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7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 111
SECRETS OF THE GREAT
ACOUSTICSONGWRITERS
THE ULTIMATE DVD GUIDE
DALE TURNER PRESENTS
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 211
1 THE SOUNDS OF SIMON
A sampling of Paul Simonrsquos evocativeacoustic fretwork
2 MR MELANCHOLY
The infectious intricate fingerstyle patterns ofthe late great Elliot Smith
3 THE FUNKY MONK
UNPLUGGED
Fingerstyle techniques and ferocious strums fromformer Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante
4 HAPPINESS IS SOME
FINGERPICKING FUN
A look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
5 DREAM BROTHER
The atmospheric chordal stylings ofthe late great Jeff Buckley
6 BRAZIL NUT
The bossa nova rhythms of Antonio Carlos Jobim
7 PINK MOON RISING
The unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
8 SOMETHING IN THE WAYHE GROOVES
The acoustic artistry ofldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
9 RIGHTEOUS BABE
Fingerstyle finesse meetspunk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CONTENTS
1 THE SOUNDS OF SIMON
A sampling of Paul Simonrsquos evocativeacoustic fretwork
2 MR MELANCHOLY
The infectious intricate fingerstyle patterns ofthe late great Elliot Smith
3 THE FUNKY MONK
UNPLUGGED
Fingerstyle techniques and ferocious strums fromformer Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante
4 HAPPINESS IS SOME
FINGERPICKING FUN
A look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
5 DREAM BROTHER
The atmospheric chordal stylings ofthe late great Jeff Buckley
6 BRAZIL NUT
The bossa nova rhythms of Antonio Carlos Jobim
7 PINK MOON RISING
The unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
8 SOMETHING IN THE WAYHE GROOVES
The acoustic artistry ofldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
9 RIGHTEOUS BABE
Fingerstyle finesse meetspunk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CONTENTS
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 311
THE SOUNDS OF SIMONA sampling of Paul Simonrsquos evocative acoustic fretwork
CHAPTER
1
PAUL SIMON ROSE to fame in
the mid Sixties as a member of the
folk-rock duo Simon amp Garfunkel in
which he played acoustic guitar and shared
harmony vocal duties with collaborator Art
Garfunkel Though the pair formally split
in 1970 the timelessness of their hit songs
prompted numerous reunions most recently
in the form of an inspired performance at
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009
While Simon has released numerous solo
albums throughout his career (among them
the multi-Platinum smash Graceland ) it is
his work with Simon amp Garfunkel that per-haps best showcased his stellar guitar play-
ingmdashtasty fingerpicking passages that have
inspired singer-songwriters for decades
In this chapter wersquoll be learning how
to fingerpick Paul Simon style Letrsquos kick
things off with a passage built around an
open C chord and reminiscent of Simonrsquos
finerpicking work in ldquoThe Boxerrdquo (origi-
nally tuned down one half step) This song
is steeped in Travis picking a somewhat
country-like fingerstyle approach named
after Fifties-era country session musician
Merle Travis This first batch of figures
deconstructs this style FIGURE 1A illus-
trates the ldquobassrdquo role of the plucking handrsquosthumb ( p ) Pluck in order the fifth fourth
sixth and fourth strings in quarter notes
switch the fret handrsquos ring finger back and
forth to grab C (fifth string third fret) and G
(sixth string third fret) bass notes keeping
remaining chord tones fretted as normal
In FIGURE 1B while the thumb con-
tinues as before use your pick-hand middle
finger ( m ) to sound notes on the second
string FIGURE 1C adds the pick-hand index
finger ( i ) to the equation to sound the open
third string completing the passage
ldquoHomeward Boundrdquo (originally played
with capo III) also features the Travis
picking technique For FIGURE 2 fret anopen G chord with your ring finger on the
sixth string allow the second third and
fourth strings to ring open Master the
pattern in bar 1 first plucking with the
indicated fingers then descend the sixth
string in chromatic fashion using your fret
handrsquos middle and index fingers respec-
tively to create GFs and GF repeating
the plucking pattern in bars 2ndash3 End the
passage with a ldquostrummedrdquo E chord (rake
across strings with the ldquonail siderdquo of fingers) fol-
lowed by Am (brush strings with thumb)
Simon is also a fan of chord voicings that contain
interesting intervals namely seconds (two notes ei-
ther one half step or one whole step apart) In songs
like ldquoScarborough Fairrdquo (originally played with capo
VII) these ldquotone clustersrdquo create a more evocativesound than standard open shapes do In the ldquoScar-
borough Fairrdquo-like FIGURE 3 Dadd24 (an open C
chord shape moved up two frets) has a ldquosecondrdquo in-
terval between the notes on the middle two strings
as well as on the top two In the final bar Asus2mdasha
shape integral to Simonrsquos accompaniment in ldquoThe
Sound of Silencerdquomdashalso has a second interval be-
tween the third and second strings Bar 3 features
another hallmark of Simonrsquos style a descending
move structured from 10ths intervals (note pairs that
are 10 scale steps apart) with the open third string
plucked in between as heard similarly in ldquoAmerican
Tunerdquo and ldquoThe Boxerrdquo among others
Wersquoll close out this lesson by looking at some
hip ways Simon embellishes open G shapes in cer-
tain song intros In the opening to ldquoI Am a Rockrdquo
(originally played with capo V) he frets a G shapeusing his ring finger and pinkie for notes on the
sixth and first strings respectively This frees up
his index and middle fingers to quickly hammer-
onpull-off notes on the fourth and second strings
which FIGURE 4 similarly depicts Simon also
supercharges the intro to ldquoHomeward Boundrdquo with
tasty chord ornaments FIGURE 5 cops a similar
sound using thirds intervals (note pairs that are
three scale steps apart) along string sets 2-3 3-4
and 4-5 to impart a harmonized melody
p
FIGURE 1a
All examples played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
let ring C
3
p
2
p
CG
3
p
2
FIGURE 1b
p
Clet ring
m p
3
1
2
p
CG
m p
3
1
2
FIGURE 1c
p
Clet ring
m p i p
CG
3
1
20
m p i
3
1
20
p
FIGURE 2
G
let ring
3
p
0
p i p m sim
GF
3
00
0
2
0
GF
2
00
0
1
0
p
E
1
00
0
0
strum 02
210
0
strum 0
Am
0221
0
p
FIGURE 3
Dadd
let ring
a
24
i
5
0
p m
04
i sim
C
30
3
0
02
m p
GB
10
i m p
Am7
2
30
i m p
G
0
10
3
0
p
Asus2
a i
0
0
p
play 3 times
m
22
i p
02
0
p
FIGURE 4
let ring G
3
strum
0003
ai
ai
0003
0
0
2
1
0
0
ai
FIGURE 5
mi
Glet ring
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
mi
F
00
21
00
mi
C
mi
32
20
mi
mi
G
p strum
032 2
000
3
0003
3 6
FIG 1A FIG 1B FIG 1C
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4 FIG 5
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 411
p
FIGURE 1
All examples played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
let ring C
3
use index middle and ring fingers
strum
2013
p
3
strum
2013
FIGURE 2
p
let ring C
3
strum
p
2013
2013
3
strum
2013
2013
m p
FIGURE 3
let ring
C
i p m p
3
31
2
3
i p
3
1
2
=
3
3
FIGURE 4
i
let ring
m p
C
1
p strum
3
3
3
p i
201
201
3
1
p
FIGURE 5
let ring Am7
0
strum
p
2013
2013
3
p
0
Th
p
Fsus2
1
strum
p
Gsus4
3013
3013
3
strum
sim
C
0013
0013
32013
2013
0 2
Fsus2
3
Gsus4
013
013
3
0013
0013
p
FIGURE 6
let ring Am7
0
strum
2013
p i p
0
1
2
m p
i p m p
0
31
2
3
i p
0
1
2
sim
Dadd
5
24
4030
5
3
45
03
4
0
5
3
4
=
3
3
FIGURE 7
let ring
i m p
C
1
p strum
3
3
3
p i m p
Em
2
01
2
01
3
0
p strum
0
3
0
p i a p
Am
2
00
2
00
0
5
p strum
0
5
0
p i
B add2
Tha
p
7
55
7
55
0
7
p strum
6
8
6
p i
0
8
6
0
8
6
6
1
MR MELANCHOLYThe infectious intricate fingerstyle patterns of the late great Elliott Smith
CHAPTER
2
SINGER-SONGWRITER EL-
LIOTT SMITH is perhaps best
known for his Good Will Hunting
soundtrack work The film featured five of
Smithrsquos melancholic compositions among
them ldquoMiss Miseryrdquo which earned him a
Best Original Song nomination at the 1998
Academy Awards However the creative
acoustic fingerstylist had been making
music for years prior to that hit filmmdashhis
solo output dates back to the mid Nineties
and he had earlier releases as a member of
indie-rockers Heatmiser Unfortunately
much of this music and his later workwent unnoticed by the general public
Smithrsquos brilliant career ended in 2003 with
an apparent suicide but his intensely loyal
fan base remains intact
If yoursquore searching for a ldquochord changesrdquo
role model you neednrsquot look further Smith
was a wizard at penning intricate emotional
progressions In this lesson wersquoll tackle sev-
eral different pick-hand patterns that Smith
used in his most popular songs then weave
them into some ldquoin-the-style-ofrdquo examples
that use Smith-like voicings
Letrsquos begin with Smithrsquos folk-style chord-
strumming approach In FIGURE 1 hit the
C chordrsquos root with your pick-hand thumbthen flex your index middle and ring
fingers outward so that they rake across
the guitarrsquos higher strings in a downward
strumming motion (the action should be
like opening your hand) For pick-hand
stability use a ldquoheel-downrdquo position near
the bridge almost like palm muting
FIGURE 2 employs this same approach
but using a ldquodouble strumrdquo with the index
and middle fingers strumming in an upward
motion on upbeats Getting more intricate
FIGURE 3 features quasi-Travis picking (a
somewhat country-like fingerstyle approach
named after country session musician Merle
Travis) which Smith fans may recognize asbeing similar to portions of his song ldquoAn-
gelesrdquo (from EitherOr ) Use your thumb
to sound the alternating bass notes on the
A and D strings and your middle ( m ) and
index ( i ) fingers to pluck the high E- and B-
string notes respectively FIGURE 4 mixes
up many elementsmdashldquothumpedrdquo bass notes
single notes plucked on upper strings (and
sustained throughout) and rhythmic ldquoopen-
handrdquo strums of inner strings all played
with a bouncy 16th-note swing feel This
groove is modeled after Smithrsquos playing on
ldquoHappinessrdquo
In these last few examples some of the previ-
ous one-bar patterns are put into progressions
reminiscent of Smithrsquos songs FIGURE 5 is similar
to ldquoSouthern Bellerdquo (from Elliott Smith ) and fea-
tures double strums and a melodic bass line Keep
your index finger and pinkie fretted on the top two
strings of the Am7 Fsus2 (thumb voicing) Gsus4
and C chords to maintain upper-register common-
tone ldquoear candyrdquo In FIGURE 6 yoursquoll run through
an Am7ndashDadd24 change using Smithrsquos complete
ldquoAngelesrdquo fingerstyle pattern which features ar-
peggiation (like FIGURE 3 ) along with bass-note
ldquothumpsrdquo and open-hand strums (The Smith
original uses a capo at the seventh fret and totally
different voicings) FIGURE 7 is built around an
intricate CndashEmndashAmndashBfadd2 chord pattern (note
the thumb voicing for Bfadd2) interpreted using
Smithrsquos ldquoHappinessrdquo groove
FIG 1 FIG 2
FIG 3 FIG 4
FIG 5
FIG 6
FIG 7
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 511
THE FUNKY MON K UNPLUGGEDFingerstyle techniques and ferocious strums from former Red Hot Chili Peppersguitarist John Frusciante
CHAPTER
3
JOHN FRUSCIANTE IS largely
responsible for many of the Red
Hot Chili Peppersrsquo biggest hits
over the past two decades having had a
huge hand in writing electrified smashes
like ldquoUnder the Bridgerdquo ldquoScar Tissuerdquo
ldquoCanrsquot Stoprdquo and ldquoDani Californiardquo among
others But Frusciante also has a softer
acoustic side usually reserved for his solo
output on which the guitarist gets posi-
tively ldquocosmicrdquo on his Forties- and Fifties-
era Martin 0-15s Now that Frusciante is
on his own again (his amicable departure
from the Peppers was announced in De-cember 2009 Josh Klinghoffer now holds
the RHCP guitar chair) it probably wonrsquot
be long until we bask in his unique musi-
cal glow once again For the time being
letrsquos give a nod to some of the manrsquos ldquoun-
pluggedrdquo offerings culled from his RHCP
catalogue and earlier solo work
ldquoI Could Have Liedrdquo ( Blood Sugar Sex
Magik ) is one of the Chili Peppersrsquo mellow-
est acoustic songs and features Frusciante
plucking notes on lower strings with his
thumb ( p ) and index finger ( i ) similar to
FIGURE 1 Here his use of lower pitches (in
contrast to plucking ldquobrighterrdquo high E- and
B-string notes) and the B minor tonality con-tribute to the somber mood For this passage
keep your fingers fretted as long as possible
so that tones on neighboring strings overlap
and strive for rhythmic precision with each
hammer-on (they shouldnrsquot sound faster
slower than your plucked notes)
Frusciante left the Peppers in 1992 only
to rejoin the band for 1999rsquos Californica-
tion His return brought moodier tracks
more harmonic variety funkier rock shad-
ings and other flavors including the finger-
style acoustic ditty ldquoRoad Trippinrsquordquo which
FIGURE 2 approximates Here yoursquoll want
to thumb the bass strings of Em Am7 and
B5 chords in steady quarter notes whileplucking out upper-register tones with
your middle ( m ) and index ( i ) fingers
Frusciante has an assortment of solo
albums and EPs under his belt two of
which were released during his first hiatus
from RHCP the rest were issued during
his tenure with the Chilis One acoustic
sound that surfaces often in these record-
ings particularly on the ldquountitledrdquo cuts
on 1994rsquos Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt is fingerstyle 10ths intervalsmdashtwo notes ldquo10
scale stepsrdquo apart FIGURE 3 provides a taste
with notes from C G Am and F chords Use your
thumb and index finger to pluck the low and high
notes respectively
Wersquoll close this lesson with a nod to the most
popular acoustic RHCP tune ldquoBreaking the Girlrdquo
which Frusciante performed on a Maton 12-string
acoustic This track is highlighted by percussive
strums of triad shapes shifted along the D G andB strings all voiced over the open A-string pedal
tone not unlike FIGURE 4 Before tackling the
entire passage fine-tune the first barrsquos rhythm
using alternating downup strums synchronized
to a 16th-note count (in 68) ldquoone-and two-and
three-and four-and five-and six-andrdquo striking
the strings only on the pick strokes not enclosed
in parentheses (commonly referred to as 16th-note
pendulum strumming )
p
FIGURE 1
let ring Bm
i p i
0 20
2
p
Aadd4C
i
40 4
p i
04
7
p
Em7G
i p i
0 3
0
3
p
Dadd4A
i
2
0 5
p i i
0
5
4
p
04
p
FIGURE 2
let ring
Em
2
m p
2
p i p
2
0
2
m p
2
3
p i p
2
0
i p
2
3
2
sim
Am7
0 0
3
0
1
0
B5
2
2
2
0
2
2
2
p
FIGURE 3
C
let ring
3
i p
5
3
i p
i
7
8
7 10
p sim
G
13
103
4
3
7
7
7 10
Am
12
10 5
5
5
8
9
8 12
F
14
12 1
2
1
5
5
5 8
10
8
FIGURE 4
let ring A
=
3
0222
0222
0222
= downstroke
= upstroke
sim
4222
0 0222
0222
XXX
GA
0119
10
0978
0978
DA
0978
0978
0777
XXX
Am7
0555
0555
0555
BA
7555
0 0555
0555
XXX
B
A
0444
0444
0XXX
0333
0333
0XXX
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 611
HAPPINESS IS SOME FINGERPICKIN FUNA look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
CHAPTER
4
IN THE 31 years since his pass-
ing on December 8 1980 John
Lennonrsquos legend has continued
to grow both for his contributions to the
Beatles and his accomplishments as a solo
artist Even so he is rarely singled out for
