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Chorus section here
Greensleeves is a traditional tune dating from way back, and some believe that King Henry VIII wrote lyrics for it in the 1500's. Whatever its origins, we certainly all know it when we hear it. This is the 'verse' section, I'll do the 'chorus' section next week.
It's in a minor key ... I chose Am. The chords are basically related chords from the minor key, but you will notice two different 'Five" chords: the Em and the E. It's a little unusual to get both minor and major together in the same piece. Both versions, major and minor, have the same function, namely leading the ear back to the the I chord, and you'll be able to hear for yourself the subtle difference between the two. I find the major chord much stronger and convincing.
Let's first look at the chord progression as roman numerals:
| i - VII | III - - | VII - - | v - - | i - - | vi - - | V - - | - - - |
| i - VII | III - - | VII - - | v - - | i - - | V - - | i - - | - - - |
You can see above how the roman numerals indicate which 'Five Chord' is which: one is lower case (minor) and the other is upper case (major). Once again, for those who are unfamiliar with this way of writing chord progressions: The roman numerals indicate the scale degree of the chord (which scale note the chord uses as its root); the upper/lower case indicates the major/minor quality. It's a kind of shorthand that allows the musician to instantly see the relationships between chords without actually naming them for any particular key. In this case, the key is Am, so now let's see how the roman numerals translate into actual chords:
| Am - G | C - - | G - - | Em - - | Am - - | F - - | E - - | - - - |
| Am - G | C - - | G - - | Em - - | Am - - | E - - | Am - - | - - - |
Don't forget that it's in 3/4 time -- a waltz -- so count only three beats per bar.
The right hand technique I use is the same as all the other finger style lessons I post here: The thumb handles the bass notes; the fingers handle the others, as needed, as dictated by the melody. The movie shows it well. As always, the chord shapes are the basis for all moves. The basic shapes are indicated on the tab below. Make sure you're working the lines in and around those shapes.
You'll notice that at bar 3 I play the F to E notes on different strings (the F is the 6th fret of string 2, the E is the open 1 string) but when I repeat the figure at bar 11 I play those same two notes on one string. I did this on purpose to show how versatile the guitar is. On a key board, there is only one way to play F to E; on a guitar, several. There is no right or wrong way ... just different. Some are easier to get the fingers around than others.
Practice it slowly, keep it all flowing. If you get snagged anywhere, slow the whole thing down to the snagged tempo. Much better to keep it smooth and flowing, even if it's really slow, than to have it stutter and stumble. Music is flow, and make the flow the thing you practice. Speed will take care of itself later on.
Full speed midi | Half speed midi | GuitarPro file | mp3
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