Lesson #143, Sally Goodin' XII

Lesson #142, Sally Goodin' XI

Lesson #141, Sally Goodin' X

Lesson #140, Sally Goodin' IX

Hi All,

Here's a variation that I used for the last section of the upper break. It sort of has a reno/stanley sound to my ears. And with that variation, we are going to end the section on the upper neck portion of Sally Goodin.

In the proceeding videos, we will take a look into playing this tune down the neck.

Up she goes, Down she goes.....

David

Lesson #139, Sally Goodin' VIII

Hey Moosers,

This section is more advanced than intermediate. Please don't ever get discouraged if you can't seem to play things right away. Things will all come together in due time, no pun intended. I make mistakes all the time, and I've been playing for many years. Sometimes playing with rough edges is what makes music real..........its the real deal folks.......no spit and polish , or no cover up studio work. Sort of like life itself ain't it.

Keep it Real!

David

Lesson #138, Sally Goodin' VII

Hi All,

I would like to make mention again of the two finger position we are incorporating into this version. It is showing up a lot, and you can readily see it within the fourth position D chord in this video.

Also mentioned in this video is picking up ideas from other instruments. This version came out of what I heard in my head.....of what a fiddler maybe doing, as opposed to the traditional Scruggs type approach to this tune. Listen to everything.........and use what you like. Its all good.

Continuing on with the scale work in this section of the tune...............remember the first five notes of the G major scale we used? now lets add some lead in notes to that fragment......what are those notes? they are the 5th, 6th, and 7th notes of the G major scale!, leading to the G, or first note of the G major scale on the open 5th string. Pretty cool huh.........we split the scale pretty much in half, only this time we started with the 5th degree of the scale and worked it up from there. Again, experimentation is the key. Play around with different ideas, and the things you come up with will be your own.

Rock On,

David

Lesson #137, Sally Goodin' VI

Howdy Mooses,

In this video, we are going to use some scale work intertwined with the scruggs. Since this tune is mostly played in G..........lets use the G major scale. Actually we are using only a fragment of the G major scale, those being the first five notes.

As I've said before, there are many different ways to finger any particular scale on the five string. In this version, the G scale fragment can be thought of as a Keith/ Thompson approach.

Also in this video, we are using our thumb to fret the fifth string. This will take a little getting used to ( It did for me anyways, when I first started doing it). Your fretting hand will stretch out after awhile, so keep at it............but never over do it! If your fretting hand starts to fatigue, give yourself a good break.

Coffee anyone?

David

Lesson #136, Sally Goodin' V

Hi Everyone,

Lets take a look at the 2-4 slide using the alternating thumb roll. In one section of this version, I simply took that lick/roll, and moved it up the neck for a 7-9 slide, using the same roll. Once you learn a lick, try moving it around on the neck and listen to the different sounds you can achieve using the same roll patterns. You maybe surprised at what you can come up with.

Also in this video, I used a classic Scruggs' type lick. You will hear this lick a lot in many a bluegrass banjo playing.

Have fun,

David

Lesson #135, Sally Goodin' IV

Hi Mooses,

I made a verbal mistake in this video........the two finger position is on the "ninth and tenth frets respectively". I made a mistake and called it on the eighth and ninth.

You will notice a lot of chokes within this version. It will definitely be challenging in a few places within. Be aware of, as in this video, how in one spot we are "holding" the choke............through one roll, before we release it again on a following roll.

Keep it going.....

David

Lesson #134, Sally Goodin' III

Hi Everybody,

Take a good look at the two finger position in this video ( your index and middle fingers of your left hand). This position will be used a lot in the upper portion of this tune. As you look over this position throughout the tune, try to be aware of closed position chords it may be coming from, and also, try to be aware of any scales it may be used in.

Remember that there are only two chords throughout this whole tune, those chords in the key of G............ are G and D. If you look at the tablature, you can see where the chord changes occur. After you have a grip on this tune, try to listen for the chord changes as well. If you happen to have a guitar to accompany you, that will make it easier as well to hear the changes.

Sally On,

David

Lesson #133, Sally Goodin' II

Hey all,

In the introduction, you can see that I used a metronome. A metronome is a time keeper, it is a perfect time keeper, it doesn't lie. You can set your metronome to very slow speeds when you are starting out. You can also perceive the sound however you feel comfortable. If you want to think about that sound as being the sound of a bass (thats what I do), you can think about it that way if you wish.