his acoustic guitar playing This is perhaps
due to the spotlight-grabbing abundance of
ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic Beatles cuts written
by Paul McCartney such as ldquoBlackbirdrdquo
ldquoYesterdayrdquo ldquoMichellerdquo and ldquoMother
Naturersquos Sonrdquo But Lennonmdashwielding his
Gibson J-160E or Martin D-28mdashis the
man behind many other Beatles acousticclassics among them ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo
ldquoJuliardquo ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo and
ldquoDear Prudencerdquo Letrsquos look at what makes
these tracks tick
Lennon used a version of Travis picking
a somewhat country-flavored fingerstyle
approach named after session musician
Merle Travis to shape much of his acoustic
output FIGURES 1A991251D deconstruct Len-
nonrsquos favorite pattern via an open C chord
beginning with bass notes to focus on the
pick-hand thumbrsquos activity ( FIGURE 1A )
With the C chord held down use your fret-
handrsquos ring finger to alternately fret C (A
string third fret) and G (low E string thirdfret) on beats one and two respectively
These notes and the E note at the second
fret on the D string (struck ldquobetweenrdquo each
bass note) are plucked with the thumb ( p )
As FIGURES 1B991251D unfold one note is add-
ed at a timemdashplucked on the high E string
with the ring finger ( a ) on the G string
with the index finger ( i ) and then on the
B string with the middle finger ( m )mdashuntil
the entire pattern is pieced together (see
FIGURE 1D )
Once you have this pattern down yoursquore
ready to tackle a host of Lennonrsquos acous-
tic Beatles songs like ldquoJuliardquo (from The
Beatles aka the White Album) whichinforms FIGURE 2 (Note Lennon used
a capo at the second fret on the origi-
nal) Written as an homage to Lennonrsquos
mother this track features C G Am7 and
Em chords each with a high G common
tone fretted with the pinkie on the high E
stringrsquos third fret Interestingly although
two of these chords G and Em have sixth-string
roots Lennon employs his ldquofifth-string-rootrdquo
pattern throughout ldquoJuliardquo As a result instead
of hitting the roots of the G and Em chords first
he sounds a different chord tone the moment thechord change occurs This creates the sound of
temporary inversions (chords with a third or fifth
in the bass)
ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo (from The Bea-
tles ) hinted at in FIGURE 3 also uses this finger-
picking approachmdashwith Em Em(add2) Am13 and
Am7 voicingsmdashas does ldquoDear Prudencerdquo
While George Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
is viewed as the pinnacle of ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic
Beatles pick-style tunes Lennonrsquos ldquoNorwegian
Woodrdquo (from Rubber Soul ) which FIGURE 4 ap-
proximates certainly isnrsquot far behind This riffmdashperformed in 68 and played with a capo at the
second fret on the originalmdashis nestled within an
open D chord shape with the fret-handrsquos pinkie
and index fingers employed to interject melody
notes Carefully study the string pairstrios shown
in the tablature and pick them using the indicated
pick strokes to best bring out the melody
p
FIGURE 1
C
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
a p
FIGURE 2
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
etc
G
2
3
00
3
0
0
Am7
0
3
22
0
1
2
Em
2
3
20
0
0
2
a p
FIGURE 3
Em
2
3
p i p
20
m p
0
0
2
etc
Em(add2)
2
2
20
0
0
2
Am13
0
2
20
0
1
2
Am7
0
0
20
0
1
2
FIGURE 4
let ring
D
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
etc
03
2
23
2
43
2
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
03
2
4X3
2
2X3
2
Csus2
02
32
32
32
32
GB A7sus4 D
3
03
X2
0X
3
0203
02
32
32
32
32
03
232
32
32
32
FIG 1A FIG 1B FIG 1C FIG 1D
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 711
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 811
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 911
PINK MOON RISINGThe unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
CHAPTER
7
THE LATE BRITISH singer-
songwritermulti-instrumentalist
Nick Drake was largely unknown
until a 1999 car commercial featuring an
acoustic-guitar-and-vocal song called
ldquoPink Moonrdquo hit the airwaves As a result
almost 30 years after his death at age 26
Drake enjoyed a resurgence
Drake arrived in the early Seventies
when psychedelic sounds and bombastic
harder rock were en vogue He was lost in
the shuffle a casualty of mismarketing and
his inability to self-promote It didnrsquot help
that he was hard to classify though influ-enced by ldquofolkiesrdquo like Bob Dylan and Bert
Jansch or that Drake had a fascination
with modal jazz that put his compositions
in a league of their own
In this Nick Drake lesson we will cover
the open tunings and inventive fingerpick-
ing patterns of fan favorites A capo is re-
quired to faithfully reproduce all examples
One of Drakersquos rare compositions in stan-
dard tuning ldquoRiver Manrdquo ( Five Leaves Left )
is a haunting atmospheric piece sweetened
with nature sounds miscellaneous noises
and an intense string arrangement all deliv-
ered in a swinging 54 groove propelled by
Drakersquos fingerpicking and colorful voicingsFIGURE 1 depicts most of the songrsquos chord
shapes and pick-hand patterns in an ldquoin the
style ofrdquo arrangement
Now letrsquos begin tinkering with tun-
ings Drop the pitch of your third string to
Fs (Drakersquos open-E9sus4 tuning ) place a
capo at the sixth fret and yoursquore ready to
tackle ldquoCello Songrdquo ( Five Leaves Left ) the
primary picking pattern of which is ap-
proximated in FIGURE 2A Paired with the
songrsquos signature Esus2 voicing this pattern
requires a relaxed pick hand and use of the
specific fingerings indicated FIGURE 2B
features another voicing used in the song
and is plucked similarlyThe title track to Pink Moon requires
you to drop or raise various string pitches
to arrive at an open Cadd4 tuning (low
to high C G C F C E) and strum with
your fingers voicings like those shown in
FIGURE 3 Tip strum all the strings with
your fingertips with the exception of
when lower strings appear by themselves
(ldquothumb strumrdquo these) groove with a very
slight 16th-note swing feel and your ldquoPink
Moonrdquo rendition will be ldquoon its wayrdquo
p
Standard tuning capo 3 All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
FIGURE 1
Aadd2
mi
p
=
3
0
0
42
p
mi
p
0
0
i p
42
2 2
p
mi
p
0 00
i
sim
Am(add2)
42
2
0
0
41
0
0
41
2 2
0 00
41
2
Gm
3
033
3
0
F
33
0 0
1 1
3
A7sus
4
21
3
0
0
04
0
0
04
2 2
0 00
04
2
p
Open E9sus4 tuning (low to high E A D F B E) capo 6 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds three whole steps higher than written
FIGURE 2a
Esus2let ring
0
p i p
22
m p
0
0
2
a p
0
0
p i p
22
m i
0
0
2
FIGURE 2b
p
Dadd
4F
Play open 3rd string 2nd time only
let ring
2
0
p i p
00
m p
2
2
0
DF
m p
2
3
p i p
Dadd
4F
00
m p
2
2
0
Open Cadd4 tuning (low to high C G C F C E) capo 2 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds a whole step higher than written
FIGURE 3 wslight 16th-note Swing
strum
wfingers ( ldquothumb strumrdquo when lower strings appear by themselves)
Glet ring
777977
777977
777977
G9sus4
777
777797
777797
777797
777
=
3
3
sim
F
777797
777797
000
000
555755
555755
555755
F9sus4
555
555575
555575
555575
555
555575
555575
000
000
C
000000
20200
0200
000
000 0
200
0200
0000
0020
0000
0200
Dm7
0000
2000
2000
0000
222000
Cadd4 Cmaj11
050000
040000
Fmaj7C
040000
020000
Cadd4 CF
020000
000000
Cadd4E C5
0
5X0000
4X0000
000
2
FIG 2A
FIG 1
FIG 3
FIG 2B
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1011
SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1111
RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 211
1 THE SOUNDS OF SIMON
A sampling of Paul Simonrsquos evocativeacoustic fretwork
2 MR MELANCHOLY
The infectious intricate fingerstyle patterns ofthe late great Elliot Smith
3 THE FUNKY MONK
UNPLUGGED
Fingerstyle techniques and ferocious strums fromformer Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante
4 HAPPINESS IS SOME
FINGERPICKING FUN
A look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
5 DREAM BROTHER
The atmospheric chordal stylings ofthe late great Jeff Buckley
6 BRAZIL NUT
The bossa nova rhythms of Antonio Carlos Jobim
7 PINK MOON RISING
The unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
8 SOMETHING IN THE WAYHE GROOVES
The acoustic artistry ofldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
9 RIGHTEOUS BABE
Fingerstyle finesse meetspunk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CONTENTS
1 THE SOUNDS OF SIMON
A sampling of Paul Simonrsquos evocativeacoustic fretwork
2 MR MELANCHOLY
The infectious intricate fingerstyle patterns ofthe late great Elliot Smith
3 THE FUNKY MONK
UNPLUGGED
Fingerstyle techniques and ferocious strums fromformer Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante
4 HAPPINESS IS SOME
FINGERPICKING FUN
A look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
5 DREAM BROTHER
The atmospheric chordal stylings ofthe late great Jeff Buckley
6 BRAZIL NUT
The bossa nova rhythms of Antonio Carlos Jobim
7 PINK MOON RISING
The unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
8 SOMETHING IN THE WAYHE GROOVES
The acoustic artistry ofldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
9 RIGHTEOUS BABE
Fingerstyle finesse meetspunk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CONTENTS
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 311
THE SOUNDS OF SIMONA sampling of Paul Simonrsquos evocative acoustic fretwork
CHAPTER
1
PAUL SIMON ROSE to fame in
the mid Sixties as a member of the
folk-rock duo Simon amp Garfunkel in
which he played acoustic guitar and shared
harmony vocal duties with collaborator Art
Garfunkel Though the pair formally split
in 1970 the timelessness of their hit songs
prompted numerous reunions most recently
in the form of an inspired performance at
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009
While Simon has released numerous solo
albums throughout his career (among them
the multi-Platinum smash Graceland ) it is
his work with Simon amp Garfunkel that per-haps best showcased his stellar guitar play-
ingmdashtasty fingerpicking passages that have
inspired singer-songwriters for decades
In this chapter wersquoll be learning how
to fingerpick Paul Simon style Letrsquos kick
things off with a passage built around an
open C chord and reminiscent of Simonrsquos
finerpicking work in ldquoThe Boxerrdquo (origi-
nally tuned down one half step) This song
is steeped in Travis picking a somewhat
country-like fingerstyle approach named
after Fifties-era country session musician
Merle Travis This first batch of figures
deconstructs this style FIGURE 1A illus-
trates the ldquobassrdquo role of the plucking handrsquosthumb ( p ) Pluck in order the fifth fourth
sixth and fourth strings in quarter notes
switch the fret handrsquos ring finger back and
forth to grab C (fifth string third fret) and G
(sixth string third fret) bass notes keeping
remaining chord tones fretted as normal
In FIGURE 1B while the thumb con-
tinues as before use your pick-hand middle
finger ( m ) to sound notes on the second
string FIGURE 1C adds the pick-hand index
finger ( i ) to the equation to sound the open
third string completing the passage
ldquoHomeward Boundrdquo (originally played
with capo III) also features the Travis
picking technique For FIGURE 2 fret anopen G chord with your ring finger on the
sixth string allow the second third and
fourth strings to ring open Master the
pattern in bar 1 first plucking with the
indicated fingers then descend the sixth
string in chromatic fashion using your fret
handrsquos middle and index fingers respec-
tively to create GFs and GF repeating
the plucking pattern in bars 2ndash3 End the
passage with a ldquostrummedrdquo E chord (rake
across strings with the ldquonail siderdquo of fingers) fol-
lowed by Am (brush strings with thumb)
Simon is also a fan of chord voicings that contain
interesting intervals namely seconds (two notes ei-
ther one half step or one whole step apart) In songs
like ldquoScarborough Fairrdquo (originally played with capo
VII) these ldquotone clustersrdquo create a more evocativesound than standard open shapes do In the ldquoScar-
borough Fairrdquo-like FIGURE 3 Dadd24 (an open C
chord shape moved up two frets) has a ldquosecondrdquo in-
terval between the notes on the middle two strings
as well as on the top two In the final bar Asus2mdasha
shape integral to Simonrsquos accompaniment in ldquoThe
Sound of Silencerdquomdashalso has a second interval be-
tween the third and second strings Bar 3 features
another hallmark of Simonrsquos style a descending
move structured from 10ths intervals (note pairs that
are 10 scale steps apart) with the open third string
plucked in between as heard similarly in ldquoAmerican
Tunerdquo and ldquoThe Boxerrdquo among others
Wersquoll close out this lesson by looking at some
hip ways Simon embellishes open G shapes in cer-
tain song intros In the opening to ldquoI Am a Rockrdquo
(originally played with capo V) he frets a G shapeusing his ring finger and pinkie for notes on the
sixth and first strings respectively This frees up
his index and middle fingers to quickly hammer-
onpull-off notes on the fourth and second strings
which FIGURE 4 similarly depicts Simon also
supercharges the intro to ldquoHomeward Boundrdquo with
tasty chord ornaments FIGURE 5 cops a similar
sound using thirds intervals (note pairs that are
three scale steps apart) along string sets 2-3 3-4
and 4-5 to impart a harmonized melody
p
FIGURE 1a
All examples played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
let ring C
3
p
2
p
CG
3
p
2
FIGURE 1b
p
Clet ring
m p
3
1
2
p
CG
m p
3
1
2
FIGURE 1c
p
Clet ring
m p i p
CG
3
1
20
m p i
3
1
20
p
FIGURE 2
G
let ring
3
p
0
p i p m sim
GF
3
00
0
2
0
GF
2
00
0
1
0
p
E
1
00
0
0
strum 02
210
0
strum 0
Am
0221
0
p
FIGURE 3
Dadd
let ring
a
24
i
5
0
p m
04
i sim
C
30
3
0
02
m p
GB
10
i m p
Am7
2
30
i m p
G
0
10
3
0
p
Asus2
a i
0
0
p
play 3 times
m
22
i p
02
0
p
FIGURE 4
let ring G
3
strum
0003
ai
ai
0003
0
0
2
1
0
0
ai
FIGURE 5
mi
Glet ring
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
mi
F
00
21
00
mi
C
mi
32
20
mi
mi
G
p strum
032 2
000
3
0003
3 6
FIG 1A FIG 1B FIG 1C
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4 FIG 5
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 411
p
FIGURE 1
All examples played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
let ring C
3
use index middle and ring fingers
strum
2013
p
3
strum
2013
FIGURE 2
p
let ring C
3
strum
p
2013
2013
3
strum
2013
2013
m p
FIGURE 3
let ring
C
i p m p
3
31
2
3
i p
3
1
2
=
3
3
FIGURE 4
i
let ring
m p
C
1
p strum
3
3
3
p i
201
201
3
1
p
FIGURE 5
let ring Am7
0
strum
p
2013
2013
3
p
0
Th
p
Fsus2
1
strum
p
Gsus4
3013
3013
3
strum
sim
C
0013
0013
32013
2013
0 2
Fsus2
3
Gsus4
013
013
3
0013
0013
p
FIGURE 6
let ring Am7
0
strum
2013
p i p
0
1
2
m p
i p m p
0
31
2
3
i p
0
1
2
sim
Dadd
5
24
4030
5
3
45
03
4
0
5
3
4
=
3
3
FIGURE 7
let ring
i m p
C
1
p strum
3
3
3
p i m p
Em
2
01
2
01
3
0
p strum
0
3
0
p i a p
Am
2
00
2
00
0
5
p strum
0
5
0
p i
B add2
Tha
p
7
55
7
55
0
7
p strum
6
8
6
p i
0
8
6
0
8
6
6
1
MR MELANCHOLYThe infectious intricate fingerstyle patterns of the late great Elliott Smith
CHAPTER
2
SINGER-SONGWRITER EL-
LIOTT SMITH is perhaps best
known for his Good Will Hunting
soundtrack work The film featured five of
