. Along with learning these essential chord forms, Kumbaya will allow us to work on some basic alternate strum patterns. What this basically means is that we'll be using both down and up strums to divide a single beat in order to create a more interesting strum pattern. So, get your campfire started and break out the weenies and the marshmallows and let's get strumming. |
| Songs: Alternating Strums | Little Brown Jug with Ralph Agresta | Ralph Agresta | What can be said about the charming simplicity of a song called Little Brown Jug? Known by many, this unassuming ditty has probably found its way into more elementary music books than any other song ever written. Its childlike melody is supported by D, G, and A chords which we'll be playing with what is often called a Boom-chicka strum pattern. This pattern actually involves alternating between whatever chord you're playing and its single note root. Once mastered, the single notes can be varied to create a kind of walking bass line. In addition, different muting techniques can also be used to help create the chick-a effect. This kind of muted strumming was often used by the early bluesmen to mimic the haunting sound of an old locomotive chugging down the track. |
| Songs: Alternating Strums | Happy Birthday with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | When I chose the songs I wanted to teach you I thought about what people sing on a regular basis, 'Happy Birthday' came to mind first. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, 'Happy Birthday' is the most popular song in the English language. Two American school teachers wrote the song in 1893. It was meant to be a greeting for their students and the original words were 'Good Morning to All.' So the next time that someone has a birthday, make your playing debut and wow them with a song. |
| Songs: Alternating Strums | Bicycle Built for Two with Ralph Agresta | Ralph Agresta | Now we're going to use the song Bicycle Built For Two, to study rhythms in 3/4 time. As you may already know, a 3/4 time signature tells us that there will be three beats per measure. Generally, almost any song written in 3/4 time is referred to as a Waltz, although a waltz is more specifically a 3/4 time dance of Austrian and Bavarian origin.We'll be playing 'Bicycle' in the key of A which will give us some needed practice switching to and from the A major chord. Also, we'll be looking at a few different ways of strumming in 3/4 time, including a 3/4 time variation of the Boom-chicka technique. |
| Songs: Alternating Strums | Wade in the Water with Jeff Bihlman | Jeff Bihlman | Grab you're prayer book everybody 'cause today we're gonna' take a look at a traditional spiritual that's still very popular today. As with most traditional music it can be played in a lot of different ways, and today we're going to look at a simple version. This song dates all the way back to the pre-Civil War Southern cotton plantations, which brings me to today's Gospel Classics stumper. What was the hidden significance of this song? The answer in a few. Now, let's have a look at it shall we? |
| Songs: Alternating Strums | Volga Boatman with Ralph Agresta | Ralph Agresta | Song Of The Volga Boatman is a very famous Russian song which is actually about the peasant laborers who, rather than working on the boats, would walk along the banks of the Volga river, literally towing barges by hand. The grueling nature of this work is reflected in the heavy, downtrodden feel of the music. Again, we've seen these chords before but this time we're forced to play on the 'and' or up strum on the fourth beat and still make it to the next chord in time. Fortunately, this song's tempo is very slow so that should help. We'll also be looking at yet another strum pattern that features both quarter note and eighth note rhythms. |
| Songs: Alternating Strums | Nobody Knows You When Youre Down and Out with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | A few years back, Eric Clapton came out with an 'Unplugged' album, and acoustic guitar players started coming out of the woodwork. Most people were hearing the tunes he played for the first time. However, one of them was written over 70 years ago and is considered a traditional tune. 'Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out' uses some great chord changes, along with a catchy melody and a swing strumming pattern. When we put it all together, we not only get a great tune, but also a perfect review of our basic open chord shapes. Let's check it out. |
| Songs: Alternating Strums | Motherless Child with Ralph Agresta | Ralph Agresta | Motherless Child falls under the category of the negro spiritual with roots that go back to the days of slavery. Spirituals were songs sung by slaves whose lyrics reflected the sorrows and hardships of being slaves. Many of us were probably introduced to this soulful number when folk veteran Richie Havens performed it at the 1969 Woodstock music and art festival. Harmonically, this song is based on a minor blues progression and the chords we'll be using are Amin, Dmin, and E7. The interesting part of this lesson is the strum pattern and the rhythmic variations that flow from it. |
