Fingerpicking Beatles Super Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Don't Bother Me - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  Don't Bother Me was the first George Harrison composition to appear on a Beatles album wjen With The Beatles was released in 1963. This solo arrangement in the key of A Dorian (and occasionally A Minor) is how it appeared on my album A Beatles Collection in 1989.

  I changed from the original key of E Dorian so the melody notes laid out better on the higher guitar strings, without getting too far up the neck or down on the middle strings.

  The arrangement is not too difficult if you are already a bit familiar with keeping an alternating bass part going while picking out melody notes. There are a few barre chords involved, of course.

• Lesson 2: And I Love Her - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  This solo arrangement of And I Love Her dates back to my album A Beatles Collection, which was mostly medleys of related tunes of theirs. This followed Here, There And Everywhere and was connected with a short modulation that is included in that lesson.

  It is always important to clearly understand the chord progression in any solo arrangement, which allows a lot of room for variations and improvisation. This piece uses many barre chords and the technique of 'rolling' out chords, slightly separating the notes of chords written on the same beat, is very important.

  The last segment is just an improv of how it came out the day of shooting the lesson.

• Lesson 3: In My Life - Beatles - Solo Arrangement In A

  This arrangement of In My Life by The Beatles is done in the original key of A Major. Each verse is done in different registers on the guitar for a little variety.
  
  There are a lot of slides involved, trying to keep it very legato. There are a few differences in this arrangement from the Play Through, including a more reasonable way to approach the instrumental solo.
  
  Verse 1 has the melody played in the middle register of the guitar, making for some filler notes above the melody.
  
  Verse 2 takes the melody up an octave onto the higher strings, and also follows the lyrics which create a slightly different arrangement of syllables.
  
  The short solo after the second verse of In My Life is fascinating on a few fronts, and not particularly guitar friendly either. It was originally played on the piano and then doubled in speed to sound more like a harpsichord (along with being much easier to play).
  
  In Part 5 we take a look at getting most of the notes on the guitar. The embellishments and the glissando at the end are really unnecessary so this slightly modified arrangement keeps the song relatively playable.
  
  In Part 6 we do get into the embellishments, mordents to be specific, for those who need to up the difficulty a level or two.
  
  We wrap this lesson with a few tips on the coda, which is tacked on after the last chorus. There are some subtle differences with a few of the chords and a bit of a stretch at the end but if you have gotten this far you should be very proud of yourself.

• Lesson 4: While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  This lesson is going to be more of a “build your own arrangement” one, rather than the note-for-note approach I usually use with solo arrangements. We will start with a basic, alternating bass version where I just give you hints about determining and defining the components, along with a skeleton play through (just bass notes and the melody).
  
  I could certainly use some feedback and/or suggestions as we go along here with what I hope will be a fun and interactive lesson.
  
  Part 4 – The Chorus: This segment goes over the skeleton version of the chorus, starting with the chord progression and melody, then offers a few suggestions on putting them together.
  
  Part 5 – Add Some Fills: Now that you have a grip on the alternating bass arrangement of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, we are ready to fill it out a bit with some extra notes. The melody is fairly full in many measures but there are a few places where extra chord notes can add a lot.
  
  Part 6 – The Intro: While My Guitar Gently Weeps opens up with the piano playing a single ‘A’ in a series of dotted eighth and sixteenth notes. This can be a little challenging on the right hand and will probably take a lot of practice to master. This segment also includes a couple different ways to incorporate Eric Clapton’s opening fill leading into the melody.

• Lesson 5: Here, There And Everywhere - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  In 1989 I put out an album of Solo Arrangements of Beatles' tunes. It has lately resurfaced, at least on my radar and here is the second arrangement from my past. Here, There And Everywhere was released in 1966 on Revolver.

  This arrangement is not too difficult, as long as you have some experience with fingerstyle playing. There are a few barre chords and good right hand technique is important but there are not many variations, just a few rotating embellishments.

• Lesson 6: When I'm 64 - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  When I'm 64 starts off the last track on my album, A Beatles Collection. It is then followed in a medley with I'm Looking Through You. This lesson follows the way it was played, really with bit  of improvisation, in that recording.

  It is basically an alternating bass, almost ragtime arrangement that includes some tricky left hand stretches and fingerings. It would be reasonable to capo it to the second fret to make them a little easier.

  I want to thank Crashcup for writing out the Guitar Pro version.

• Lesson 7: I'm Looking Through You - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  In 1989 or so I made an album of Solo Arrangements of Beatles' Tunes, A Beatles Collection. It included versions of more than 20 songs. This is the first one that I have revisited and done a more formal arrangement of.

  I really think it is important to know the lyrics and try to play the melody like you're singing the song. This lesson covers 3 verses, all slightly different, and the chorus. Some experience with alternate bass fingerpicking is definitely required here but it is not too difficult, unless you want to play it at the Beatles speed, which I do not recommend.

  This is the type of piece that encourages a bit of improvisation as well and does not need to be played note-for-note the same every time. It would even be fine to just learn the first verse and the chorus, without the embellishments that are done in the other verses.

• Lesson 8: Because - The Beatles - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  Because is one of John Lennon's most compelling songs. The combination of melody, chord progression, vocal harmonies and arrangement is very creative and far beyond most composers, especially considering he was still not yet 30 years old.