Smithrsquos melancholic compositions among
them ldquoMiss Miseryrdquo which earned him a
Best Original Song nomination at the 1998
Academy Awards However the creative
acoustic fingerstylist had been making
music for years prior to that hit filmmdashhis
solo output dates back to the mid Nineties
and he had earlier releases as a member of
indie-rockers Heatmiser Unfortunately
much of this music and his later workwent unnoticed by the general public
Smithrsquos brilliant career ended in 2003 with
an apparent suicide but his intensely loyal
fan base remains intact
If yoursquore searching for a ldquochord changesrdquo
role model you neednrsquot look further Smith
was a wizard at penning intricate emotional
progressions In this lesson wersquoll tackle sev-
eral different pick-hand patterns that Smith
used in his most popular songs then weave
them into some ldquoin-the-style-ofrdquo examples
that use Smith-like voicings
Letrsquos begin with Smithrsquos folk-style chord-
strumming approach In FIGURE 1 hit the
C chordrsquos root with your pick-hand thumbthen flex your index middle and ring
fingers outward so that they rake across
the guitarrsquos higher strings in a downward
strumming motion (the action should be
like opening your hand) For pick-hand
stability use a ldquoheel-downrdquo position near
the bridge almost like palm muting
FIGURE 2 employs this same approach
but using a ldquodouble strumrdquo with the index
and middle fingers strumming in an upward
motion on upbeats Getting more intricate
FIGURE 3 features quasi-Travis picking (a
somewhat country-like fingerstyle approach
named after country session musician Merle
Travis) which Smith fans may recognize asbeing similar to portions of his song ldquoAn-
gelesrdquo (from EitherOr ) Use your thumb
to sound the alternating bass notes on the
A and D strings and your middle ( m ) and
index ( i ) fingers to pluck the high E- and B-
string notes respectively FIGURE 4 mixes
up many elementsmdashldquothumpedrdquo bass notes
single notes plucked on upper strings (and
sustained throughout) and rhythmic ldquoopen-
handrdquo strums of inner strings all played
with a bouncy 16th-note swing feel This
groove is modeled after Smithrsquos playing on
ldquoHappinessrdquo
In these last few examples some of the previ-
ous one-bar patterns are put into progressions
reminiscent of Smithrsquos songs FIGURE 5 is similar
to ldquoSouthern Bellerdquo (from Elliott Smith ) and fea-
tures double strums and a melodic bass line Keep
your index finger and pinkie fretted on the top two
strings of the Am7 Fsus2 (thumb voicing) Gsus4
and C chords to maintain upper-register common-
tone ldquoear candyrdquo In FIGURE 6 yoursquoll run through
an Am7ndashDadd24 change using Smithrsquos complete
ldquoAngelesrdquo fingerstyle pattern which features ar-
peggiation (like FIGURE 3 ) along with bass-note
ldquothumpsrdquo and open-hand strums (The Smith
original uses a capo at the seventh fret and totally
different voicings) FIGURE 7 is built around an
intricate CndashEmndashAmndashBfadd2 chord pattern (note
the thumb voicing for Bfadd2) interpreted using
Smithrsquos ldquoHappinessrdquo groove
FIG 1 FIG 2
FIG 3 FIG 4
FIG 5
FIG 6
FIG 7
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 511
THE FUNKY MON K UNPLUGGEDFingerstyle techniques and ferocious strums from former Red Hot Chili Peppersguitarist John Frusciante
CHAPTER
3
JOHN FRUSCIANTE IS largely
responsible for many of the Red
Hot Chili Peppersrsquo biggest hits
over the past two decades having had a
huge hand in writing electrified smashes
like ldquoUnder the Bridgerdquo ldquoScar Tissuerdquo
ldquoCanrsquot Stoprdquo and ldquoDani Californiardquo among
others But Frusciante also has a softer
acoustic side usually reserved for his solo
output on which the guitarist gets posi-
tively ldquocosmicrdquo on his Forties- and Fifties-
era Martin 0-15s Now that Frusciante is
on his own again (his amicable departure
from the Peppers was announced in De-cember 2009 Josh Klinghoffer now holds
the RHCP guitar chair) it probably wonrsquot
be long until we bask in his unique musi-
cal glow once again For the time being
letrsquos give a nod to some of the manrsquos ldquoun-
pluggedrdquo offerings culled from his RHCP
catalogue and earlier solo work
ldquoI Could Have Liedrdquo ( Blood Sugar Sex
Magik ) is one of the Chili Peppersrsquo mellow-
est acoustic songs and features Frusciante
plucking notes on lower strings with his
thumb ( p ) and index finger ( i ) similar to
FIGURE 1 Here his use of lower pitches (in
contrast to plucking ldquobrighterrdquo high E- and
B-string notes) and the B minor tonality con-tribute to the somber mood For this passage
keep your fingers fretted as long as possible
so that tones on neighboring strings overlap
and strive for rhythmic precision with each
hammer-on (they shouldnrsquot sound faster
slower than your plucked notes)
Frusciante left the Peppers in 1992 only
to rejoin the band for 1999rsquos Californica-
tion His return brought moodier tracks
more harmonic variety funkier rock shad-
ings and other flavors including the finger-
style acoustic ditty ldquoRoad Trippinrsquordquo which
FIGURE 2 approximates Here yoursquoll want
to thumb the bass strings of Em Am7 and
B5 chords in steady quarter notes whileplucking out upper-register tones with
your middle ( m ) and index ( i ) fingers
Frusciante has an assortment of solo
albums and EPs under his belt two of
which were released during his first hiatus
from RHCP the rest were issued during
his tenure with the Chilis One acoustic
sound that surfaces often in these record-
ings particularly on the ldquountitledrdquo cuts
on 1994rsquos Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt is fingerstyle 10ths intervalsmdashtwo notes ldquo10
scale stepsrdquo apart FIGURE 3 provides a taste
with notes from C G Am and F chords Use your
thumb and index finger to pluck the low and high
notes respectively
Wersquoll close this lesson with a nod to the most
popular acoustic RHCP tune ldquoBreaking the Girlrdquo
which Frusciante performed on a Maton 12-string
acoustic This track is highlighted by percussive
strums of triad shapes shifted along the D G andB strings all voiced over the open A-string pedal
tone not unlike FIGURE 4 Before tackling the
entire passage fine-tune the first barrsquos rhythm
using alternating downup strums synchronized
to a 16th-note count (in 68) ldquoone-and two-and
three-and four-and five-and six-andrdquo striking
the strings only on the pick strokes not enclosed
in parentheses (commonly referred to as 16th-note
pendulum strumming )
p
FIGURE 1
let ring Bm
i p i
0 20
2
p
Aadd4C
i
40 4
p i
04
7
p
Em7G
i p i
0 3
0
3
p
Dadd4A
i
2
0 5
p i i
0
5
4
p
04
p
FIGURE 2
let ring
Em
2
m p
2
p i p
2
0
2
m p
2
3
p i p
2
0
i p
2
3
2
sim
Am7
0 0
3
0
1
0
B5
2
2
2
0
2
2
2
p
FIGURE 3
C
let ring
3
i p
5
3
i p
i
7
8
7 10
p sim
G
13
103
4
3
7
7
7 10
Am
12
10 5
5
5
8
9
8 12
F
14
12 1
2
1
5
5
5 8
10
8
FIGURE 4
let ring A
=
3
0222
0222
0222
= downstroke
= upstroke
sim
4222
0 0222
0222
XXX
GA
0119
10
0978
0978
DA
0978
0978
0777
XXX
Am7
0555
0555
0555
BA
7555
0 0555
0555
XXX
B
A
0444
0444
0XXX
0333
0333
0XXX
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 611
HAPPINESS IS SOME FINGERPICKIN FUNA look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
CHAPTER
4
IN THE 31 years since his pass-
ing on December 8 1980 John
Lennonrsquos legend has continued
to grow both for his contributions to the
Beatles and his accomplishments as a solo
artist Even so he is rarely singled out for
his acoustic guitar playing This is perhaps
due to the spotlight-grabbing abundance of
ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic Beatles cuts written
by Paul McCartney such as ldquoBlackbirdrdquo
ldquoYesterdayrdquo ldquoMichellerdquo and ldquoMother
Naturersquos Sonrdquo But Lennonmdashwielding his
Gibson J-160E or Martin D-28mdashis the
man behind many other Beatles acousticclassics among them ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo
ldquoJuliardquo ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo and
ldquoDear Prudencerdquo Letrsquos look at what makes
these tracks tick
Lennon used a version of Travis picking
a somewhat country-flavored fingerstyle
approach named after session musician
Merle Travis to shape much of his acoustic
output FIGURES 1A991251D deconstruct Len-
nonrsquos favorite pattern via an open C chord
beginning with bass notes to focus on the
pick-hand thumbrsquos activity ( FIGURE 1A )
With the C chord held down use your fret-
handrsquos ring finger to alternately fret C (A
string third fret) and G (low E string thirdfret) on beats one and two respectively
These notes and the E note at the second
fret on the D string (struck ldquobetweenrdquo each
bass note) are plucked with the thumb ( p )
As FIGURES 1B991251D unfold one note is add-
ed at a timemdashplucked on the high E string
with the ring finger ( a ) on the G string
with the index finger ( i ) and then on the
B string with the middle finger ( m )mdashuntil
the entire pattern is pieced together (see
FIGURE 1D )
Once you have this pattern down yoursquore
ready to tackle a host of Lennonrsquos acous-
tic Beatles songs like ldquoJuliardquo (from The
Beatles aka the White Album) whichinforms FIGURE 2 (Note Lennon used
a capo at the second fret on the origi-
nal) Written as an homage to Lennonrsquos
mother this track features C G Am7 and
Em chords each with a high G common
tone fretted with the pinkie on the high E
stringrsquos third fret Interestingly although
two of these chords G and Em have sixth-string
roots Lennon employs his ldquofifth-string-rootrdquo
pattern throughout ldquoJuliardquo As a result instead
of hitting the roots of the G and Em chords first
he sounds a different chord tone the moment thechord change occurs This creates the sound of
temporary inversions (chords with a third or fifth
in the bass)
ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo (from The Bea-
tles ) hinted at in FIGURE 3 also uses this finger-
picking approachmdashwith Em Em(add2) Am13 and
Am7 voicingsmdashas does ldquoDear Prudencerdquo
While George Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
is viewed as the pinnacle of ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic
Beatles pick-style tunes Lennonrsquos ldquoNorwegian
Woodrdquo (from Rubber Soul ) which FIGURE 4 ap-
proximates certainly isnrsquot far behind This riffmdashperformed in 68 and played with a capo at the
second fret on the originalmdashis nestled within an
open D chord shape with the fret-handrsquos pinkie
and index fingers employed to interject melody
notes Carefully study the string pairstrios shown
in the tablature and pick them using the indicated
pick strokes to best bring out the melody
p
FIGURE 1
C
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
a p
FIGURE 2
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
etc
G
2
3
00
3
0
0
Am7
0
3
22
0
1
2
Em
2
3
20
0
0
2
a p
FIGURE 3
Em
2
3
p i p
20
m p
0
0
2
etc
Em(add2)
2
2
20
0
0
2
Am13
0
2
20
0
1
2
Am7
0
0
20
0
1
2
FIGURE 4
let ring
D
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
etc
03
2
23
2
43
2
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
03
2
4X3
2
2X3
2
Csus2
02
32
32
32
32
GB A7sus4 D
3
03
X2
0X
3
0203
02
32
32
32
32
03
232
32
32
32
FIG 1A FIG 1B FIG 1C FIG 1D
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
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7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 811
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
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PINK MOON RISINGThe unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
CHAPTER
7
THE LATE BRITISH singer-
songwritermulti-instrumentalist
Nick Drake was largely unknown
until a 1999 car commercial featuring an
acoustic-guitar-and-vocal song called
ldquoPink Moonrdquo hit the airwaves As a result
almost 30 years after his death at age 26
Drake enjoyed a resurgence
Drake arrived in the early Seventies
when psychedelic sounds and bombastic
harder rock were en vogue He was lost in
the shuffle a casualty of mismarketing and
his inability to self-promote It didnrsquot help
that he was hard to classify though influ-enced by ldquofolkiesrdquo like Bob Dylan and Bert
Jansch or that Drake had a fascination
with modal jazz that put his compositions
in a league of their own
In this Nick Drake lesson we will cover
the open tunings and inventive fingerpick-
ing patterns of fan favorites A capo is re-
quired to faithfully reproduce all examples
One of Drakersquos rare compositions in stan-
dard tuning ldquoRiver Manrdquo ( Five Leaves Left )
is a haunting atmospheric piece sweetened
with nature sounds miscellaneous noises
and an intense string arrangement all deliv-
ered in a swinging 54 groove propelled by
Drakersquos fingerpicking and colorful voicingsFIGURE 1 depicts most of the songrsquos chord
shapes and pick-hand patterns in an ldquoin the
style ofrdquo arrangement
Now letrsquos begin tinkering with tun-
ings Drop the pitch of your third string to
Fs (Drakersquos open-E9sus4 tuning ) place a
capo at the sixth fret and yoursquore ready to
tackle ldquoCello Songrdquo ( Five Leaves Left ) the
primary picking pattern of which is ap-
proximated in FIGURE 2A Paired with the
songrsquos signature Esus2 voicing this pattern
requires a relaxed pick hand and use of the
specific fingerings indicated FIGURE 2B
features another voicing used in the song
and is plucked similarlyThe title track to Pink Moon requires
you to drop or raise various string pitches
to arrive at an open Cadd4 tuning (low
to high C G C F C E) and strum with
your fingers voicings like those shown in
FIGURE 3 Tip strum all the strings with
your fingertips with the exception of
when lower strings appear by themselves
(ldquothumb strumrdquo these) groove with a very
slight 16th-note swing feel and your ldquoPink
Moonrdquo rendition will be ldquoon its wayrdquo
p
Standard tuning capo 3 All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
FIGURE 1
Aadd2
mi
p
=
3
0
0
42
p
mi
p
0
0
i p
42
2 2
p
mi
p
0 00
i
sim
Am(add2)
42
2
0
0
41
0
0
41
2 2
0 00
41
2
Gm
3
033
3
0
F
33
0 0
1 1
3
A7sus
4
21
3
0
0
04
0
0
04
2 2
0 00
04
2
p
Open E9sus4 tuning (low to high E A D F B E) capo 6 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds three whole steps higher than written
FIGURE 2a
Esus2let ring
0
p i p
22
m p
0
0
2
a p
0
0
p i p
22
m i
0
0
2
FIGURE 2b
p
Dadd
4F
Play open 3rd string 2nd time only
let ring
2
0
p i p
00
m p
2
2
0
DF
m p
2
3
p i p
Dadd
4F
00
m p
2
2
0
Open Cadd4 tuning (low to high C G C F C E) capo 2 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds a whole step higher than written
FIGURE 3 wslight 16th-note Swing
strum
wfingers ( ldquothumb strumrdquo when lower strings appear by themselves)
Glet ring
777977
777977
777977
G9sus4
777
777797
777797
777797
777
=
3
3
sim
F
777797
777797
000
000
555755
555755
555755
F9sus4
555
555575
555575
555575
555
555575
555575
000
000
C
000000
20200
0200
000
000 0
200
0200
0000
0020
0000
0200
Dm7
0000
2000
2000
0000
222000
Cadd4 Cmaj11
050000
040000
Fmaj7C
040000
020000
Cadd4 CF
020000
000000
Cadd4E C5
0
5X0000
4X0000
000
2
FIG 2A
FIG 1
FIG 3
FIG 2B
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SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
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RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 311
THE SOUNDS OF SIMONA sampling of Paul Simonrsquos evocative acoustic fretwork
CHAPTER
