Like this lesson? The downloadable version includes extra files, making it much easier to learn.
More details here
|
Refresh the page to watch the movie again.
The movie or movies in the paid downloadable versions are high resolution and come in Windows Media Video format with all the Start-Stop-Pause buttons.
Click on the movie to find out what you'll get when you buy this lesson. |
This is another one for the 'beyonds' here at Guitar for Beginners and Beyond. However, having said that, it sounds a lot trickier than it is, so if you didn't pick up your first guitar yesterday, have a go at it.
I came up with this piece yesterday while tinkering around a little chord progression. I found this neat way of playing the opening lines without doing much work with the left hand -- it pretty much stays put -- but concentrating on the right hand, the picking hand. I realized after a short while that this would be a good lesson because you really do have to force that right hand to obey, and if there's one thing that always needs work, it's making those fingers obey. You'll see soon enough that this piece really does need some concentrated discipline.
The reason for that is that several of the notes in the repeating melody line use open strings, but because the fretting hand is up the neck a way, some of the open string notes are lower in pitch than the previous note which was played on a thicker string. This is counter-intuitive for guitar players. We're used to moving to thicker strings for lower notes, not thinner strings, and it requires (at least it did for me) some good hard thinking about it to get the fingers to do that. I did another lesson like a while ago called
Open Air ... you might want to have a look at that one too.
This one is in A minor, but changes to A major halfway through. It was this 'brightening' of the tonality that prompted me to give it its silly title: The Dawning.
You'll see that, apart from the first beat, the main opening melody line keeps repeating for three bars. The only indication that there's been a change in the underlying chord is that first double stop of each bar. They all use an A note as the bass; the other note in the double stop is a G (bar
1), dropping a semitone to F# (bar
2), then another semitone to F (bar
3). Those three double stops are enough to imply three chords, which are basically Am7, D7 and Dm. I've left the chord names as simple chords in the tab, but I've given them their extended names in the movie. So it's really that one notes dropping down a semitone each time that gives each of those measures a distinct flavor; the other 7 eighth notes play a melody line that is identical for each measure. The fourth bar is a resolve to the V chord, E7. If you buy the downloadable version, you'll see that I've shown you the basic shapes to hold down with your left hand on the virtual fretboard, and, of course, the actual notes to play. In bar
3 and
7 I chose to not hold the whole shape down but to use my index finger to grab that D note in the melody line ... I found it easier.
That whole section (
1,
2,
3 and
4) repeats, then I decided to change key to Amaj. You might find this part the most difficult because of the stretch involved. This is a very useful A7sus4 shape, though (I use it in 'Open Air'), so it's worth the time and effort to make that stretch. If you can't get it at first, persevere, come back to it; you will stretch those tendons and muscles eventually. Persistence is the trick to all this stuff.
The B7 keeps morphs into a G#dim a couple of times (each time the C note appears), but I left it as B7/G#; the F you'll notice isn't a barre chord. I hate them as much as you so I'm always looking for ways to avoid using them. This left-hand position may seem awkward at first, but once again, persist until it feels right.
It ends on a A major chord, I pick through it then strum it with the back of my index finger nail.
If you buy the downloadable version, you'll see I've given you my right hand picking fingers, but if you watch the movie closely, you'll see that I use a couple of variations. There is no right way, really. The main thing is to
feel the melody line and how it switches back and forth from string to string. Once you've done that, you can use any old fingers or even a flat pick. The downloadable lesson includes the big, hi-res movies (front and overhead shots) with the virtual fretboard, slowed down movies, the
GuitarPro file, full and half speed midis (generated by the tab), tab, notation and the Mp3. Well worth the few bucks.
Have fun with this, I'd love to hear some versions of this uploaded to the site.
Like this lesson? The downloadable version includes extra files, making it much easier to learn.
More details here
Be sure to check out our Lesson Value Packs... and save yourself a heap of $$$