| Folk Songs with Susan Mazer | All Through the Night with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | 'All Through the Night' is one of my favorite melodies of all time. It started as an ancient Welsh folk song, the name of which I won't attempt to pronounce. It was first published in the musical relics of the Welsh bards in 1784. The first English lyrics were sung to an English setting, 'Here Beneath a Willow Weepeth Poor Mary Ann.' Those lyrics were eventually replaced by the now more familiar lyrics. Although this song is often sung at Christmas time, I think of it as just a beautiful love song. |
| Folk Songs with Susan Mazer | CC Rider with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | CC Rider is another example of a 12-bar blues. As I said before in an earlier lesson, blues lyrics are usually about wine, women, and song; in today's terms it's called sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. This song is no exception. The easy rider, also known as CC Rider, is a blues metaphor. Originally, it referred to the guitar hung on the back of a traveling bluesman. The word easy has different meanings but in this case carries the meaning reckless and unfaithful. The tune was written by Big Bill Broonzy. If you have never heard of him, he's definitely worth checking out. |
| Folk Songs with Susan Mazer | Aura Lee with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | One of Elvis Presley's most popular songs was 'Love Me Tender.' Growing up I guess I always just assumed that Elvis wrote it. I was only off by a hundred years. The original song, 'Aura Lee,' was written in the 19th century. It combined both the hymn and the spiritual. Since then it's been used as a love song for everything from comforting weary soldiers to a barbershop quartet. Since this is a ballad, I'll teach you the song using one of my favorite fingerstyle patterns. |
| Folk Songs with Susan Mazer | He's Got the Whole World in His Hands with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" began as a spiritual and has developed into one of America's best-known songs. The writer's message is simple, that God takes care of us all and to appreciate life. In previous lessons I told you that there were literally thousands of songs that you can play with just three chords. Well guess what? This tune only has two. Because both the lyrics and chords are fairly simple, I'll teach you a more complicated strumming pattern in this lesson. Here we go. |
| Folk Songs with Susan Mazer | Sloop John B with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | 'Sloop John B' was originally a traditional, West Indies folk song. A sloop is a sailing ship and the song is about the vessel's ill-fated voyage. A member of the Beach Boys heard the tune and tried to convince Brian Wilson that the song was worth recording. The Kingston Trio had previously recorded it. Not a big fan of folk music, Brian was reluctant to learn the song. After adding a few chord changes and altering the lyric, he had rewritten and recorded it in less than twenty-four hours. 'Sloop John B' turned out to be one of the biggest singles by the Beach Boys. One of the changes that he made was the addition of the sus4 chord which I'll teach you in this lesson. |
| Folk Songs with Susan Mazer | Sittin' on Top of the World with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | There aren't too many songs that can hold up to being recorded by the Grateful Dead, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, and of course, the Groundhogs. 'Sittin' on Top of the World' is one that can. This traditional folk song finds itself in blues, country and pop recordings. Like a lot of other songs from its time, the "whisper down the lane effect" has lead to many different versions of the lyrics. I put together my own arrangement, but feel free to look up some of the alternate lyrics and create your own masterpiece. |
| Folk Songs with Susan Mazer | Down By the Riverside with Susan Mazer | Susan Mazer | 'Down By the Riverside' was written by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. She was a pioneer not only as a Gospel singer, but also as a songwriter, recording artist and female guitarist. She became extremely popular in the 1930s and '40s with a mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock accompaniment. She became the first great recording star of Gospel music, putting one of her tunes on the charts in 1938. Little Richard referred to the stompin', shoutin' Gospel music legend as his favorite singer. Maybe this song in some way helped to launch rock and roll. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | Froggie Went a-Courtin Part I: Eighth-Note Strums with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | "Froggie Went a-Courtin'" has been a big staple song for bluegrass bands all around the folk world as well as a widely used children's song. There are books about it and the story has been told since the mid-1500s. That's right, I said the 1500s. Now that's Americana. You can get into a downright jam with this song: banjos, wind instruments, washtub basses, jugs. We're talking a jam. This lesson is going to show you three chords and a nice strumming pattern that will fit neatly into said jam as well as sound great all by itself. So put on your Sunday duds. Let's go a-courtin'. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | House of the Rising Sun Part I with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of "The House of the Rising Sun", sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues," is dubious. Various places in New Orleans have been proposed as the inspiration for the song - with varying plausibility. Artists ranging from Bob Dylan to Dolly Parton to Bachman-Turner Overdrive to The Animals have covered the song and it has been a standard cover for at least four decades by bar bands and major recording artists alike. The Animals' version has become a staple of oldies and classic rock radio stations. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | House of the Rising Sun Part II with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | Is the House of the Rising Sun a real house?... Maybe. One potential place was a small short-lived hotel on Conti Street in the French Quarter in the 1820s. An excavation showed documents supporting the claim including an advertisement with language that may have indicated gambling and prostitution. The gender of the singer is flexible. Earlier versions of the song are often sung from a female perspective--a woman who followed a drunken gambler to New Orleans and became a prostitute in the House. The Animals version was sung from a perspective of a male--warning about drinking and gambling. This lesson will continue our work on rebuilding the house. It's good to be handy! |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | Mrs. McGrath Part I: Fingerstyle with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | Mrs. McGrath is a powerful Celtic song about sending your son to war and having him come back wounded. The war referred to in the song is the Peninsular Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars around the year 1810. What an amazing visual this song creates of Mrs. McGrath's son coming home without any legs. We are going to be using a steady picking pattern in this song; it's so steady that it helps us keep time. It'll only take three chords and this picking pattern to make some deeply moving music. So, bring your guitar, your fingers, a capo, and a hanky. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | Mrs. McGrath Part II: Fingerstyle with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | Mrs. McGrath is an Irish street ballad that made its way across the sea. It's actually considered a humorous part in the song when Mrs. McGrath scolds her son for losing his two legs while wondering how it happened. It's a very Irish idea that you could lose your legs by wearing them away whilst walking on the sea. In this lesson, we'll continue our work on Mrs. McGrath. We'll take a pretty basic picking pattern and speed it up, making it a little bit more interesting. So, get your fingers warmed up. Let's make some blisters. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | Shenandoah Part II: Fingerstyle with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | Shenandoah has become one of the enduring musical symbols of Americana. It is the closing track for countless albums and a showcase both for instrumentalists and vocalists. It's relatively simple, yet creates beautiful imagery, and it deeply touches both audiences and performers. The song is nearly two centuries old, perhaps older, but its rise as all-purpose Americana is relatively recent. For this song, we are going to use basically two chords and pick an arpeggio. We'll get a lot of beauty out of some basic techniques. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | The Water Is Wide Part I with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | 'The Water Is Wide' is a traditional Irish song. There are tons of excellent recordings of it, but when I heard James Taylor do it on his New Moon Shine album, I dug it the most. We're going to use many of the same techniques, including walking a bass line or two, hammer-ons and pull-offs, and changing chord values. It's not really that hard, and when you're done, you'll have a beautiful style of playing that will make people stop and take notice. |
| Folk Songs with Ian Campbell | The Water Is Wide Part II with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | This Irish traditional song, The Water Is Wide, reflects the special relationship that the Irish have with the sea. It's popular enough to have been performed and recorded by the likes of Bob Dylan, the Indigo Girls and James Taylor. The song was originally called Waly, Waly and was published in 1724. O Waly, Waly is sometimes reported to be part of a longer ballad called Lord Jamie Douglas, and in the nineteenth century, came to be known as The Water Is Wide. In this lesson, we'll continue paddling across this song. We'll take the chords we saw in our other lessons and put some picking patterns over them. Aye mate, raise the jib, it's time we set sail, ya know. |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | The Water Is Wide Part III with Ian Campbell | Ian Campbell | This lesson continues our work on The Water is Wide. In this lesson, we'll take the skills that we worked on in the other lessons, and connect them together. When we're done, we'll have what it takes to play this song from start to end. There are some intermediate level techniques that we'll