1
PAUL SIMON ROSE to fame in
the mid Sixties as a member of the
folk-rock duo Simon amp Garfunkel in
which he played acoustic guitar and shared
harmony vocal duties with collaborator Art
Garfunkel Though the pair formally split
in 1970 the timelessness of their hit songs
prompted numerous reunions most recently
in the form of an inspired performance at
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009
While Simon has released numerous solo
albums throughout his career (among them
the multi-Platinum smash Graceland ) it is
his work with Simon amp Garfunkel that per-haps best showcased his stellar guitar play-
ingmdashtasty fingerpicking passages that have
inspired singer-songwriters for decades
In this chapter wersquoll be learning how
to fingerpick Paul Simon style Letrsquos kick
things off with a passage built around an
open C chord and reminiscent of Simonrsquos
finerpicking work in ldquoThe Boxerrdquo (origi-
nally tuned down one half step) This song
is steeped in Travis picking a somewhat
country-like fingerstyle approach named
after Fifties-era country session musician
Merle Travis This first batch of figures
deconstructs this style FIGURE 1A illus-
trates the ldquobassrdquo role of the plucking handrsquosthumb ( p ) Pluck in order the fifth fourth
sixth and fourth strings in quarter notes
switch the fret handrsquos ring finger back and
forth to grab C (fifth string third fret) and G
(sixth string third fret) bass notes keeping
remaining chord tones fretted as normal
In FIGURE 1B while the thumb con-
tinues as before use your pick-hand middle
finger ( m ) to sound notes on the second
string FIGURE 1C adds the pick-hand index
finger ( i ) to the equation to sound the open
third string completing the passage
ldquoHomeward Boundrdquo (originally played
with capo III) also features the Travis
picking technique For FIGURE 2 fret anopen G chord with your ring finger on the
sixth string allow the second third and
fourth strings to ring open Master the
pattern in bar 1 first plucking with the
indicated fingers then descend the sixth
string in chromatic fashion using your fret
handrsquos middle and index fingers respec-
tively to create GFs and GF repeating
the plucking pattern in bars 2ndash3 End the
passage with a ldquostrummedrdquo E chord (rake
across strings with the ldquonail siderdquo of fingers) fol-
lowed by Am (brush strings with thumb)
Simon is also a fan of chord voicings that contain
interesting intervals namely seconds (two notes ei-
ther one half step or one whole step apart) In songs
like ldquoScarborough Fairrdquo (originally played with capo
VII) these ldquotone clustersrdquo create a more evocativesound than standard open shapes do In the ldquoScar-
borough Fairrdquo-like FIGURE 3 Dadd24 (an open C
chord shape moved up two frets) has a ldquosecondrdquo in-
terval between the notes on the middle two strings
as well as on the top two In the final bar Asus2mdasha
shape integral to Simonrsquos accompaniment in ldquoThe
Sound of Silencerdquomdashalso has a second interval be-
tween the third and second strings Bar 3 features
another hallmark of Simonrsquos style a descending
move structured from 10ths intervals (note pairs that
are 10 scale steps apart) with the open third string
plucked in between as heard similarly in ldquoAmerican
Tunerdquo and ldquoThe Boxerrdquo among others
Wersquoll close out this lesson by looking at some
hip ways Simon embellishes open G shapes in cer-
tain song intros In the opening to ldquoI Am a Rockrdquo
(originally played with capo V) he frets a G shapeusing his ring finger and pinkie for notes on the
sixth and first strings respectively This frees up
his index and middle fingers to quickly hammer-
onpull-off notes on the fourth and second strings
which FIGURE 4 similarly depicts Simon also
supercharges the intro to ldquoHomeward Boundrdquo with
tasty chord ornaments FIGURE 5 cops a similar
sound using thirds intervals (note pairs that are
three scale steps apart) along string sets 2-3 3-4
and 4-5 to impart a harmonized melody
p
FIGURE 1a
All examples played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
let ring C
3
p
2
p
CG
3
p
2
FIGURE 1b
p
Clet ring
m p
3
1
2
p
CG
m p
3
1
2
FIGURE 1c
p
Clet ring
m p i p
CG
3
1
20
m p i
3
1
20
p
FIGURE 2
G
let ring
3
p
0
p i p m sim
GF
3
00
0
2
0
GF
2
00
0
1
0
p
E
1
00
0
0
strum 02
210
0
strum 0
Am
0221
0
p
FIGURE 3
Dadd
let ring
a
24
i
5
0
p m
04
i sim
C
30
3
0
02
m p
GB
10
i m p
Am7
2
30
i m p
G
0
10
3
0
p
Asus2
a i
0
0
p
play 3 times
m
22
i p
02
0
p
FIGURE 4
let ring G
3
strum
0003
ai
ai
0003
0
0
2
1
0
0
ai
FIGURE 5
mi
Glet ring
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
mi
F
00
21
00
mi
C
mi
32
20
mi
mi
G
p strum
032 2
000
3
0003
3 6
FIG 1A FIG 1B FIG 1C
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4 FIG 5
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 411
p
FIGURE 1
All examples played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
let ring C
3
use index middle and ring fingers
strum
2013
p
3
strum
2013
FIGURE 2
p
let ring C
3
strum
p
2013
2013
3
strum
2013
2013
m p
FIGURE 3
let ring
C
i p m p
3
31
2
3
i p
3
1
2
=
3
3
FIGURE 4
i
let ring
m p
C
1
p strum
3
3
3
p i
201
201
3
1
p
FIGURE 5
let ring Am7
0
strum
p
2013
2013
3
p
0
Th
p
Fsus2
1
strum
p
Gsus4
3013
3013
3
strum
sim
C
0013
0013
32013
2013
0 2
Fsus2
3
Gsus4
013
013
3
0013
0013
p
FIGURE 6
let ring Am7
0
strum
2013
p i p
0
1
2
m p
i p m p
0
31
2
3
i p
0
1
2
sim
Dadd
5
24
4030
5
3
45
03
4
0
5
3
4
=
3
3
FIGURE 7
let ring
i m p
C
1
p strum
3
3
3
p i m p
Em
2
01
2
01
3
0
p strum
0
3
0
p i a p
Am
2
00
2
00
0
5
p strum
0
5
0
p i
B add2
Tha
p
7
55
7
55
0
7
p strum
6
8
6
p i
0
8
6
0
8
6
6
1
MR MELANCHOLYThe infectious intricate fingerstyle patterns of the late great Elliott Smith
CHAPTER
2
SINGER-SONGWRITER EL-
LIOTT SMITH is perhaps best
known for his Good Will Hunting
soundtrack work The film featured five of
Smithrsquos melancholic compositions among
them ldquoMiss Miseryrdquo which earned him a
Best Original Song nomination at the 1998
Academy Awards However the creative
acoustic fingerstylist had been making
music for years prior to that hit filmmdashhis
solo output dates back to the mid Nineties
and he had earlier releases as a member of
indie-rockers Heatmiser Unfortunately
much of this music and his later workwent unnoticed by the general public
Smithrsquos brilliant career ended in 2003 with
an apparent suicide but his intensely loyal
fan base remains intact
If yoursquore searching for a ldquochord changesrdquo
role model you neednrsquot look further Smith
was a wizard at penning intricate emotional
progressions In this lesson wersquoll tackle sev-
eral different pick-hand patterns that Smith
used in his most popular songs then weave
them into some ldquoin-the-style-ofrdquo examples
that use Smith-like voicings
Letrsquos begin with Smithrsquos folk-style chord-
strumming approach In FIGURE 1 hit the
C chordrsquos root with your pick-hand thumbthen flex your index middle and ring
fingers outward so that they rake across
the guitarrsquos higher strings in a downward
strumming motion (the action should be
like opening your hand) For pick-hand
stability use a ldquoheel-downrdquo position near
the bridge almost like palm muting
FIGURE 2 employs this same approach
but using a ldquodouble strumrdquo with the index
and middle fingers strumming in an upward
motion on upbeats Getting more intricate
FIGURE 3 features quasi-Travis picking (a
somewhat country-like fingerstyle approach
named after country session musician Merle
Travis) which Smith fans may recognize asbeing similar to portions of his song ldquoAn-
gelesrdquo (from EitherOr ) Use your thumb
to sound the alternating bass notes on the
A and D strings and your middle ( m ) and
index ( i ) fingers to pluck the high E- and B-
string notes respectively FIGURE 4 mixes
up many elementsmdashldquothumpedrdquo bass notes
single notes plucked on upper strings (and
sustained throughout) and rhythmic ldquoopen-
handrdquo strums of inner strings all played
with a bouncy 16th-note swing feel This
groove is modeled after Smithrsquos playing on
ldquoHappinessrdquo
In these last few examples some of the previ-
ous one-bar patterns are put into progressions
reminiscent of Smithrsquos songs FIGURE 5 is similar
to ldquoSouthern Bellerdquo (from Elliott Smith ) and fea-
tures double strums and a melodic bass line Keep
your index finger and pinkie fretted on the top two
strings of the Am7 Fsus2 (thumb voicing) Gsus4
and C chords to maintain upper-register common-
tone ldquoear candyrdquo In FIGURE 6 yoursquoll run through
an Am7ndashDadd24 change using Smithrsquos complete
ldquoAngelesrdquo fingerstyle pattern which features ar-
peggiation (like FIGURE 3 ) along with bass-note
ldquothumpsrdquo and open-hand strums (The Smith
original uses a capo at the seventh fret and totally
different voicings) FIGURE 7 is built around an
intricate CndashEmndashAmndashBfadd2 chord pattern (note
the thumb voicing for Bfadd2) interpreted using
Smithrsquos ldquoHappinessrdquo groove
FIG 1 FIG 2
FIG 3 FIG 4
FIG 5
FIG 6
FIG 7
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 511
THE FUNKY MON K UNPLUGGEDFingerstyle techniques and ferocious strums from former Red Hot Chili Peppersguitarist John Frusciante
CHAPTER
3
JOHN FRUSCIANTE IS largely
responsible for many of the Red
Hot Chili Peppersrsquo biggest hits
over the past two decades having had a
huge hand in writing electrified smashes
like ldquoUnder the Bridgerdquo ldquoScar Tissuerdquo
ldquoCanrsquot Stoprdquo and ldquoDani Californiardquo among
others But Frusciante also has a softer
acoustic side usually reserved for his solo
output on which the guitarist gets posi-
tively ldquocosmicrdquo on his Forties- and Fifties-
era Martin 0-15s Now that Frusciante is
on his own again (his amicable departure
from the Peppers was announced in De-cember 2009 Josh Klinghoffer now holds
the RHCP guitar chair) it probably wonrsquot
be long until we bask in his unique musi-
cal glow once again For the time being
letrsquos give a nod to some of the manrsquos ldquoun-
pluggedrdquo offerings culled from his RHCP
catalogue and earlier solo work
ldquoI Could Have Liedrdquo ( Blood Sugar Sex
Magik ) is one of the Chili Peppersrsquo mellow-
est acoustic songs and features Frusciante
plucking notes on lower strings with his
thumb ( p ) and index finger ( i ) similar to
FIGURE 1 Here his use of lower pitches (in
contrast to plucking ldquobrighterrdquo high E- and
B-string notes) and the B minor tonality con-tribute to the somber mood For this passage
keep your fingers fretted as long as possible
so that tones on neighboring strings overlap
and strive for rhythmic precision with each
hammer-on (they shouldnrsquot sound faster
slower than your plucked notes)
Frusciante left the Peppers in 1992 only
to rejoin the band for 1999rsquos Californica-
tion His return brought moodier tracks
more harmonic variety funkier rock shad-
ings and other flavors including the finger-
style acoustic ditty ldquoRoad Trippinrsquordquo which
FIGURE 2 approximates Here yoursquoll want
to thumb the bass strings of Em Am7 and
B5 chords in steady quarter notes whileplucking out upper-register tones with
your middle ( m ) and index ( i ) fingers
Frusciante has an assortment of solo
albums and EPs under his belt two of
which were released during his first hiatus
from RHCP the rest were issued during
his tenure with the Chilis One acoustic
sound that surfaces often in these record-
ings particularly on the ldquountitledrdquo cuts
on 1994rsquos Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt is fingerstyle 10ths intervalsmdashtwo notes ldquo10
scale stepsrdquo apart FIGURE 3 provides a taste
with notes from C G Am and F chords Use your
thumb and index finger to pluck the low and high
notes respectively
Wersquoll close this lesson with a nod to the most
popular acoustic RHCP tune ldquoBreaking the Girlrdquo
which Frusciante performed on a Maton 12-string
acoustic This track is highlighted by percussive
strums of triad shapes shifted along the D G andB strings all voiced over the open A-string pedal
tone not unlike FIGURE 4 Before tackling the
entire passage fine-tune the first barrsquos rhythm
using alternating downup strums synchronized
to a 16th-note count (in 68) ldquoone-and two-and
three-and four-and five-and six-andrdquo striking
the strings only on the pick strokes not enclosed
in parentheses (commonly referred to as 16th-note
pendulum strumming )
p
FIGURE 1
let ring Bm
i p i
0 20
2
p
Aadd4C
i
40 4
p i
04
7
p
Em7G
i p i
0 3
0
3
p
Dadd4A
i
2
0 5
p i i
0
5
4
p
04
p
FIGURE 2
let ring
Em
2
m p
2
p i p
2
0
2
m p
2
3
p i p
2
0
i p
2
3
2
sim
Am7
0 0
3
0
1
0
B5
2
2
2
0
2
2
2
p
FIGURE 3
C
let ring
3
i p
5
3
i p
i
7
8
7 10
p sim
G
13
103
4
3
7
7
7 10
Am
12
10 5
5
5
8
9
8 12
F
14
12 1
2
1
5
5
5 8
10
8
FIGURE 4
let ring A
=
3
0222
0222
0222
= downstroke
= upstroke
sim
4222
0 0222
0222
XXX
GA
0119
10
0978
0978
DA
0978
0978
0777
XXX
Am7
0555
0555
0555
BA
7555
0 0555
0555
XXX
B
A
0444
0444
0XXX
0333
0333
0XXX
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 611
HAPPINESS IS SOME FINGERPICKIN FUNA look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
CHAPTER
4
IN THE 31 years since his pass-
ing on December 8 1980 John
Lennonrsquos legend has continued
to grow both for his contributions to the
Beatles and his accomplishments as a solo
artist Even so he is rarely singled out for
his acoustic guitar playing This is perhaps
due to the spotlight-grabbing abundance of
ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic Beatles cuts written
by Paul McCartney such as ldquoBlackbirdrdquo
ldquoYesterdayrdquo ldquoMichellerdquo and ldquoMother
Naturersquos Sonrdquo But Lennonmdashwielding his
Gibson J-160E or Martin D-28mdashis the
man behind many other Beatles acousticclassics among them ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo
ldquoJuliardquo ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo and
ldquoDear Prudencerdquo Letrsquos look at what makes
these tracks tick
Lennon used a version of Travis picking
a somewhat country-flavored fingerstyle
approach named after session musician
Merle Travis to shape much of his acoustic
output FIGURES 1A991251D deconstruct Len-
nonrsquos favorite pattern via an open C chord
beginning with bass notes to focus on the
pick-hand thumbrsquos activity ( FIGURE 1A )
With the C chord held down use your fret-
handrsquos ring finger to alternately fret C (A
string third fret) and G (low E string thirdfret) on beats one and two respectively
These notes and the E note at the second
fret on the D string (struck ldquobetweenrdquo each
bass note) are plucked with the thumb ( p )
As FIGURES 1B991251D unfold one note is add-
ed at a timemdashplucked on the high E string
with the ring finger ( a ) on the G string
with the index finger ( i ) and then on the
B string with the middle finger ( m )mdashuntil
the entire pattern is pieced together (see
FIGURE 1D )
Once you have this pattern down yoursquore
ready to tackle a host of Lennonrsquos acous-
tic Beatles songs like ldquoJuliardquo (from The
Beatles aka the White Album) whichinforms FIGURE 2 (Note Lennon used
a capo at the second fret on the origi-
nal) Written as an homage to Lennonrsquos
mother this track features C G Am7 and
Em chords each with a high G common
tone fretted with the pinkie on the high E
stringrsquos third fret Interestingly although
two of these chords G and Em have sixth-string
roots Lennon employs his ldquofifth-string-rootrdquo
