Intermediate Fingerpicking Solos Volume 2

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Long, Long Time - Solo Arrangement

  This solo fingerstyle guitar arrangement of Linda Ronstadt's Long, Long Time, which was written by Gary White, goes over some different ways of combining the melody and chords. There is tab to a verse and chorus, and the student is also led into creating their own version, and experimenting with different embellishments and variations.

• Lesson 2: Let It Be Me - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  Originally a popular song in France, Let It Be Me, with the addition of English lyrics by Manny Curtis, became a hit for The Everly Brothers in 1960. Their trademark was close harmony vocals, mostly thirds and this lesson tries to capture both melodies separately before combining them in the last verse.

  It is very important to have a clear handle on many things in this situation, starting with the chords progression but more important is the distinct melody lines. These are explained in the lesson but there is also room for improvisation in Section B particularly. Like most solo arrangements, the accompaniment, or more specifically the filler notes, do not have to be the same in every play through, as long as the melody comes out loud and clear.

• Lesson 3: Sleep Walk - Solo Arrangement by Bob McAlpine

  Sleep Walk was a 1959 instrumental hit song by Santo & Johnny that featured a melody played on steel guitar. It has since been covered on guitar by great players such as Larry Carlton, Jeff Beck and Brian Setzer.
  Although originally and commonly performed in the key of C, this fingerstyle solo guitar arrangement presents the chords and melody in the key of A, which brings the melody into a more desirable range for acoustic guitar.
  This new key also allows for the frequent use of open strings, which adds to the sonic texture of the performance and (more importantly) makes the song easier to play!

• Lesson 4: You Are So Beautiful - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  Joe Cocker made Billy Preston’s song, You are So Beautiful, a major hit. In this lesson we’ll learn a fairly easy-to-play instrumental arrangement for solo fingerstyle guitar in standard tuning. We’ll breakdown each part of the song, and then for those who are up for a bit of a deep dive into some harmony, we’ll explore some of the unusual chord choices in this song and try to see why they sound the way they do and why they work!

• Lesson 5: Walk Away Renée - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  Walk Away Renée was a hit for The Left Banke in 1966. Written by teenage keyboard player Michael Brown, but also involved were Bob Calili and Tony Sansone, it has stood the test of time and remains a classic from this one-hit-wonder band.

  We already have an accompaniment version lesson here but this is Neil's solo arrangement, which has a few difficult chord shapes and left hand moves. The student should be quite familiar with solo fingerpicking tunes before tackling this but there is a lot to be learned from working on it.

  On our old difficulty scale this would be about 8.5.

• Lesson 6: Daydream Believer (Fingerpicking)

  As you may know, we recently did a lesson on The Monkees’ version of John Stewart’s tune Daydream Believer.
  
  This was a classic begging for a solo version and I just had to get to it. As with a few other recent lessons, this took the path of breaking out the components and walking through the construction of your own arrangement.
  
  It is done in Dropped D Tuning, even though the song is played in G, and there is a good explanation offered in the lesson as to of the advantages of this.

• Lesson 7: Scarborough Faire - High Strung Guitar - Solo Arrangement by Doug Young

  In this lesson, we’ll explore a way to tune your guitar known as Nashville Tuning, or “High Strung.” A Nashville-tuned guitar can be played just like standard tuning, but because the lower four strings are tuned an octave higher, the tuning creates a unique sound. We’ll explore the tuning, strings needed, history, and look at example applications, including doubling rhythm guitar parts and playing a fingerstyle arrangement of Scarborough Faire.