Neil’s Top Fingerpicking Songs Volume 2

Lessons

• Lesson 1: More Than A Feeling - Guitar Lesson

  More Than A Feeling is the first hit from Boston, released in 1976 on their debut album. It features a memorable guitar arpeggio opening then a driving chorus with syncopated strumming. This lesson goes over all the rhythm parts, as well as strumming it in single time and double time.

• Lesson 2: Scarborough Fair

  Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel. Neil goes through the entire verse of the Paul Simon arrangement.

• Lesson 3: Stones

  Stones is a beautiful ballad from Neil Diamond's album of the same name. It uses only a few easy chords in the key of C but is done with a complex arpeggio fingerpicking pattern. The lesson approaches this in increments, building up to playing it as done on the original recording, with elements of live versions added in.

• Lesson 4: Leader Of The Band - Dan Fogelberg - Guitar Lesson

  This emotional song from Dan Fogelberg’s 1981 album The Innocent Age has been a fingerpicker’s favorite since it was released. It also has been near the top of our Recommend A Lesson list for a very long time. This lesson goes over the progression and the picking details for all the parts, as well as the arrangement and thoughts on changing it up a bit.

• Lesson 5: Vincent - Guitar Lesson

  *Vincent*is Don McLean’s biographic and philosophic commentary on the life and emotions of Vincent van Gogh, as well as one of his masterpieces in the world of guitar ballads. It is a great example of his free-form picking style that is mostly arpeggio-based, and shows great use of letting a song breathe by stretching out some beats. This lesson looks at a simple way of picking through the chord progression as well as going into the subtleties and nuances that make it the gorgeous song that it is

• Lesson 6: You Can Close Your Eyes - Guitar Lesson

  You Can Close Your Eyes is an early James Taylor song, released in 1971 on his album Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon. James’ picking style is fairly free form and this lesson goes over some of his standard techniques and licks, including transitioning from Travis picking into finger-strumming styles. The point is to change it a bit every time but play the fills and bass lines accurately.

• Lesson 7: Diamonds And Rust - Guitar Lesson

  *Diamonds And Rust*is one of Joan Baez’s best-known songs, at least as far as her own compositions. This somewhat autobiographical commentary on her life with Bob Dylan features a rotating eighth note arpeggio-picking pattern with some nice melody lines singled out.

• Lesson 8: Moondance Guitar Lesson - Van Morrison

  Moondance is a jazzy tune of Van Morrison's that was mostly piano, bass, and drums. This lesson captures the feel of that rhythm section all on one acoustic guitar. It starts using fingerpicking technique combining the piano comping with a steady bass pattern, continues with a strumming pattern when the progression moves to the iv chord, and finishes with the bass riff that wraps up the chorus.

  
  Neil introduces the technique he calls the 'hidden pick trick', where the pick is held in the right hand while fingerpicking, making the transition from fingerstyle to strumming immediate and seamless.

• Lesson 9: Operator

  Jim Croce was about the most visible and popular singer-songwriter of the early 1970s. His first album included a string of classics that endure to this day. Operator showcased his unique style, which included fascinating second guitar parts, mostly created by his partner Maury Mueleisen.

  This lesson covers both guitar parts. Jim's is mostly his favorite fingerpicking pattern, a rolling arpeggio with 3 bass notes per measure, but also a few quick runs harmonized in 3rds (or 10ths if you will). Maury's part is done with a capo at the 5th fret and includes harmony in 3rds and 6ths, along with some nice scale runs.

  I want to thank my long time student and friend Fred Ferla for contributing his vocal skills to the Play Through.

• Lesson 10: The Girl From Ipanema

  Bossa Nova is a sound and style that developed in the late 1950s mostly by Brazilian guitarist Joao Gilberto.
  
  Antonio Carlos Jobim is probably the most famous composer of the style and his composition The Girl From Ipanema the most popular piece. It has been a favorite among guitar players since it was released by Gilberto and sax player Stan Getz, along with Joao’s wife Astrud on vocals in 1964.
  
  This lesson takes a close look at the right hand accompaniment technique and common patterns played fingerstyle, the chords and melody as done in the standard version in the key of F, as well the original guitar part as played by Gilberto in the key of Db.
  
  Both keys use common jazz chords that may be new and unfamiliar to students who have not played in the style before. Most are play on just four strings with the right hand plucking just those strings.
  
  The accompaniment pattern consists of the thumb playing on beats 1 and 3 with the three fingers playing together on different combinations of the eighth note beats.

• Lesson 11: Chicken Fried - Guitar Lesson

  *Chicken Fried *is a 2008 release from the country-flavored Zac Brown Band. The song uses a very simple chord progression but Zac dresses it up with some percussive fingerpicking and a very cool intro, played on a nylon string guitar that really raises the bar as far as level of difficulty. The lesson includes a basic Campfire Version that is great for beginners, as well as all the complicated picking that is used as well.

• Lesson 12: Light My Fire - José Feliciano - Guitar Lesson

  In 1968, the young Puerto Rican musician José Feliciano put out his arrangement of Light My Fire, a song Doors had just released a year before, and it put him on the musical map permanently.
  
  His combination of Latin Jazz, Flamenco, Classical, Blues, and soulful singing grabbed music lovers across the country.
  
  This lesson goes into his percussive accompaniment, the jazzy chord shapes, his iconic introduction with a flashy lead lick, and even touches on the syncopated outro a bit.

• Lesson 13: Why Georgia

  After our flurry of intermediate level songs, we end this week with John Mayer's Why Georgia. This song uses very elaborate, percussive picking, as well as a somewhat difficult filler lick over a relatively uncomfortable and unusual chord, and that's just the first 2 measures. The rest of the song gets easier, a little, but don't let that scare you off!

• Lesson 14: Banana Pancakes - Guitar Lesson

  Jack Johnson’s easy, relaxed style makes for some really fun songs to play. Banana Pancakes is from his 2005 album In Between Dreams and features an interesting percussive strumming pattern, along with a bunch of barre chords, which help the percussive effect. There are also a couple of nice little licks played behind the vocals.

• Lesson 15: River Man - Guitar Lesson

  The second song on Nick Drake’s album Five Leaves Left, River Man is a very dark and moody piece due to a combination of many different elements. It uses unusual chords (in standard tuning), an unusual time signature, a free form melody with its own rhythm not at all connected to the rhythm of the harmony, and profound and provocative lyrics to weave a very complex tapestry of sound and emotions. I may have over rated the difficulty but I hope you enjoy this lesson immensely.

• Lesson 16: If You Could Read My Mind - Live Short Lesson

  Neil did a live session for some Totally Guitars Members where he was teaching them how to play If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot. Most of it is done with an arpeggio pattern that hits three bass notes in a measure, rather than the four that are done in most alternating patterns.