  This arrangement follows my CD from about 30 years ago, A Beatles Collection and starts with just the harpsichord accompaniment before bringing in the melody, which is played in two different octaves. There are some unorthodox fingerings, like using one finger to play two notes on different frets at the same time, but alternatives are also explored.

  There are a lot of barre chords needed, which can make it very tiring, but it will be worth your time if you decide to tackle it.

• Lesson 9: Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  This solo fingerpicking arrangement can be found on Neil Hogan's album A Beatles Collection, originally released in 1989. It is in a ragtime style and uses a steady alternating bass technique in the key of C Major.

  There are quite a few challenging left hand moves, mainly requiring independent moving of the fingers to combine the melody with a 3-string bass pattern on the C chord. This can be made easier by using a simpler 2-string pattern but working on the complicated combination is a great exercise for players wanting to advance their skills.

• Lesson 10: Your Mother Should Know - Guitar Instrumental Lesson

  Your Mother Should Know is a Paul McCartney song from 1967 that was released on the Beatles’ album Magical Mystery Tour. This lesson is a solo guitar arrangement in the original key of C and is not too difficult to play.
  
  The song really just consists of a verse and a short instrumental bridge. There are a few left hand fingering challenges – a couple finger stretches, and the left hand thumb wrap is used in a few spots, although there are alternate fingerings suggested. The arrangement includes a short segment on improvising some variations.

• Lesson 11: Slack Key: Here Comes The Sun (Open G)

  This lesson has some history, with Neil traveling to Hawaii spending time with Keola Beamer and eventually doing a concert here in California with Keola.. This arrangement of Here Comes The Sun is done slack key style in Taro Patch Tuning, that would be Open G in other cultures- D G D G B D. It features an alternating bass line and just a few chord shapes.

• Lesson 12: Yesterday Guitar Lesson

  The latest project has been Yesterday, where we take a look at both a guitar accompaniment version and a solo guitar arrangement. The accompaniment version is pretty much the way Paul played it and is a simple way to back up the vocal part. The instrumental arrangement is an intermediate-level fingerpicking piece that uses more of an arpeggio style than alternating bass notes.

• Lesson 13: I Need You - Beatles - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  I recently did a lesson on the guitar parts that George Harrison and John Lennon play in George's tune I Need You, from The Beatles 1965 album Help. As frequently happens when putting together lessons, I messed around with playing the rhythm part and incorporating the melody. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and quite a bit easier than some of the more elaborate instrumental arrangements I have done, like White Bird, Eye In The Sky, and many others.

  This tune uses a percussive right hand technique where beats 2 and 4 of most measures have snare drum like click on the strings. Sometimes this is done by tapping the middle strings with the nails of the 2nd and 3rd fingers, and others with the thumb tapping the 6th string into the fretboard.

• Lesson 14: Come Together - The Beatles - Solo Arrangement

  Come Together is the opening track from the Beatles 1969 album Abbey Road. It was largely a John Lennon creation, although the songwriting credits are listed as Lennon-McCartney. This fingerstyle solo guitar arrangement combines melody, chords, and the classic Paul McCartney bass line that plays through the intro and verses. It also features a unique take on some of George Harrison’s soulful guitar fills, and an interesting percussive approach idea that hints at some of Ringo Starr’s drum work.

• Lesson 15: Imagine

  Imagine is arguably one of John Lennon’s greatest contributions to our musical universe. Consists of a very simple chord progression that can be easily strummed on the guitar. This lesson takes many of the piano lines and incorporates them into the guitar accompaniment. The lesson mostly presents an intermediate solo guitar version, paying particular attention to passages that are a bit deceiving and confusing.

• Lesson 16: Dear Prudence - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  At the request of a student I thought I'd look into putting together an instrumental arrangement of John Lennon's tune Dear Prudence, which was released on their 1968 album The Beatles (aka The White Album). I was surprised how well the bass line and vocal melody came together, with all the bass notes on the bottom three strings and the melody notes on the top three strings. It turned out to need very little left hand movement, although there are a few somewhat unusual finger configurations.

• Lesson 17: Now And Then

  Thanks to Peter Jackson and technology developed for his Get Back documentary, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were able to resume work started in 1994 on John Lennon's demo of Now And Then. The progression is fairly basic but quintessential Lennon with a beautiful melody and touching lyrics.

  This lesson starts with Neil playing a solo instrumental version, then he goes into how to strum through the progression and details the arrangement. The last segment goes into how he creates fingerstyle instrumentals.

• Lesson 18: Blackbird - Solo Guitar Arrangement

  For most of my teaching life I have taught a couple different versions of Blackbird to my students, even as a beginning fingerpicking lesson. I have also never seriously considered trying to put together a solo arrangement, combining the chord progression with Paul McCartney's melody. I recently questioned my reluctance to experiment with this and was pleasantly surprised that it seemed possible...pretty difficult, but possible.

  This lesson goes through all of the obstacles I encountered and the solutions I discovered. It also includes the way I approach it for beginning students, as well as the way Paul played it with his light percussive picking.

• Lesson 19: Here Comes The Sun (Fingerpicking)

  This lesson is Neil's instrumental fingerpicking arrangement of Here Comes The Sun. The original was played with a pick and is the subject of an upcoming lesson. This version picks out the melody using a Travis-style alternating bass pattern.