I’ve really missed writing for Guitar Noise, so I’ve put together a few lessons for Christmas. This first lesson is a simple DADGAD arrangement of a very well-known, traditional French Christmas Carol titled “Il Est Né,” which translates to “He Is Born” in English. David tells me this is one of his favorites.

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A few quick performance notes: You’ll notice that throughout the arrangement I’ve used a few Celtic-style ornaments, particularly the quick pull off (also known as a “cut”) on the top open D (first) string.

This is a beautiful tune and it begs to be played slowly, so I’ve suggest a BPM of a quarter note at 118, but you may want to set your metronome to 59 or 60 for the tempo on the half note.

Note the double stops in the B Section; the slow, easy tempo will make this section easier to play.

Once again, I hope you’ve enjoyed playing this tune as much as I have. I hope to get at least one more lesson out before Christmas, so stay tuned!

He Is Born (Il est né) was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

I’ve put together a simple arrangement in the key of G. This arrangement keeps a steady rhythm on the bass, with a low G sounding on beats one and three.

Though this arrangement is relatively simple to play, there is one spot to watch out for. For the first two measures I play the bass note with my third finger. On beat one of measure three, I again play the bass note with my third finger. On beat three, the melody moves to third position, and when making that position change I quickly switch my fingering for the bass note and use my thumb instead. I also play the bass notes in measure five and six with my thumb. I try to let the four eighth notes at the start measures five and six ring together (which is why I chose the fingering across the top three strings).

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Once again, I hope you’ve enjoyed playing this tune as much as I have.

Frère Jacques was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

Christmas Songs for Guitar

• Silent Night
• Silver Bells
• O Tannebaum!
• Joy to the World
• The Little Drummer Boy
• I’ll Be Home for Christmas

One tune I play nearly every Christmas is The Christ Child’s Lullaby, a traditional song from the Outer Hebrides (known as Taladh Chriosta in Scots Gaelic). I’ve heard many versions of this song over the years, but I first learned it from an early 20th collection titled Songs of the Hebrides, which was collected and arranged by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser and Kenneth Macleod. Apparently this song is still sung on Christmas Eve for Midnight Mass in some churches in the Hebrides.

The verse and chorus are quite similar melodically, so I’ve created a composite melody for this lesson.

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This is a stark and simple arrangement, and I’ve provided only a single-line melody and the chords. There is a lot a room to add your own ornamentation, variations, and expressive nuances, but a tune like this still sounds wonderful played simply and unadorned.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tune as much as I have. Have a Merry Christmas and a glorious holiday!

The Christ Child’s Lullaby was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

Fortunately, there was a great revival of the British carols in the Victorian era (in the first part of the 19th century), including the publication of new collections of the old songs and carols. And so, this is where our brief history lesson ends, and our guitar lesson begins.

One carol that has always caught my ear is The Sussex Carol (also known as On Christmas Night All Christians Sing). The words were originally published in 1684 by Irish bishop Luke Wadding in a collection titled Small Garland of Pious and Godly Songs. The words and melody sung today were collected in the early 20th century (1919) by Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan Williams, who heard it sung by Harriet Verrall at Monk’s Gate in Sussex.

My arrangement is in standard tuning and offers few technical challenges. This tune is normally notated in 6/4, but I found 6/8 a little more readable when writing it out for guitar. The thumb plays the bass notes on the downbeats (beats one and four in each measure). I bar two I play the F# on beat six with my thumb, but you could also play it with your index finger. In bar nine, there’s a quick switch to 9/8, which moves back to 6/8 in the following measure.

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I hope to post a few more lessons in the coming weeks featuring Victorian carols, so I hope you have enjoyed this tune as much as I have.

The Sussex Carol was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

One Christmas hymn that I’ve loved ever since I first heard it is Love Came Down At Christmas. I first heard it in church – it’s in many hymnals including the Methodist and Lutheran hymnals – but Shawn Colvin also did a wonderful job of covering this song on her Holiday Songs and Lullabies CD.