pattern throughout ldquoJuliardquo As a result instead
of hitting the roots of the G and Em chords first
he sounds a different chord tone the moment thechord change occurs This creates the sound of
temporary inversions (chords with a third or fifth
in the bass)
ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo (from The Bea-
tles ) hinted at in FIGURE 3 also uses this finger-
picking approachmdashwith Em Em(add2) Am13 and
Am7 voicingsmdashas does ldquoDear Prudencerdquo
While George Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
is viewed as the pinnacle of ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic
Beatles pick-style tunes Lennonrsquos ldquoNorwegian
Woodrdquo (from Rubber Soul ) which FIGURE 4 ap-
proximates certainly isnrsquot far behind This riffmdashperformed in 68 and played with a capo at the
second fret on the originalmdashis nestled within an
open D chord shape with the fret-handrsquos pinkie
and index fingers employed to interject melody
notes Carefully study the string pairstrios shown
in the tablature and pick them using the indicated
pick strokes to best bring out the melody
p
FIGURE 1
C
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
a p
FIGURE 2
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
etc
G
2
3
00
3
0
0
Am7
0
3
22
0
1
2
Em
2
3
20
0
0
2
a p
FIGURE 3
Em
2
3
p i p
20
m p
0
0
2
etc
Em(add2)
2
2
20
0
0
2
Am13
0
2
20
0
1
2
Am7
0
0
20
0
1
2
FIGURE 4
let ring
D
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
etc
03
2
23
2
43
2
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
03
2
4X3
2
2X3
2
Csus2
02
32
32
32
32
GB A7sus4 D
3
03
X2
0X
3
0203
02
32
32
32
32
03
232
32
32
32
FIG 1A FIG 1B FIG 1C FIG 1D
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 711
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 811
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 911
PINK MOON RISINGThe unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
CHAPTER
7
THE LATE BRITISH singer-
songwritermulti-instrumentalist
Nick Drake was largely unknown
until a 1999 car commercial featuring an
acoustic-guitar-and-vocal song called
ldquoPink Moonrdquo hit the airwaves As a result
almost 30 years after his death at age 26
Drake enjoyed a resurgence
Drake arrived in the early Seventies
when psychedelic sounds and bombastic
harder rock were en vogue He was lost in
the shuffle a casualty of mismarketing and
his inability to self-promote It didnrsquot help
that he was hard to classify though influ-enced by ldquofolkiesrdquo like Bob Dylan and Bert
Jansch or that Drake had a fascination
with modal jazz that put his compositions
in a league of their own
In this Nick Drake lesson we will cover
the open tunings and inventive fingerpick-
ing patterns of fan favorites A capo is re-
quired to faithfully reproduce all examples
One of Drakersquos rare compositions in stan-
dard tuning ldquoRiver Manrdquo ( Five Leaves Left )
is a haunting atmospheric piece sweetened
with nature sounds miscellaneous noises
and an intense string arrangement all deliv-
ered in a swinging 54 groove propelled by
Drakersquos fingerpicking and colorful voicingsFIGURE 1 depicts most of the songrsquos chord
shapes and pick-hand patterns in an ldquoin the
style ofrdquo arrangement
Now letrsquos begin tinkering with tun-
ings Drop the pitch of your third string to
Fs (Drakersquos open-E9sus4 tuning ) place a
capo at the sixth fret and yoursquore ready to
tackle ldquoCello Songrdquo ( Five Leaves Left ) the
primary picking pattern of which is ap-
proximated in FIGURE 2A Paired with the
songrsquos signature Esus2 voicing this pattern
requires a relaxed pick hand and use of the
specific fingerings indicated FIGURE 2B
features another voicing used in the song
and is plucked similarlyThe title track to Pink Moon requires
you to drop or raise various string pitches
to arrive at an open Cadd4 tuning (low
to high C G C F C E) and strum with
your fingers voicings like those shown in
FIGURE 3 Tip strum all the strings with
your fingertips with the exception of
when lower strings appear by themselves
(ldquothumb strumrdquo these) groove with a very
slight 16th-note swing feel and your ldquoPink
Moonrdquo rendition will be ldquoon its wayrdquo
p
Standard tuning capo 3 All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
FIGURE 1
Aadd2
mi
p
=
3
0
0
42
p
mi
p
0
0
i p
42
2 2
p
mi
p
0 00
i
sim
Am(add2)
42
2
0
0
41
0
0
41
2 2
0 00
41
2
Gm
3
033
3
0
F
33
0 0
1 1
3
A7sus
4
21
3
0
0
04
0
0
04
2 2
0 00
04
2
p
Open E9sus4 tuning (low to high E A D F B E) capo 6 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds three whole steps higher than written
FIGURE 2a
Esus2let ring
0
p i p
22
m p
0
0
2
a p
0
0
p i p
22
m i
0
0
2
FIGURE 2b
p
Dadd
4F
Play open 3rd string 2nd time only
let ring
2
0
p i p
00
m p
2
2
0
DF
m p
2
3
p i p
Dadd
4F
00
m p
2
2
0
Open Cadd4 tuning (low to high C G C F C E) capo 2 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds a whole step higher than written
FIGURE 3 wslight 16th-note Swing
strum
wfingers ( ldquothumb strumrdquo when lower strings appear by themselves)
Glet ring
777977
777977
777977
G9sus4
777
777797
777797
777797
777
=
3
3
sim
F
777797
777797
000
000
555755
555755
555755
F9sus4
555
555575
555575
555575
555
555575
555575
000
000
C
000000
20200
0200
000
000 0
200
0200
0000
0020
0000
0200
Dm7
0000
2000
2000
0000
222000
Cadd4 Cmaj11
050000
040000
Fmaj7C
040000
020000
Cadd4 CF
020000
000000
Cadd4E C5
0
5X0000
4X0000
000
2
FIG 2A
FIG 1
FIG 3
FIG 2B
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1011
SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1111
RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 411
p
FIGURE 1
All examples played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
let ring C
3
use index middle and ring fingers
strum
2013
p
3
strum
2013
FIGURE 2
p
let ring C
3
strum
p
2013
2013
3
strum
2013
2013
m p
FIGURE 3
let ring
C
i p m p
3
31
2
3
i p
3
1
2
=
3
3
FIGURE 4
i
let ring
m p
C
1
p strum
3
3
3
p i
201
201
3
1
p
FIGURE 5
let ring Am7
0
strum
p
2013
2013
3
p
0
Th
p
Fsus2
1
strum
p
Gsus4
3013
3013
3
strum
sim
C
0013
0013
32013
2013
0 2
Fsus2
3
Gsus4
013
013
3
0013
0013
p
FIGURE 6
let ring Am7
0
strum
2013
p i p
0
1
2
m p
i p m p
0
31
2
3
i p
0
1
2
sim
Dadd
5
24
4030
5
3
45
03
4
0
5
3
4
=
3
3
FIGURE 7
let ring
i m p
C
1
p strum
3
3
3
p i m p
Em
2
01
2
01
3
0
p strum
0
3
0
p i a p
Am
2
00
2
00
0
5
p strum
0
5
0
p i
B add2
Tha
p
7
55
7
55
0
7
p strum
6
8
6
p i
0
8
6
0
8
6
6
1
MR MELANCHOLYThe infectious intricate fingerstyle patterns of the late great Elliott Smith
CHAPTER
2
SINGER-SONGWRITER EL-
LIOTT SMITH is perhaps best
known for his Good Will Hunting
soundtrack work The film featured five of
Smithrsquos melancholic compositions among
them ldquoMiss Miseryrdquo which earned him a
Best Original Song nomination at the 1998
Academy Awards However the creative
acoustic fingerstylist had been making
music for years prior to that hit filmmdashhis
solo output dates back to the mid Nineties
and he had earlier releases as a member of
indie-rockers Heatmiser Unfortunately
much of this music and his later workwent unnoticed by the general public
Smithrsquos brilliant career ended in 2003 with
an apparent suicide but his intensely loyal
fan base remains intact
If yoursquore searching for a ldquochord changesrdquo
role model you neednrsquot look further Smith
was a wizard at penning intricate emotional
progressions In this lesson wersquoll tackle sev-
eral different pick-hand patterns that Smith
used in his most popular songs then weave
them into some ldquoin-the-style-ofrdquo examples
that use Smith-like voicings
Letrsquos begin with Smithrsquos folk-style chord-
strumming approach In FIGURE 1 hit the
C chordrsquos root with your pick-hand thumbthen flex your index middle and ring
fingers outward so that they rake across
the guitarrsquos higher strings in a downward
strumming motion (the action should be
like opening your hand) For pick-hand
stability use a ldquoheel-downrdquo position near
the bridge almost like palm muting
FIGURE 2 employs this same approach
but using a ldquodouble strumrdquo with the index
and middle fingers strumming in an upward
motion on upbeats Getting more intricate
FIGURE 3 features quasi-Travis picking (a
somewhat country-like fingerstyle approach
named after country session musician Merle
Travis) which Smith fans may recognize asbeing similar to portions of his song ldquoAn-
gelesrdquo (from EitherOr ) Use your thumb
to sound the alternating bass notes on the
A and D strings and your middle ( m ) and
index ( i ) fingers to pluck the high E- and B-
string notes respectively FIGURE 4 mixes
up many elementsmdashldquothumpedrdquo bass notes
single notes plucked on upper strings (and
sustained throughout) and rhythmic ldquoopen-
handrdquo strums of inner strings all played
with a bouncy 16th-note swing feel This
groove is modeled after Smithrsquos playing on
ldquoHappinessrdquo
In these last few examples some of the previ-
ous one-bar patterns are put into progressions
reminiscent of Smithrsquos songs FIGURE 5 is similar
to ldquoSouthern Bellerdquo (from Elliott Smith ) and fea-
tures double strums and a melodic bass line Keep
your index finger and pinkie fretted on the top two
strings of the Am7 Fsus2 (thumb voicing) Gsus4
and C chords to maintain upper-register common-
tone ldquoear candyrdquo In FIGURE 6 yoursquoll run through
an Am7ndashDadd24 change using Smithrsquos complete
ldquoAngelesrdquo fingerstyle pattern which features ar-
peggiation (like FIGURE 3 ) along with bass-note
ldquothumpsrdquo and open-hand strums (The Smith
original uses a capo at the seventh fret and totally
different voicings) FIGURE 7 is built around an
intricate CndashEmndashAmndashBfadd2 chord pattern (note
the thumb voicing for Bfadd2) interpreted using
Smithrsquos ldquoHappinessrdquo groove
FIG 1 FIG 2
FIG 3 FIG 4
FIG 5
FIG 6
FIG 7
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 511
THE FUNKY MON K UNPLUGGEDFingerstyle techniques and ferocious strums from former Red Hot Chili Peppersguitarist John Frusciante
CHAPTER
3
JOHN FRUSCIANTE IS largely
responsible for many of the Red
Hot Chili Peppersrsquo biggest hits
over the past two decades having had a
huge hand in writing electrified smashes
like ldquoUnder the Bridgerdquo ldquoScar Tissuerdquo
ldquoCanrsquot Stoprdquo and ldquoDani Californiardquo among
others But Frusciante also has a softer
acoustic side usually reserved for his solo
output on which the guitarist gets posi-
tively ldquocosmicrdquo on his Forties- and Fifties-
era Martin 0-15s Now that Frusciante is
on his own again (his amicable departure
from the Peppers was announced in De-cember 2009 Josh Klinghoffer now holds
the RHCP guitar chair) it probably wonrsquot
be long until we bask in his unique musi-
cal glow once again For the time being
letrsquos give a nod to some of the manrsquos ldquoun-
pluggedrdquo offerings culled from his RHCP
catalogue and earlier solo work
ldquoI Could Have Liedrdquo ( Blood Sugar Sex
Magik ) is one of the Chili Peppersrsquo mellow-
est acoustic songs and features Frusciante
plucking notes on lower strings with his
thumb ( p ) and index finger ( i ) similar to
FIGURE 1 Here his use of lower pitches (in
contrast to plucking ldquobrighterrdquo high E- and
B-string notes) and the B minor tonality con-tribute to the somber mood For this passage
keep your fingers fretted as long as possible
so that tones on neighboring strings overlap
and strive for rhythmic precision with each
hammer-on (they shouldnrsquot sound faster
slower than your plucked notes)
Frusciante left the Peppers in 1992 only
to rejoin the band for 1999rsquos Californica-
tion His return brought moodier tracks
more harmonic variety funkier rock shad-
ings and other flavors including the finger-
style acoustic ditty ldquoRoad Trippinrsquordquo which
FIGURE 2 approximates Here yoursquoll want
to thumb the bass strings of Em Am7 and
B5 chords in steady quarter notes whileplucking out upper-register tones with
your middle ( m ) and index ( i ) fingers
Frusciante has an assortment of solo
albums and EPs under his belt two of
which were released during his first hiatus
from RHCP the rest were issued during
his tenure with the Chilis One acoustic
sound that surfaces often in these record-
ings particularly on the ldquountitledrdquo cuts
on 1994rsquos Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt is fingerstyle 10ths intervalsmdashtwo notes ldquo10
scale stepsrdquo apart FIGURE 3 provides a taste
with notes from C G Am and F chords Use your
thumb and index finger to pluck the low and high
notes respectively
Wersquoll close this lesson with a nod to the most
popular acoustic RHCP tune ldquoBreaking the Girlrdquo
which Frusciante performed on a Maton 12-string
acoustic This track is highlighted by percussive
strums of triad shapes shifted along the D G andB strings all voiced over the open A-string pedal
tone not unlike FIGURE 4 Before tackling the
entire passage fine-tune the first barrsquos rhythm
using alternating downup strums synchronized
to a 16th-note count (in 68) ldquoone-and two-and
three-and four-and five-and six-andrdquo striking
the strings only on the pick strokes not enclosed
in parentheses (commonly referred to as 16th-note
pendulum strumming )
p
FIGURE 1
let ring Bm
i p i
0 20
2
p
Aadd4C
i
40 4
p i
04
7
p
Em7G
i p i
0 3
0
3
p
Dadd4A
i
2
0 5
p i i
0
5
4
p
04
p
FIGURE 2
let ring
Em
2
m p
2
p i p
2
0
2
m p
2
3
p i p
2
0
i p
2
3
2
sim
Am7
0 0
3
0
1
0
B5
2
2
2
0
2
2
2
p
FIGURE 3
C
let ring
3
i p
5
3
i p
i
7
8
7 10
p sim
G
13
103
4
3
7
7
7 10
Am
12
10 5
5
5
8
9
8 12
F
14
12 1
2
1
5
5
5 8
10
8
FIGURE 4
let ring A
=
3
0222
0222
0222
= downstroke
= upstroke
sim
4222
0 0222
0222
XXX
GA
0119
10
0978
0978
DA
0978
0978
0777
XXX
Am7
0555
0555
0555
BA
7555
0 0555
0555
XXX
B
A
0444
0444
0XXX
0333
0333
0XXX
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 611
HAPPINESS IS SOME FINGERPICKIN FUNA look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
CHAPTER
4
IN THE 31 years since his pass-
ing on December 8 1980 John
Lennonrsquos legend has continued
to grow both for his contributions to the
Beatles and his accomplishments as a solo
artist Even so he is rarely singled out for
his acoustic guitar playing This is perhaps
due to the spotlight-grabbing abundance of
ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic Beatles cuts written
by Paul McCartney such as ldquoBlackbirdrdquo
ldquoYesterdayrdquo ldquoMichellerdquo and ldquoMother
Naturersquos Sonrdquo But Lennonmdashwielding his
Gibson J-160E or Martin D-28mdashis the
man behind many other Beatles acousticclassics among them ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo
ldquoJuliardquo ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo and
ldquoDear Prudencerdquo Letrsquos look at what makes
these tracks tick
Lennon used a version of Travis picking
a somewhat country-flavored fingerstyle
approach named after session musician
Merle Travis to shape much of his acoustic
output FIGURES 1A991251D deconstruct Len-
nonrsquos favorite pattern via an open C chord
beginning with bass notes to focus on the
pick-hand thumbrsquos activity ( FIGURE 1A )
With the C chord held down use your fret-
handrsquos ring finger to alternately fret C (A
string third fret) and G (low E string thirdfret) on beats one and two respectively
These notes and the E note at the second
fret on the D string (struck ldquobetweenrdquo each
bass note) are plucked with the thumb ( p )