tackle here. If you're thinking no dice, then change your thinking to some dice. The Water is wide, Yes! But, we CAN cross over. So, set your compass, mate. We'll be back on land before you know it. |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | Tom Dooley with Pat Johnson | Pat Johnson | In this lesson I will introduce you to a basic fingerpicking pattern used to accompany the classic murder ballad Tom Dooley. You will learn the names of your plucking fingers and how to apply them to A and E chords. Tom Dooley has been recorded by many artists such as Doc Watson, The Grateful Dead, Eddy Arnold, The Kingston Trio, and Kelly Joe Phelps. The song is based on the true story of the murder of Laura Foster which occured in North Carolina just after the American Civil War. Although Tom was hung for the murder, it is suspected that an ex-lover Tom's, the dubious Annie Melton, may have very well been handy with a knife. |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | Swing Low, Sweet Chariot with Bess Rogers | Bess Rogers | So you want to learn how to fingerpick on the guitar. Cool. Let's learn how to do that by using the song 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot.' This is an old spiritual composed by a guy named Wallis Willis; say that one ten times fast. He wrote this song while sitting on the banks of the Red River, being reminded of the Jordan River, he wanted to capture the feeling of the prophet Elijah being taken to heaven by a chariot. So, you'll need know C chord, the F chord and the G chord; then, all we need to learn is a basic finger-picking pattern for those three chords and we can start singing about rivers and chariots and prophets and stuff. Let's go. |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | On Top of Old Smokey with Pat Johnson | Pat Johnson | In this arrangement of On Top Of Old Smoky we will learn the boom chick accompaniment style. Boom chick is the basis for many of the acoustic folk, blues, country and rock guitar styles. You can hear artists such as Bob Dylan, Stephen Stills, Lucinda Williams, and Steve Earle use this technique to back up many of their songs. On Top of Old Smokey has been recorded by Pete Seeger, Chet Atkins, Josh White and the Weavers. Once you have learned this arrangement you will not only have another song in your repertoire, but you will have a new technique you can apply to songs you will learn in the future. |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | Oh Suzanna with Bess Rogers | Bess Rogers | The boom-chicka strumming pattern is an essential part of American folk music like blues, bluegrass, country etc. Its name describes the sound that it makes, which actually makes it an onomatopoeia, which has nothing to do with playing guitar. We're going to learn this pattern using the song Oh Suzanna, written by Stephen Foster in 1848. Foster also wrote Camptown Races, Beautiful Dreamer, Old Folks at Home, and other clasics from the mid-1800s. He is considered one of America's first great songwriters, so what better place to start learning our classic strumming pattern. |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | Careless Love: Introducing p-i-m-a Variations with Pat Johnson | Pat Johnson | In this arrangement of Careless Love, we'll use two variations of the p-i-m-a picking pattern to accompany the song. I'll also discuss how to go about memorizing songs in a quicker manner. Careless Love has been recorded by many artists including Big Bill Broonzy, Joan Baez, Ray Charles, Doctor John, and Josh White. Once you are done with this lesson, you should be able to start creating your own variations of the p-i-m-a picking pattern to accompany other songs. |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | Midnight Special: Embellished with Pat Johnson | Pat Johnson | Midnight Special has been recorded by many artists including Lead Belly, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Arlo Guthrie, Paul McCartney, Little Richard, Van Morrison and many others. In this lesson I will explain what a sus4 chord is and show you how to use them in the context of Midnight Special. You will learn the Dsus4, Gsus4 and A7sus4 chords. By the time you are done this lesson you should know enough about sus4 chords to create your own and apply them to tunes you already know. |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | Home On The Range with Bess Rogers | Bess Rogers | When you pick up a guitar to play a song, you have free reign to make it your own, especially if it's one thats been done many, many, many, MANY times before. One way to spice things up a bit it is to add colors to the chords you're using. We're going to learn what the sus2 and sus4 chords are, and how to play them. Using these instead of regular major and minor chords doesn't change the tonality, but only gives it some character. Let's take a song that everyone knows, Home on the Range, and put our own spin on it! |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | Buffalo Gals with Pat Johnson | Pat Johnson | Buffalo Gals has been recorded by Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Woody and Arlo Guthrie and many other artists. In this arrangement we will expand on the boom chick concept by adding an alternating bass. Alternating bass is one of the key techniques used by finger-style guitarists. It has been used as the foundation for many guitar arrangements. By the time you're done with this lesson you should know enough about alternating bass to start incorporating it into many songs you already play. I will also discuss how to create a strong back-beat using the boom chick strum. |