The melody used for Love Came Down is a traditional Irish tune titled Gartan, which can be found in The Complete Petrie Collection of Ancient Irish Music, Part II (1902). The words were written by poet Christina G. Rosetti (1830-94). Several of her poems were used for hymns, including In the Bleak Mid-Winter, which I covered in a lesson last year.

I did this arrangement in DADGAD, a tuning I often use when arranging Irish tunes.I used a capo on the third fret to put the melody in the key of Bb (I’m fingering the tune in G instead of D).

This arrangement starts with a descending bass line to contrast the upward moving melody. I didn’t notate it, but you’ll hear it on the recording – I like to add a quick little half step hammer-on and pull-off starting on the second fret on the first string on beat four. The tricky part of the arrangement comes in measure three, where I finger the C on the third fret of the fifth string with my first finger and the G on the fifth fret of the fourth string with my fourth finger, moving you quickly to third position. I put both fingers down at the same down even though they are played on separate beats. You do the same thing in measure four, playing in second position for the first two beats, and third position on the last two beats.

In measure five, I use an ascending bass line (suggesting E minor instead of G major) for a little variation. Measure seven has the quick jump to third position, just like measure three.

On my recording, I added a second guitar part on the third time through tune. The second part adds the melody played as harmonics using a slightly different tuning, DADGAB, to accomodate the melody.

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This is a beautiful Christmas hymn, and a fun one to play in DADGAD. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning this tune as much as I have.

Love Came Down At Christmas – A Christmas Hymn was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

Jigs are in 6/8 time, which can take some getting used to if you haven’t flatpicked many jigs or used a lot of triplets in your playing.

There are a few general guidelines to flatpicking jigs. Jigs are often played with a “lilt” by slightly lengthening the first eighth note of a triplet (on the downstroke) and subsequently shortening the second eighth note (on the upstroke). Another item to consider is picking direction. Unlike reels, which are normally played using alternating picking, with jigs we’ll use a downstroke on the downbeats to give them emphasis, which in turn helps give the tune a rhythmic drive. For example, we’ll pick triplets Down-Up-Down Down-Up-Down (DUD DUD) instead of alternating (DUD UDU). This is a guideline, not a rule…you may like the sound of alternating picking better, and in some places, sticking with one picking pattern may be awkward.

The tune for this lesson is a well-known jig called Sean Bui (“Yellow John” in Irish). I learned this tune from bouzouki player Roger Landes many years ago, and it’s one of the first tunes I learned when I was playing uilleann pipes. You’ll see a few staccato triplets on the fourth string open D (see the Humours of Tulla lesson for more details), but there’s nothing really new here as far as ornamentation (look for a more in depth lesson on ornamentation in the future). This tune is a little unusual in that the B section is twice as long as the A section, but there is a nice little variation in the last few bars of the B section that give the tune a little twist.

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Also check out… The Humours of Tulla – Irish Flatpicking Guitar

Sean Bui – Irish Flatpicking Guitar was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

Now on to the goods…

Here are four very common repeating licks, all notated in the key of A.

The first repeating lick is one of the first licks I learned on guitar. If you’ve heard a rock guitar solo, you’ve heard this lick. Ace Frehley of Kiss uses it extensively.

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The next repeating lick is a variation of the first lick. I believe this lick can be heard in Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd (it’s in the key of G on that particular recording).

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The third repeating lick is a triplet lick reminiscent of Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.

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The last repeating lick of this lesson is one I learned from Terry Kath’s guitar solo in the song 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago.

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All the MP3 files that accompany this lesson were recorded at 90 BPM, in case you’re interested. This lesson was a lot of fun to put together, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it too.

Repetition Rocks was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

I mostly play Irish music, and though there are many great tunes from the other Celtic traditions, I’ll be covering traditional Irish tunes for now.