As FIGURES 1B991251D unfold one note is add-
ed at a timemdashplucked on the high E string
with the ring finger ( a ) on the G string
with the index finger ( i ) and then on the
B string with the middle finger ( m )mdashuntil
the entire pattern is pieced together (see
FIGURE 1D )
Once you have this pattern down yoursquore
ready to tackle a host of Lennonrsquos acous-
tic Beatles songs like ldquoJuliardquo (from The
Beatles aka the White Album) whichinforms FIGURE 2 (Note Lennon used
a capo at the second fret on the origi-
nal) Written as an homage to Lennonrsquos
mother this track features C G Am7 and
Em chords each with a high G common
tone fretted with the pinkie on the high E
stringrsquos third fret Interestingly although
two of these chords G and Em have sixth-string
roots Lennon employs his ldquofifth-string-rootrdquo
pattern throughout ldquoJuliardquo As a result instead
of hitting the roots of the G and Em chords first
he sounds a different chord tone the moment thechord change occurs This creates the sound of
temporary inversions (chords with a third or fifth
in the bass)
ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo (from The Bea-
tles ) hinted at in FIGURE 3 also uses this finger-
picking approachmdashwith Em Em(add2) Am13 and
Am7 voicingsmdashas does ldquoDear Prudencerdquo
While George Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
is viewed as the pinnacle of ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic
Beatles pick-style tunes Lennonrsquos ldquoNorwegian
Woodrdquo (from Rubber Soul ) which FIGURE 4 ap-
proximates certainly isnrsquot far behind This riffmdashperformed in 68 and played with a capo at the
second fret on the originalmdashis nestled within an
open D chord shape with the fret-handrsquos pinkie
and index fingers employed to interject melody
notes Carefully study the string pairstrios shown
in the tablature and pick them using the indicated
pick strokes to best bring out the melody
p
FIGURE 1
C
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
a p
FIGURE 2
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
etc
G
2
3
00
3
0
0
Am7
0
3
22
0
1
2
Em
2
3
20
0
0
2
a p
FIGURE 3
Em
2
3
p i p
20
m p
0
0
2
etc
Em(add2)
2
2
20
0
0
2
Am13
0
2
20
0
1
2
Am7
0
0
20
0
1
2
FIGURE 4
let ring
D
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
etc
03
2
23
2
43
2
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
03
2
4X3
2
2X3
2
Csus2
02
32
32
32
32
GB A7sus4 D
3
03
X2
0X
3
0203
02
32
32
32
32
03
232
32
32
32
FIG 1A FIG 1B FIG 1C FIG 1D
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 711
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 811
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 911
PINK MOON RISINGThe unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
CHAPTER
7
THE LATE BRITISH singer-
songwritermulti-instrumentalist
Nick Drake was largely unknown
until a 1999 car commercial featuring an
acoustic-guitar-and-vocal song called
ldquoPink Moonrdquo hit the airwaves As a result
almost 30 years after his death at age 26
Drake enjoyed a resurgence
Drake arrived in the early Seventies
when psychedelic sounds and bombastic
harder rock were en vogue He was lost in
the shuffle a casualty of mismarketing and
his inability to self-promote It didnrsquot help
that he was hard to classify though influ-enced by ldquofolkiesrdquo like Bob Dylan and Bert
Jansch or that Drake had a fascination
with modal jazz that put his compositions
in a league of their own
In this Nick Drake lesson we will cover
the open tunings and inventive fingerpick-
ing patterns of fan favorites A capo is re-
quired to faithfully reproduce all examples
One of Drakersquos rare compositions in stan-
dard tuning ldquoRiver Manrdquo ( Five Leaves Left )
is a haunting atmospheric piece sweetened
with nature sounds miscellaneous noises
and an intense string arrangement all deliv-
ered in a swinging 54 groove propelled by
Drakersquos fingerpicking and colorful voicingsFIGURE 1 depicts most of the songrsquos chord
shapes and pick-hand patterns in an ldquoin the
style ofrdquo arrangement
Now letrsquos begin tinkering with tun-
ings Drop the pitch of your third string to
Fs (Drakersquos open-E9sus4 tuning ) place a
capo at the sixth fret and yoursquore ready to
tackle ldquoCello Songrdquo ( Five Leaves Left ) the
primary picking pattern of which is ap-
proximated in FIGURE 2A Paired with the
songrsquos signature Esus2 voicing this pattern
requires a relaxed pick hand and use of the
specific fingerings indicated FIGURE 2B
features another voicing used in the song
and is plucked similarlyThe title track to Pink Moon requires
you to drop or raise various string pitches
to arrive at an open Cadd4 tuning (low
to high C G C F C E) and strum with
your fingers voicings like those shown in
FIGURE 3 Tip strum all the strings with
your fingertips with the exception of
when lower strings appear by themselves
(ldquothumb strumrdquo these) groove with a very
slight 16th-note swing feel and your ldquoPink
Moonrdquo rendition will be ldquoon its wayrdquo
p
Standard tuning capo 3 All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
FIGURE 1
Aadd2
mi
p
=
3
0
0
42
p
mi
p
0
0
i p
42
2 2
p
mi
p
0 00
i
sim
Am(add2)
42
2
0
0
41
0
0
41
2 2
0 00
41
2
Gm
3
033
3
0
F
33
0 0
1 1
3
A7sus
4
21
3
0
0
04
0
0
04
2 2
0 00
04
2
p
Open E9sus4 tuning (low to high E A D F B E) capo 6 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds three whole steps higher than written
FIGURE 2a
Esus2let ring
0
p i p
22
m p
0
0
2
a p
0
0
p i p
22
m i
0
0
2
FIGURE 2b
p
Dadd
4F
Play open 3rd string 2nd time only
let ring
2
0
p i p
00
m p
2
2
0
DF
m p
2
3
p i p
Dadd
4F
00
m p
2
2
0
Open Cadd4 tuning (low to high C G C F C E) capo 2 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds a whole step higher than written
FIGURE 3 wslight 16th-note Swing
strum
wfingers ( ldquothumb strumrdquo when lower strings appear by themselves)
Glet ring
777977
777977
777977
G9sus4
777
777797
777797
777797
777
=
3
3
sim
F
777797
777797
000
000
555755
555755
555755
F9sus4
555
555575
555575
555575
555
555575
555575
000
000
C
000000
20200
0200
000
000 0
200
0200
0000
0020
0000
0200
Dm7
0000
2000
2000
0000
222000
Cadd4 Cmaj11
050000
040000
Fmaj7C
040000
020000
Cadd4 CF
020000
000000
Cadd4E C5
0
5X0000
4X0000
000
2
FIG 2A
FIG 1
FIG 3
FIG 2B
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1011
SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
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RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
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THE FUNKY MON K UNPLUGGEDFingerstyle techniques and ferocious strums from former Red Hot Chili Peppersguitarist John Frusciante
CHAPTER
3
JOHN FRUSCIANTE IS largely
responsible for many of the Red
Hot Chili Peppersrsquo biggest hits
over the past two decades having had a
huge hand in writing electrified smashes
like ldquoUnder the Bridgerdquo ldquoScar Tissuerdquo
ldquoCanrsquot Stoprdquo and ldquoDani Californiardquo among
others But Frusciante also has a softer
acoustic side usually reserved for his solo
output on which the guitarist gets posi-
tively ldquocosmicrdquo on his Forties- and Fifties-
era Martin 0-15s Now that Frusciante is
on his own again (his amicable departure
from the Peppers was announced in De-cember 2009 Josh Klinghoffer now holds
the RHCP guitar chair) it probably wonrsquot
be long until we bask in his unique musi-
cal glow once again For the time being
letrsquos give a nod to some of the manrsquos ldquoun-
pluggedrdquo offerings culled from his RHCP
catalogue and earlier solo work
ldquoI Could Have Liedrdquo ( Blood Sugar Sex
Magik ) is one of the Chili Peppersrsquo mellow-
est acoustic songs and features Frusciante
plucking notes on lower strings with his
thumb ( p ) and index finger ( i ) similar to
FIGURE 1 Here his use of lower pitches (in
contrast to plucking ldquobrighterrdquo high E- and
B-string notes) and the B minor tonality con-tribute to the somber mood For this passage
keep your fingers fretted as long as possible
so that tones on neighboring strings overlap
and strive for rhythmic precision with each
hammer-on (they shouldnrsquot sound faster
slower than your plucked notes)
Frusciante left the Peppers in 1992 only
to rejoin the band for 1999rsquos Californica-
tion His return brought moodier tracks
more harmonic variety funkier rock shad-
ings and other flavors including the finger-
style acoustic ditty ldquoRoad Trippinrsquordquo which
FIGURE 2 approximates Here yoursquoll want
to thumb the bass strings of Em Am7 and
B5 chords in steady quarter notes whileplucking out upper-register tones with
your middle ( m ) and index ( i ) fingers
Frusciante has an assortment of solo
albums and EPs under his belt two of
which were released during his first hiatus
from RHCP the rest were issued during
his tenure with the Chilis One acoustic
sound that surfaces often in these record-
ings particularly on the ldquountitledrdquo cuts
on 1994rsquos Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt is fingerstyle 10ths intervalsmdashtwo notes ldquo10
scale stepsrdquo apart FIGURE 3 provides a taste
with notes from C G Am and F chords Use your
thumb and index finger to pluck the low and high
notes respectively
Wersquoll close this lesson with a nod to the most
popular acoustic RHCP tune ldquoBreaking the Girlrdquo
which Frusciante performed on a Maton 12-string
acoustic This track is highlighted by percussive
strums of triad shapes shifted along the D G andB strings all voiced over the open A-string pedal
tone not unlike FIGURE 4 Before tackling the
entire passage fine-tune the first barrsquos rhythm
using alternating downup strums synchronized
to a 16th-note count (in 68) ldquoone-and two-and
three-and four-and five-and six-andrdquo striking
the strings only on the pick strokes not enclosed
in parentheses (commonly referred to as 16th-note
pendulum strumming )
p
FIGURE 1
let ring Bm
i p i
0 20
2
p
Aadd4C
i
40 4
p i
04
7
p
Em7G
i p i
0 3
0
3
p
Dadd4A
i
2
0 5
p i i
0
5
4
p
04
p
FIGURE 2
let ring
Em
2
m p
2
p i p
2
0
2
m p
2
3
p i p
2
0
i p
2
3
2
sim
Am7
0 0
3
0
1
0
B5
2
2
2
0
2
2
2
p
FIGURE 3
C
let ring
3
i p
5
3
i p
i
7
8
7 10
p sim
G
13
103
4
3
7
7
7 10
Am
12
10 5
5
5
8
9
8 12
F
14
12 1
2
1
5
5
5 8
10
8
FIGURE 4
let ring A
=
3
0222
0222
0222
= downstroke
= upstroke
sim
4222
0 0222
0222
XXX
GA
0119
10
0978
0978
DA
0978
0978
0777
XXX
Am7
0555
0555
0555
BA
7555
0 0555
0555
XXX
B
A
0444
0444
0XXX
0333
0333
0XXX
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
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HAPPINESS IS SOME FINGERPICKIN FUNA look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
CHAPTER
4
IN THE 31 years since his pass-
ing on December 8 1980 John
Lennonrsquos legend has continued
to grow both for his contributions to the
Beatles and his accomplishments as a solo
artist Even so he is rarely singled out for
his acoustic guitar playing This is perhaps
due to the spotlight-grabbing abundance of
ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic Beatles cuts written
by Paul McCartney such as ldquoBlackbirdrdquo
ldquoYesterdayrdquo ldquoMichellerdquo and ldquoMother
Naturersquos Sonrdquo But Lennonmdashwielding his
Gibson J-160E or Martin D-28mdashis the
man behind many other Beatles acousticclassics among them ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo
ldquoJuliardquo ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo and
ldquoDear Prudencerdquo Letrsquos look at what makes
these tracks tick
Lennon used a version of Travis picking
a somewhat country-flavored fingerstyle
approach named after session musician
Merle Travis to shape much of his acoustic
output FIGURES 1A991251D deconstruct Len-
nonrsquos favorite pattern via an open C chord
beginning with bass notes to focus on the
pick-hand thumbrsquos activity ( FIGURE 1A )
With the C chord held down use your fret-
handrsquos ring finger to alternately fret C (A
string third fret) and G (low E string thirdfret) on beats one and two respectively
These notes and the E note at the second
fret on the D string (struck ldquobetweenrdquo each
bass note) are plucked with the thumb ( p )
As FIGURES 1B991251D unfold one note is add-
ed at a timemdashplucked on the high E string
with the ring finger ( a ) on the G string
with the index finger ( i ) and then on the
B string with the middle finger ( m )mdashuntil
the entire pattern is pieced together (see
FIGURE 1D )
Once you have this pattern down yoursquore
ready to tackle a host of Lennonrsquos acous-
tic Beatles songs like ldquoJuliardquo (from The
Beatles aka the White Album) whichinforms FIGURE 2 (Note Lennon used
a capo at the second fret on the origi-
nal) Written as an homage to Lennonrsquos
mother this track features C G Am7 and
Em chords each with a high G common
tone fretted with the pinkie on the high E
stringrsquos third fret Interestingly although
two of these chords G and Em have sixth-string
roots Lennon employs his ldquofifth-string-rootrdquo
pattern throughout ldquoJuliardquo As a result instead
of hitting the roots of the G and Em chords first
he sounds a different chord tone the moment thechord change occurs This creates the sound of
temporary inversions (chords with a third or fifth
in the bass)
ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo (from The Bea-
tles ) hinted at in FIGURE 3 also uses this finger-
picking approachmdashwith Em Em(add2) Am13 and
Am7 voicingsmdashas does ldquoDear Prudencerdquo
While George Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
is viewed as the pinnacle of ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic
Beatles pick-style tunes Lennonrsquos ldquoNorwegian
Woodrdquo (from Rubber Soul ) which FIGURE 4 ap-
proximates certainly isnrsquot far behind This riffmdashperformed in 68 and played with a capo at the
second fret on the originalmdashis nestled within an
open D chord shape with the fret-handrsquos pinkie
and index fingers employed to interject melody
notes Carefully study the string pairstrios shown
in the tablature and pick them using the indicated
pick strokes to best bring out the melody
p
FIGURE 1
C
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
a p
FIGURE 2
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
etc
G
2
3
00
3
0
0
Am7
0
3
22
0
1
2
Em
2
3
20
0
0
2
a p
FIGURE 3
Em
2
3
p i p
20
m p
0
0
2
etc
Em(add2)
2
2
20
0
0
2
Am13
0
2
20
0
1
2
Am7
0
0
20
0
1
2
FIGURE 4
let ring
D
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
etc
03
2
23
2
43
2
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
03
2
4X3
2
2X3
2
Csus2
02
32
32
32
32
GB A7sus4 D
3
03
X2
0X
3
0203
02
32
32
32
32
03
232
32
32
32
FIG 1A FIG 1B FIG 1C FIG 1D
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 711
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 811
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 911
PINK MOON RISINGThe unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
CHAPTER
7
THE LATE BRITISH singer-
songwritermulti-instrumentalist
Nick Drake was largely unknown
until a 1999 car commercial featuring an
acoustic-guitar-and-vocal song called
ldquoPink Moonrdquo hit the airwaves As a result
almost 30 years after his death at age 26
Drake enjoyed a resurgence
Drake arrived in the early Seventies
when psychedelic sounds and bombastic
harder rock were en vogue He was lost in
the shuffle a casualty of mismarketing and
his inability to self-promote It didnrsquot help
that he was hard to classify though influ-enced by ldquofolkiesrdquo like Bob Dylan and Bert