I also spoke about using the capo and "transposing" in this video. Transposing means to play a piece of music in a different key that what it was written in. Using a capo is one of the easiest ways to transpose in alot of cases in Bluegrass. Lets take a look at the key of G.

The banjo is tuned to G, and that open G is associated with the third string position (barre position). Some very popular keys in Bluegrass are the keys of G, A, Bb, and B. To quickly transpose to these keys we can simple put a capo on any of the desired related frets and away we go. Remember to raise the fifth string as well whenever you use a capo. I would also like to say that we can transpose into any of the twelve keys, but the fingering will begin to change as we get into the first and second string positions.

Keep it going,

David

Lesson #132, Sally Goodin' I

Hi Everyone,

First off , let me say that even though this tune, Sally Goodin, is in the intermediate lessons, it may be considered advanced as I look through it now. I would also like to mention that we had a little technical difficulty when we taped this series, that being that there will be no camera shot of the right picking hand throughout. The good news is that we have fixed the problem for future lessons. The tab will have to be your source for some of the right hand rolls, and you can always ask me in the forums and I will help you out as much as I can.

Hope you enjoy my arrangement of this tune, and I hope it makes you want to get up off your chairs and try your hand.........or foot I should say! at a little buck dancin.

David

Lesson #131, Darlin' Corey IX

Hi Everyone,

If you hear a phrase or lick you like in any song or tune you are working on, try different things with them. Try exploring other portions of the neck with the same fingering, or use different rolls around different licks to come up with interesting sounds that you like hearing in your own playing.

Improvise!

David

Lesson #130, Darlin' Corey VIII

Hi All,

Lets move up the neck for this next version. We are going to use basically the same moves as the first version, the only difference is that we are going to use the fourth/first string position now.

Remember, you can use any of the three basic positions to explore these concepts of the harmonized blues scale.

Work you way around the neck and try to come up with your own version or variations to Darlin Corey.

David

Lesson #129, Darlin' Corey VII

Hi Everyone,

You can use some basic rolls and licks within this version to use as backup as well. Take simple rolls, and play them right through the verses, or to compliment another instrumental break. Most of the time its the simplest rolls that sound best. One of them I used in this video is a simple alt.thumb roll.

Try this song at different tempos/speeds. Its good practice to try different speeds on different tunes and songs just for right hand practice alone.

David

Lesson #128, Darlin' Corey VI

Hi All,

There are only a few things I'd like to mention from this video. One of them being that in this first version, the two finger C chord position is being held almost all the way through this first section. Even at the 4th and 5th frets, its still that C chord second string position.

Also I'd like to mention that you can choke a string in any direction you wish, whether it be towards you or away from you. Try it both ways and use what works best for you.

I'd also like to mention that is good practice to try different rolls, or anything else that differs from the tab in any way that feels, and sounds most comfortable to you. This is the best way to get you own style underway.

Roll away,

David

Lesson #127, Darlin' Corey V

Hi Everyone,

We are using mostly a two finger second string position C chord throughout a lot of this first version down the neck. You can see as well by using the second harmonization of the C blues scale, is what this song starts on.

Even though this is a folk song, you can hear a little bit of that Rock and Roll in it......its all good!

David

Lesson #126, Darlin' Corey IV

Hi All,

In this video I play and sing the song Darlin Corey so you can hear how it goes.

I played three different versions, and tabbed them out as well for you. In the first version, you can see and hear that we are using portions of the C blues scale with a two finger harmonization that came from the previous lesson. I am using the second string position with a two finger C chord to start. Use this two finger chord all the way up the neck with the blues scale, and you can see why portions of this song use the harmonization we went over at the beginning of this series.

Rock On,

David

Lesson #125, Darlin' Corey III

Hi All,

In this video you can hear that we are tuning the fourth string down from the note of D, to the note C. By doing this we are creating what they call drop C tuning. In this video you can see that I use a very handy device, thats an electronic tuner....very useful to find perfect tuning on just about any instrument!

We will use this C tuning in Darlin Corey in the upcoming videos.

Tune er' up,

or should I say down.......

David

Lesson #124, Darlin' Corey II

Hi Everyone,

There are many ways to harmonize a scale, and in this lesson we are going to harmonize the blues scale using all major chords. By playing the fourth/first string position up and down the neck with the blues scale, we are getting a Rock and Roll sound, a powerful sound, and we will relate parts of this lesson to the song Darlin Corey in the next upcoming lessons.

You can also use this harmonization using any of the three basic positions, those being the fourth/first string position, the third string position, and the second string position. Just find the root note on whatever position you'd like to use, and away you go.

Rock On,

David