| Songs: Basic Fingerstyle and Chord Embellishments | By The Light Of The Silvery Moon with Bess Rogers | Bess Rogers | So you've already perfected the boom-chick-a strumming pattern. That means you're ready to add the next step, alternating bass. Personally, I never play this strumming pattern without it. We're going to learn it using the song By the Light of the Silvery Moon. This song was one of Tin Pan Alley's most famous songs, written in 1909. That was a good year. The North and South Poles were reached, construction of Pearl Harbor began, and the first Lincoln penny was issued. Bet you didn't know this was going to be a history lesson too! |
| Songs: Introduction to Barre Chords | Oh Sinner Man: Barre Chords with Pat Johnson | Pat Johnson | Oh Sinner Man has been recorded by artists as diverse as jazz great Nina Simone, reggae artist Bob Marley, bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley, and folk icons the Weavers. In this lesson I will begin the process of explaining barre chords. You will learn two moveable chord shapes you can use to play major and minor chords, in closed positions up the guitar neck. This arrangement of Oh Sinner Man is a great workout to train your fretting hand to play these barre chords. I will also discuss how to reduce fatigue when playing barre chords. |
| Songs: Introduction to Barre Chords | Auld Lang Syne with Bess Rogers | Bess Rogers | Stepping outside the world of open chords can be a scary thing. You have to push down all of those strings with one finger, and yeah it can hurt at first. But barre chords are essential to your progression as a guitar player. Once you have mastered them, you will no longer have to fear chords like G-Sharp and B-Flat minor. You will be able to play in every key with the greatest of ease! We're going to conquer the E and E minor shape barre chords using Auld Lang Syne, everyone's favorite sentimental New Year's song. Are you ready? Let's get started. |
| Songs: Introduction to Barre Chords | The Coo Coo with Pat Johnson | Pat Johnson | It seems to me that the definitive version of the Coo Coo was recorded by Doc Watson as accompanied by the banjo player Clarence Ashley. The Coo Coo has been recorded by many other artists including; Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Martin Simpson, The Be Good Tanyas, the Everly Brothers, and Taj Mahal, just to name a few. In this lesson I will expand your knowledge of Barre Chords. You will learn two moveable chord shapes you can use to play major and minor chords, in closed positions up the guitar neck. This arrangement of The Coo Coo is another great workout to train your fretting hand to play these barre chords. |
| Songs: Introduction to Barre Chords | Where Did You Sleep Last Night with Bess Rogers | Bess Rogers | In another lesson, we learned how to play major and minor barre chords with the root on the 6th string. Well in this lesson, we're going to learn barre chords with the root on the 5th string, using the song Where Did You Sleep Last Night. You probably know this song from when Nirvana covered it in their famous MTV Unplugged performance. Originally this song was written by Leadbelly, who is one of the worlds greatest blues musicians and one of the craziest characters who ever lived. If you're not familiar with him, his life story and his music are definitely both worth checking out. And of course, the same goes for Nirvana. Let's pay tribute to both of them by learning this awesome song. |
| Songs: Introduction to Barre Chords | Worried Man Blues with Pat Johnson | Pat Johnson | The Worried Man Blues has been recorded by Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and many others. For this arrangement we are going to employ several of the skills you have already acquired such as the p-i-m-a picking pattern and alternate bass notes. Most importantly though we are going to learn how to play the diminished 7 chord. This particular shape I am going to teach you is moveable like barre chords. This will allow you to find diminished 7 chords in many places on the neck. You will also learn how to start using diminished 7 chords in songs you already know. |
| Songs: Introduction to Barre Chords | Take Me Out To the Ballgame with Bess Rogers | Bess Rogers | So you've got your barre chords down pat, and you just can't get enough. Now you need something to take it one step further to spice up those boring old songs - to make transitioning from chord to chord sound interesting - to blow people's minds with your musical prowess. Well look no further. I present to you the diminished 7 passing chord. In this lesson, we're going to use Take Me Out To the Ball Game to explain what's up with this chord, how to use it, why to use it, when to use it, and to what extent to use it. It may not sound exciting, but trust me. Once you know this chord you will never be the same. Never. |
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