Jansch or that Drake had a fascination
with modal jazz that put his compositions
in a league of their own
In this Nick Drake lesson we will cover
the open tunings and inventive fingerpick-
ing patterns of fan favorites A capo is re-
quired to faithfully reproduce all examples
One of Drakersquos rare compositions in stan-
dard tuning ldquoRiver Manrdquo ( Five Leaves Left )
is a haunting atmospheric piece sweetened
with nature sounds miscellaneous noises
and an intense string arrangement all deliv-
ered in a swinging 54 groove propelled by
Drakersquos fingerpicking and colorful voicingsFIGURE 1 depicts most of the songrsquos chord
shapes and pick-hand patterns in an ldquoin the
style ofrdquo arrangement
Now letrsquos begin tinkering with tun-
ings Drop the pitch of your third string to
Fs (Drakersquos open-E9sus4 tuning ) place a
capo at the sixth fret and yoursquore ready to
tackle ldquoCello Songrdquo ( Five Leaves Left ) the
primary picking pattern of which is ap-
proximated in FIGURE 2A Paired with the
songrsquos signature Esus2 voicing this pattern
requires a relaxed pick hand and use of the
specific fingerings indicated FIGURE 2B
features another voicing used in the song
and is plucked similarlyThe title track to Pink Moon requires
you to drop or raise various string pitches
to arrive at an open Cadd4 tuning (low
to high C G C F C E) and strum with
your fingers voicings like those shown in
FIGURE 3 Tip strum all the strings with
your fingertips with the exception of
when lower strings appear by themselves
(ldquothumb strumrdquo these) groove with a very
slight 16th-note swing feel and your ldquoPink
Moonrdquo rendition will be ldquoon its wayrdquo
p
Standard tuning capo 3 All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
FIGURE 1
Aadd2
mi
p
=
3
0
0
42
p
mi
p
0
0
i p
42
2 2
p
mi
p
0 00
i
sim
Am(add2)
42
2
0
0
41
0
0
41
2 2
0 00
41
2
Gm
3
033
3
0
F
33
0 0
1 1
3
A7sus
4
21
3
0
0
04
0
0
04
2 2
0 00
04
2
p
Open E9sus4 tuning (low to high E A D F B E) capo 6 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds three whole steps higher than written
FIGURE 2a
Esus2let ring
0
p i p
22
m p
0
0
2
a p
0
0
p i p
22
m i
0
0
2
FIGURE 2b
p
Dadd
4F
Play open 3rd string 2nd time only
let ring
2
0
p i p
00
m p
2
2
0
DF
m p
2
3
p i p
Dadd
4F
00
m p
2
2
0
Open Cadd4 tuning (low to high C G C F C E) capo 2 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds a whole step higher than written
FIGURE 3 wslight 16th-note Swing
strum
wfingers ( ldquothumb strumrdquo when lower strings appear by themselves)
Glet ring
777977
777977
777977
G9sus4
777
777797
777797
777797
777
=
3
3
sim
F
777797
777797
000
000
555755
555755
555755
F9sus4
555
555575
555575
555575
555
555575
555575
000
000
C
000000
20200
0200
000
000 0
200
0200
0000
0020
0000
0200
Dm7
0000
2000
2000
0000
222000
Cadd4 Cmaj11
050000
040000
Fmaj7C
040000
020000
Cadd4 CF
020000
000000
Cadd4E C5
0
5X0000
4X0000
000
2
FIG 2A
FIG 1
FIG 3
FIG 2B
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1011
SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1111
RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 611
HAPPINESS IS SOME FINGERPICKIN FUNA look at John Lennonrsquos acoustic artistry
CHAPTER
4
IN THE 31 years since his pass-
ing on December 8 1980 John
Lennonrsquos legend has continued
to grow both for his contributions to the
Beatles and his accomplishments as a solo
artist Even so he is rarely singled out for
his acoustic guitar playing This is perhaps
due to the spotlight-grabbing abundance of
ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic Beatles cuts written
by Paul McCartney such as ldquoBlackbirdrdquo
ldquoYesterdayrdquo ldquoMichellerdquo and ldquoMother
Naturersquos Sonrdquo But Lennonmdashwielding his
Gibson J-160E or Martin D-28mdashis the
man behind many other Beatles acousticclassics among them ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo
ldquoJuliardquo ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo and
ldquoDear Prudencerdquo Letrsquos look at what makes
these tracks tick
Lennon used a version of Travis picking
a somewhat country-flavored fingerstyle
approach named after session musician
Merle Travis to shape much of his acoustic
output FIGURES 1A991251D deconstruct Len-
nonrsquos favorite pattern via an open C chord
beginning with bass notes to focus on the
pick-hand thumbrsquos activity ( FIGURE 1A )
With the C chord held down use your fret-
handrsquos ring finger to alternately fret C (A
string third fret) and G (low E string thirdfret) on beats one and two respectively
These notes and the E note at the second
fret on the D string (struck ldquobetweenrdquo each
bass note) are plucked with the thumb ( p )
As FIGURES 1B991251D unfold one note is add-
ed at a timemdashplucked on the high E string
with the ring finger ( a ) on the G string
with the index finger ( i ) and then on the
B string with the middle finger ( m )mdashuntil
the entire pattern is pieced together (see
FIGURE 1D )
Once you have this pattern down yoursquore
ready to tackle a host of Lennonrsquos acous-
tic Beatles songs like ldquoJuliardquo (from The
Beatles aka the White Album) whichinforms FIGURE 2 (Note Lennon used
a capo at the second fret on the origi-
nal) Written as an homage to Lennonrsquos
mother this track features C G Am7 and
Em chords each with a high G common
tone fretted with the pinkie on the high E
stringrsquos third fret Interestingly although
two of these chords G and Em have sixth-string
roots Lennon employs his ldquofifth-string-rootrdquo
pattern throughout ldquoJuliardquo As a result instead
of hitting the roots of the G and Em chords first
he sounds a different chord tone the moment thechord change occurs This creates the sound of
temporary inversions (chords with a third or fifth
in the bass)
ldquoHappiness Is a Warm Gunrdquo (from The Bea-
tles ) hinted at in FIGURE 3 also uses this finger-
picking approachmdashwith Em Em(add2) Am13 and
Am7 voicingsmdashas does ldquoDear Prudencerdquo
While George Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
is viewed as the pinnacle of ldquostand-alonerdquo acoustic
Beatles pick-style tunes Lennonrsquos ldquoNorwegian
Woodrdquo (from Rubber Soul ) which FIGURE 4 ap-
proximates certainly isnrsquot far behind This riffmdashperformed in 68 and played with a capo at the
second fret on the originalmdashis nestled within an
open D chord shape with the fret-handrsquos pinkie
and index fingers employed to interject melody
notes Carefully study the string pairstrios shown
in the tablature and pick them using the indicated
pick strokes to best bring out the melody
p
FIGURE 1
C
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p
2
p
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
3
p
2
a p
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
a p
FIGURE 2
C
3
3
p i p
20
m p
3
1
2
etc
G
2
3
00
3
0
0
Am7
0
3
22
0
1
2
Em
2
3
20
0
0
2
a p
FIGURE 3
Em
2
3
p i p
20
m p
0
0
2
etc
Em(add2)
2
2
20
0
0
2
Am13
0
2
20
0
1
2
Am7
0
0
20
0
1
2
FIGURE 4
let ring
D
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
etc
03
2
23
2
43
2
02
3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2
03
2
4X3
2
2X3
2
Csus2
02
32
32
32
32
GB A7sus4 D
3
03
X2
0X
3
0203
02
32
32
32
32
03
232
32
32
32
FIG 1A FIG 1B FIG 1C FIG 1D
FIG 2
FIG 3
FIG 4
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 711
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 811
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 911
PINK MOON RISINGThe unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
CHAPTER
7
THE LATE BRITISH singer-
songwritermulti-instrumentalist
Nick Drake was largely unknown
until a 1999 car commercial featuring an
acoustic-guitar-and-vocal song called
ldquoPink Moonrdquo hit the airwaves As a result
almost 30 years after his death at age 26
Drake enjoyed a resurgence
Drake arrived in the early Seventies
when psychedelic sounds and bombastic
harder rock were en vogue He was lost in
the shuffle a casualty of mismarketing and
his inability to self-promote It didnrsquot help
that he was hard to classify though influ-enced by ldquofolkiesrdquo like Bob Dylan and Bert
Jansch or that Drake had a fascination
with modal jazz that put his compositions
in a league of their own
In this Nick Drake lesson we will cover
the open tunings and inventive fingerpick-
ing patterns of fan favorites A capo is re-
quired to faithfully reproduce all examples
One of Drakersquos rare compositions in stan-
dard tuning ldquoRiver Manrdquo ( Five Leaves Left )
is a haunting atmospheric piece sweetened
with nature sounds miscellaneous noises
and an intense string arrangement all deliv-
ered in a swinging 54 groove propelled by
Drakersquos fingerpicking and colorful voicingsFIGURE 1 depicts most of the songrsquos chord
shapes and pick-hand patterns in an ldquoin the
style ofrdquo arrangement
Now letrsquos begin tinkering with tun-
ings Drop the pitch of your third string to
Fs (Drakersquos open-E9sus4 tuning ) place a
capo at the sixth fret and yoursquore ready to
tackle ldquoCello Songrdquo ( Five Leaves Left ) the
primary picking pattern of which is ap-
proximated in FIGURE 2A Paired with the
songrsquos signature Esus2 voicing this pattern
requires a relaxed pick hand and use of the
specific fingerings indicated FIGURE 2B
features another voicing used in the song
and is plucked similarlyThe title track to Pink Moon requires
you to drop or raise various string pitches
to arrive at an open Cadd4 tuning (low
to high C G C F C E) and strum with
your fingers voicings like those shown in
FIGURE 3 Tip strum all the strings with
your fingertips with the exception of
when lower strings appear by themselves
(ldquothumb strumrdquo these) groove with a very
slight 16th-note swing feel and your ldquoPink
Moonrdquo rendition will be ldquoon its wayrdquo
p
Standard tuning capo 3 All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
FIGURE 1
Aadd2
mi
p
=
3
0
0
42
p
mi
p
0
0
i p
42
2 2
p
mi
p
0 00
i
sim
Am(add2)
42
2
0
0
41
0
0
41
2 2
0 00
41
2
Gm
3
033
3
0
F
33
0 0
1 1
3
A7sus
4
21
3
0
0
04
0
0
04
2 2
0 00
04
2
p
Open E9sus4 tuning (low to high E A D F B E) capo 6 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds three whole steps higher than written
FIGURE 2a
Esus2let ring
0
p i p
22
m p
0
0
2
a p
0
0
p i p
22
m i
0
0
2
FIGURE 2b
p
Dadd
4F
Play open 3rd string 2nd time only
let ring
2
0
p i p
00
m p
2
2
0
DF
m p
2
3
p i p
Dadd
4F
00
m p
2
2
0
Open Cadd4 tuning (low to high C G C F C E) capo 2 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds a whole step higher than written
FIGURE 3 wslight 16th-note Swing
strum
wfingers ( ldquothumb strumrdquo when lower strings appear by themselves)
Glet ring
777977
777977
777977
G9sus4
777
777797
777797
777797
777
=
3
3
sim
F
777797
777797
000
000
555755
555755
555755
F9sus4
555
555575
555575
555575
555
555575
555575
000
000
C
000000
20200
0200
000
000 0
200
0200
0000
0020
0000
0200
Dm7
0000
2000
2000
0000
222000
Cadd4 Cmaj11
050000
040000
Fmaj7C
040000
020000
Cadd4 CF
020000
000000
Cadd4E C5
0
5X0000
4X0000
000
2
FIG 2A
FIG 1
FIG 3
FIG 2B
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1011
SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1111
RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 711
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 811
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 911
PINK MOON RISINGThe unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
CHAPTER
7
THE LATE BRITISH singer-
songwritermulti-instrumentalist
Nick Drake was largely unknown
until a 1999 car commercial featuring an
acoustic-guitar-and-vocal song called
ldquoPink Moonrdquo hit the airwaves As a result
almost 30 years after his death at age 26
Drake enjoyed a resurgence
Drake arrived in the early Seventies
when psychedelic sounds and bombastic
harder rock were en vogue He was lost in
the shuffle a casualty of mismarketing and
his inability to self-promote It didnrsquot help
that he was hard to classify though influ-enced by ldquofolkiesrdquo like Bob Dylan and Bert
Jansch or that Drake had a fascination
with modal jazz that put his compositions
in a league of their own
In this Nick Drake lesson we will cover
the open tunings and inventive fingerpick-
ing patterns of fan favorites A capo is re-
quired to faithfully reproduce all examples
One of Drakersquos rare compositions in stan-
dard tuning ldquoRiver Manrdquo ( Five Leaves Left )
is a haunting atmospheric piece sweetened
with nature sounds miscellaneous noises
and an intense string arrangement all deliv-
ered in a swinging 54 groove propelled by
Drakersquos fingerpicking and colorful voicingsFIGURE 1 depicts most of the songrsquos chord
shapes and pick-hand patterns in an ldquoin the
style ofrdquo arrangement
Now letrsquos begin tinkering with tun-
ings Drop the pitch of your third string to
Fs (Drakersquos open-E9sus4 tuning ) place a
capo at the sixth fret and yoursquore ready to
tackle ldquoCello Songrdquo ( Five Leaves Left ) the
primary picking pattern of which is ap-
proximated in FIGURE 2A Paired with the
songrsquos signature Esus2 voicing this pattern
requires a relaxed pick hand and use of the
specific fingerings indicated FIGURE 2B
features another voicing used in the song
and is plucked similarlyThe title track to Pink Moon requires
you to drop or raise various string pitches
to arrive at an open Cadd4 tuning (low
to high C G C F C E) and strum with
your fingers voicings like those shown in
FIGURE 3 Tip strum all the strings with
your fingertips with the exception of
when lower strings appear by themselves
(ldquothumb strumrdquo these) groove with a very
slight 16th-note swing feel and your ldquoPink
Moonrdquo rendition will be ldquoon its wayrdquo
p
Standard tuning capo 3 All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
FIGURE 1
Aadd2
mi
p
=
3
0
0
42
p
mi
p
0
0
i p
42
2 2
p
mi
p
0 00
i
sim
Am(add2)
42
2
0
0
41
0
0
41
2 2
0 00
41
2
Gm
3
033
3
0
F
33
0 0
1 1
3
A7sus
4
21
3
0
0
04
0
0
04
2 2
0 00
04
2
p
Open E9sus4 tuning (low to high E A D F B E) capo 6 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds three whole steps higher than written
FIGURE 2a
Esus2let ring
0
p i p
22
m p
0
0
2
a p
0
0
p i p
22
m i
0
0
2
FIGURE 2b
p
Dadd
4F
Play open 3rd string 2nd time only
let ring
2
0
p i p
00
m p
2
2
0
DF
m p
2
3
p i p
Dadd
4F
00
m p
2
2
0
Open Cadd4 tuning (low to high C G C F C E) capo 2 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds a whole step higher than written
FIGURE 3 wslight 16th-note Swing
strum
wfingers ( ldquothumb strumrdquo when lower strings appear by themselves)
Glet ring
777977
777977
777977
G9sus4
777
777797
777797
777797
777
=
3
3
sim
F
777797
777797
000
000
555755
555755
555755
F9sus4
555
555575
555575
555575
555
555575
555575
000
000
C
000000
20200
0200
000
000 0
200
0200
0000
0020
0000
0200
Dm7
0000
2000
2000
0000
222000
Cadd4 Cmaj11
050000
040000
Fmaj7C
040000
020000
Cadd4 CF
020000
000000
Cadd4E C5
0
5X0000
4X0000
000
2
FIG 2A
FIG 1
FIG 3
FIG 2B
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1011
SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1111
RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 811
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 911
PINK MOON RISINGThe unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
CHAPTER
7
THE LATE BRITISH singer-
songwritermulti-instrumentalist
Nick Drake was largely unknown
until a 1999 car commercial featuring an
acoustic-guitar-and-vocal song called
ldquoPink Moonrdquo hit the airwaves As a result
almost 30 years after his death at age 26
Drake enjoyed a resurgence
Drake arrived in the early Seventies
when psychedelic sounds and bombastic
harder rock were en vogue He was lost in
the shuffle a casualty of mismarketing and
his inability to self-promote It didnrsquot help
that he was hard to classify though influ-enced by ldquofolkiesrdquo like Bob Dylan and Bert
Jansch or that Drake had a fascination
with modal jazz that put his compositions
in a league of their own
In this Nick Drake lesson we will cover
the open tunings and inventive fingerpick-
ing patterns of fan favorites A capo is re-
quired to faithfully reproduce all examples
One of Drakersquos rare compositions in stan-
dard tuning ldquoRiver Manrdquo ( Five Leaves Left )
is a haunting atmospheric piece sweetened
with nature sounds miscellaneous noises
and an intense string arrangement all deliv-
ered in a swinging 54 groove propelled by
Drakersquos fingerpicking and colorful voicingsFIGURE 1 depicts most of the songrsquos chord
shapes and pick-hand patterns in an ldquoin the
style ofrdquo arrangement
Now letrsquos begin tinkering with tun-
ings Drop the pitch of your third string to
Fs (Drakersquos open-E9sus4 tuning ) place a
capo at the sixth fret and yoursquore ready to
tackle ldquoCello Songrdquo ( Five Leaves Left ) the
primary picking pattern of which is ap-
proximated in FIGURE 2A Paired with the
songrsquos signature Esus2 voicing this pattern
requires a relaxed pick hand and use of the
specific fingerings indicated FIGURE 2B
features another voicing used in the song
and is plucked similarlyThe title track to Pink Moon requires
you to drop or raise various string pitches
to arrive at an open Cadd4 tuning (low
to high C G C F C E) and strum with
your fingers voicings like those shown in
FIGURE 3 Tip strum all the strings with
your fingertips with the exception of
when lower strings appear by themselves
(ldquothumb strumrdquo these) groove with a very
slight 16th-note swing feel and your ldquoPink
Moonrdquo rendition will be ldquoon its wayrdquo
p
Standard tuning capo 3 All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
FIGURE 1
Aadd2
mi
p
=
3
0
0
42
p
mi
p
0
0
i p
42
2 2
p
mi
p
0 00
i
sim
Am(add2)
42
2
0
0
41
0
0
41
2 2
0 00
41
2
Gm
3
033
3
0
F
33
0 0
1 1
3
A7sus
4
21
3
0
0
04
0
0
04
2 2
0 00
04
2
p
Open E9sus4 tuning (low to high E A D F B E) capo 6 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds three whole steps higher than written
FIGURE 2a
Esus2let ring
0
p i p
22
m p
0
0
2
a p
0
0
p i p
22
m i
0
0
2
FIGURE 2b
p
Dadd
4F
Play open 3rd string 2nd time only
let ring
2
0
p i p
00
m p
2
2
0
DF
m p
2
3
p i p
Dadd
4F
00
m p
2
2
0
Open Cadd4 tuning (low to high C G C F C E) capo 2 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds a whole step higher than written
FIGURE 3 wslight 16th-note Swing
strum
wfingers ( ldquothumb strumrdquo when lower strings appear by themselves)
Glet ring
777977
777977
777977
G9sus4
777
777797
777797
777797
777
=
3
3
sim
F
777797
777797
000
000
555755
555755
555755
F9sus4
555
555575
555575
555575
555
555575
555575
000
000
C
000000
20200
0200
000
000 0
200
0200
0000
0020
0000
0200
Dm7
0000
2000
2000
0000
222000
Cadd4 Cmaj11
050000
040000
Fmaj7C
040000
020000
Cadd4 CF
020000
000000
Cadd4E C5
0
5X0000
4X0000
000
2
FIG 2A
FIG 1
FIG 3
FIG 2B
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1011
SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1111
RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 911
PINK MOON RISINGThe unsung acoustic artistry of Nick Drake
CHAPTER
7
THE LATE BRITISH singer-
songwritermulti-instrumentalist
Nick Drake was largely unknown
until a 1999 car commercial featuring an
acoustic-guitar-and-vocal song called
ldquoPink Moonrdquo hit the airwaves As a result
almost 30 years after his death at age 26
Drake enjoyed a resurgence
Drake arrived in the early Seventies
when psychedelic sounds and bombastic
harder rock were en vogue He was lost in
the shuffle a casualty of mismarketing and
his inability to self-promote It didnrsquot help
that he was hard to classify though influ-enced by ldquofolkiesrdquo like Bob Dylan and Bert
Jansch or that Drake had a fascination
with modal jazz that put his compositions
in a league of their own
In this Nick Drake lesson we will cover
the open tunings and inventive fingerpick-
ing patterns of fan favorites A capo is re-
quired to faithfully reproduce all examples
One of Drakersquos rare compositions in stan-
dard tuning ldquoRiver Manrdquo ( Five Leaves Left )
is a haunting atmospheric piece sweetened
with nature sounds miscellaneous noises
and an intense string arrangement all deliv-
ered in a swinging 54 groove propelled by
Drakersquos fingerpicking and colorful voicingsFIGURE 1 depicts most of the songrsquos chord
shapes and pick-hand patterns in an ldquoin the
style ofrdquo arrangement
Now letrsquos begin tinkering with tun-
ings Drop the pitch of your third string to
Fs (Drakersquos open-E9sus4 tuning ) place a
capo at the sixth fret and yoursquore ready to
tackle ldquoCello Songrdquo ( Five Leaves Left ) the
primary picking pattern of which is ap-
proximated in FIGURE 2A Paired with the
songrsquos signature Esus2 voicing this pattern
requires a relaxed pick hand and use of the
specific fingerings indicated FIGURE 2B
features another voicing used in the song
and is plucked similarlyThe title track to Pink Moon requires
you to drop or raise various string pitches
to arrive at an open Cadd4 tuning (low
to high C G C F C E) and strum with
your fingers voicings like those shown in
FIGURE 3 Tip strum all the strings with
your fingertips with the exception of
when lower strings appear by themselves
(ldquothumb strumrdquo these) groove with a very
slight 16th-note swing feel and your ldquoPink
Moonrdquo rendition will be ldquoon its wayrdquo
p
Standard tuning capo 3 All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger
FIGURE 1
Aadd2
mi
p
=
3
0
0
42
p
mi
p
0
0
i p
42
2 2
p
mi
p
0 00
i
sim
Am(add2)
42
2
0
0
41
0
0
41
2 2
0 00
41
2
Gm
3
033
3
0
F
33
0 0
1 1
3
A7sus
4
21
3
0
0
04
0
0
04
2 2
0 00
04
2
p
Open E9sus4 tuning (low to high E A D F B E) capo 6 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds three whole steps higher than written
FIGURE 2a
Esus2let ring
0
p i p
22
m p
0
0
2
a p
0
0
p i p
22
m i
0
0
2
FIGURE 2b
p
Dadd
4F
Play open 3rd string 2nd time only
let ring
2
0
p i p
00
m p
2
2
0
DF
m p
2
3
p i p
Dadd
4F
00
m p
2
2
0
Open Cadd4 tuning (low to high C G C F C E) capo 2 All tablature positions are relative
to the capo All music sounds a whole step higher than written
FIGURE 3 wslight 16th-note Swing
strum
wfingers ( ldquothumb strumrdquo when lower strings appear by themselves)
Glet ring
777977
777977
777977
G9sus4
777
777797
777797
777797
777
=
3
3
sim
F
777797
777797
000
000
555755
555755
555755
F9sus4
555
555575
555575
555575
555
555575
555575
000
000
C
000000
20200
0200
000
000 0
200
0200
0000
0020
0000
0200
Dm7
0000
2000
2000
0000
222000
Cadd4 Cmaj11
050000
040000
Fmaj7C
040000
020000
Cadd4 CF
020000
000000
Cadd4E C5
0
5X0000
4X0000
000
2
FIG 2A
FIG 1
FIG 3
FIG 2B
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1011
SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1111
RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1011
SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE GROOVESThe acoustic artistry of ldquothe quiet Beatlerdquo George Harrison
CHAPTER
8
OF THE FOUR Beatles George
Harrison brought to the group an
assortment of electric and acoustic
guitar approaches flavors influenced by
everyone from Chet Atkins and Carl Per-
kins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan Harrisonrsquos
pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 36012
electric 12-string on songs like ldquoA Hard Dayrsquos
Nightrdquo and ldquoTicket to Riderdquo added another
dimension to the sound of Beatles music and
left an imprint on Sixties-era rock soon after
the Byrds Beach Boys and Rolling Stones
began to use 12-string guitars In the mid Six-
ties influenced by Indian culture and Hindu-ism Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic
scales into the Beatlesrsquo catalog on songs like
ldquoNorwegian Woodrdquo and ldquoWithin You With-
out Yourdquo In essence he played a huge role in
stylizing the Beatlesrsquo music
But Harrison also contributed a wealth of
guitar-centric hits to the bandrsquos repertoire
many of which center around an acoustic
guitar (his Gibson J-200) In this chapter
wersquoll look at musical examples inspired by
Harrison-penned Beatles classics like ldquoHere
Comes the Sunrdquo ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently
Weepsrdquo and ldquoSomethingrdquo
ldquoWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsrdquo re-
volves around strummed versions of thechords in FIGURE 1 (for optional finger-
ings that Harrison used when performing
the song live see the video lesson for this
column at GuitarWorldcom ) Much of
this songrsquos emotional power stems from
its mostly chromatic (notes one half step
apart the distance of one fret) descending
AndashGndashFsndashF bass line The song also features
a famous inspired solo by Eric Clapton
Chromatic movement is a characteristic
common to many of Harrisonrsquos popular
Beatles tracks among them ldquoSomethingrdquo
which informs FIGURE 2 While the origi-
nal Abbey Road version is played on electric
guitars (in the key of C) the original demo(key of A) on The Beatles Anthology 3 is a
solo performance by Harrison who plays a
hollowbody electric warranting its relevance
here Use the picking pattern in bar 1 for
the A Amaj7 and A7 chords and note the
descending chromatic line on the G string
Similar chromaticism is also encountered in
a later FsmndashFsm(maj7)ndashFsm7 change
Hands down the most popular acoustic guitar
ldquopickingrdquo riff in the Beatles oeuvre is the passage
that opens Harrisonrsquos ldquoHere Comes the Sunrdquo
which gets its sparkling quality from the fact that
it is capoed at the seventh fret FIGURE 3 is a pas-
sage inspired by the songrsquos main riff containing
mostly D A7 and G chords (use alternate picking
throughout beginning with a downstroke)
FIGURE 4 features a variation on the chords used
in the songrsquos bridge
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 1
let ring A
2 3 1
Am
0
2
22
0
4 2 31
Am7G D9F
sim
Amaj7
2 3 1
0
2
2
2
2
0 2
12
0
T 3 4 2 1 1
F
A7
0
2
2
12
0
3 2 4
G
2
02
0
1 3 2
D
D
0
2
2
02
0
2 3 1
E
232
235
232
E
022100
0
42
00
064
F m
4222
F m(maj7)
3222
3222
F m7
2222
0
B
2444
FIGURE 3
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fifth higher than written
D
let ring
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
Bm7
0
033
2033
202
G
2
2 0
02 0
0
30 2
D
00
A7sus4
0232
3230 2
A7 G
0203
202
000
3
000
3
003
0
030
3X003
000
FIGURE 4
Capo 7 All tablature positions are relative to the capo
All music sounds in the key of A a perfect fif th higher than written
let ring G C
3
2 0
F
3
2
0
NC
3
21
D
2
0
0
232
3
A7
30
32
0
0
02
020
02
020
NC
0
20
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1111
RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3
7262019 Dale Turners Secret of the Great Acoustic SongwritersPDF
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldale-turners-secret-of-the-great-acoustic-songwriterspdf 1111
RIGHTEOUS BABEFingerstyle finesse meets punk-rock attitude The inimitable Ani Difranco
CHAPTER
9
THIS CHAPTER CELEBRATES
the ferocious fingerstyle output of
singer-songwritermdashand all-around
ldquoindie-musicianrdquo inspirationmdashAni Difranco
whose recording career spans more than
two decades since the release of her 1990
debut Today with more than 20 albums
to her credit Difranco remains fiercely in-
dependent she releases her music through
her own Righteous Babe label and she gigs
incessantly dragging her Alvarez-Yairi
Bob Weir model acoustic around the world
to spread her unique form of ldquopunk folkrdquo
In this lesson Irsquoll dissect Anirsquos signaturepick-hand moves grooves tunings and voic-
ings through an offering of ldquoin the style ofrdquo
examples many of which are adapted from
the way she currently performs her older
ldquostaplerdquo songs
Attempting to play even a small percent-
age of Difrancorsquos discography would require
a mind-boggling number of alternate tunings
In this lesson wersquoll just grapple with two
beginning with reverse drop-D (drop the
pitch of your high E string one whole step to
D) In FIGURE 1 a passage inspired by Anirsquos
live versions of ldquoAs Isrdquo ( Little Plastic Castle )
chords reminiscent of fifth-string-root barre
shapes are shifted along the neck while theopen fourth string is plucked in their midst
Use a capo at the third fret and dig your pick-
hand into the guitar strings on beats two and
fourmdashwhat are known as the ldquobackbeatsrdquomdashto
get the effect of a snare drum in your groove
(Ani uses this percussive technique in live
performance much more than on her studio
recordings particularly when she plays solo
and thus without her drummer)
FIGURE 2 a nod to ldquo32 Flavorsrdquo ( Not a
Pretty Girl ) requires the same tuningcapo
combination as FIGURE 1 and also employs
this backbeat feel All pick-hand fingerings
are indicated below the notation (Ani uses
heavy artificial fingernails reinforced bytape but traditional fingerstyle technique
with or without nails will work fine for all of
this columnrsquos examples)
Now letrsquos turn our attention to some of
the tracks Ani plays in DADGAD tuning
(low to high D A D G A D) FIGURE 3 is a
passage performed in this tuning and mod-
eled after the advanced pick-hand pattern
she employs in ldquoIf He Tries Anythingrdquo ( Out
of Range ) Notice the speedy alternation
between notes plucked with the thumb and
those played with the other digits Keep
your hand as relaxed as possible and use
your index and middle fingers to ldquobrushrdquo
through the strings in a downward motion at each
strumming indication
FIGURE 4 also performed in DADGAD is an
homage to ldquoSorry I Amrdquo ( Not a Pretty Girl ) and
it eschews the ferocity of the previous passages
opting for a gentler touchmdashopen-position ham-
mer-ons and finger slides and subtle arpeggiation
techniques interspersed with natural harmonics
A bend on the detuned sixth string helps punctu-
ate the passage
FIGURES 1 and 2 are in reverse drop-D tuning (low to high E A D G B D) capo 3All tablature positions are relative to the capoAll music sounds in a minor third (one and one half steps) higher than written
All examples are played fingerstyle p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger
p
FIGURE 1
let ring
G
p
=
3
3
mi mi p
Pre-positioning of pick-hand fingers
10 10
012
i p sim
GB
XXX
120
7 7
08
Csus2
XXX
70
3 3
05
D
XXX
00
5 5
07
XXX
70
i p
FIGURE 2
let ring Em7
p m mi
p
0
00
0
i p
Cadd2
p
X
XX
3
5
m p mi
p
0
0
0
p i m p
Dadd4
X
XX
4
3
p i mi
p
5
5 0
03
m p
Csus2
p
X
XX
3
0
i p mi
p
01
0
p
X
XX
0
FIGURES 3 and 4 are in DADGAD tuning (low to high D A D G A D)
let ring
p
FIGURE 3
Cadd4
p mi
0 3
033
i p p
33
00 2
i p
strum wfingers
03
0
p p
Fsus2
33
2
p mi
p
2 30
33
i p i p
E
33
03
0
6
9
p
Dm11
1033
0033
p
FIGURE 4
i p
Bm7
let ring
2 40
p
0 2
m
0
0
i p
2
m p
00
4
0
m p m p
Dsus
2
0
0
0
0
p
NH
24
p
121212
777
m p i p
(play 3 times)
777 0
0
0
i
2 40
p
Em11
22
strum wfingers
0000
p
A7sus4
2
2
p
0
Gsus2
0000
77
0000
55
0000
m p i p
grad release
0000 0
0
0
12
p
Dsus2
2
2 0
p
0 NH
(strum wthumb)
777
FIG 4
FIG 1
FIG 2
FIG 3