In traditional Irish music, there are several types of tunes, including reels, jigs, and hornpipes. Probably the most popular is the reel, and that’s where we’ll start.

Reels are normally in cut time (2/2), and on guitar you’ll use alternate picking (Down-Up-Down-Up) most of the time. Traditional players tend to give reels a “lilt” by slightly lengthening the first eighth note (on the downstroke) and subsequently shortening the second eighth note (on the upstroke) in each group of two eighth notes. If you’re familiar with “swing eighths” from jazz or the basic blues shuffle (which you can learn in the Guitar Noise lesson Before You Accuse Me) then you’ll have no problem with this type of rhythmic pattern.

While DADGAD is nice for playing backup, you’ll find standard tuning works great for flatpicking Irish tunes, which are mostly played in the keys of D, G, Em, and Am, and on occasion, in a few in other keys and modes such as Bm and A or modes like D or A mixolydian. Some guitarists will use dropped D (DADGBE), as it offers the advantage of a D drone in the bass without leaving standard tuning for playing the melody. Of course, you can flatpick in DADGAD or other open tunings too.

Before starting the tune, let’s take a look at Celtic-style ornaments for guitar.

Ornaments for guitar can be broken down into right hand ornaments and left hand ornaments. In the last lesson there were a few left hand ornaments – “the cut” and the “strike.” For this lesson we’ll learn a right hand ornament commonly known as a triplet, also called a staccato triplet (in reference to how it’s commonly played on the uilleann pipes).

The term “triplet” in this case is a bit of a misnomer, as it’s generally played as two 16ths followed by an eighth note. However, keeping with tradition, I’ll call it a triplet as well. A triplet can be played on a single pitch, or it can use two or three different notes. In this tune we’ll use a single-note triplet and a three-note triplet.

One note about the triplet – it’s common to use Down-Up-Down (DUD) for the triplet and then use another downstroke for the following note on the beat, giving you DUD D. There are exceptions, and feel free to use what feels comfortable for you. However, using downstrokes on the downbeats will give the tune more of the lilt. That’s one reason why I (and many guitarists) play them this way, as you’ll hear on the MP3 examples.

While trying to think of a good first tune for a flatpicking lesson, I had the good fortune to be called to do a few sessions for the Irish rock band The Elders. The title song of their new CD “Racing the Tide” features a traditional Irish session tune called The Humours of Tulla, which is very nice reel in the key of D, and also happens to fit very nicely on guitar. As a side note, I actually played this tune on penny whistle for the session, and the tune was in the key of A.

To start with, we’ll play the tune with no ornamentation. Here’s a plain “bare-bones” version.

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Now we’ll add a few ornaments. In bars four, five, nine, and ten, I’ve added a B-C#-D three-note triplet (notated now as two sixteenths and an eighth), and in bars six, seven, and eight, I’ve added a single-note triplet on the F# on the second fret of the first string. To make it a bit more musical, I’ve also added a simple chord progression.

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Traditional Irish tunes are not only a lot of fun to play, but they can also give you a good technical workout. Not all tunes fall so easily on the fretboard as this one, but if you enjoy this type of music, grab a tune book or two, and try working up a few arrangements of your own. And be sure to listen to as many Celtic CDs as you can – listening to the music itself is one of the best ways possible to pick up on the nuances of playing your guitar in Celtic style.

Also check out… Sean Bui – Irish Flatpicking Guitar

The Humours of Tulla – Irish Flatpicking Guitar was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

I first heard this tune on the 1986 LP of the same name by the family-based Donegal band Na Casaidigh (The Cassidys). I’ve seen this tune classified both as an air and as a 3/4 time march (a marching tune of the O’Donovan family), but either way, you won’t want to play this tune too fast.

Before we move on to the tune, let’s take a quick overview of ornamentation. Ornaments in Irish music are used to embellish or decorate the melody. This adds variety and expressiveness to the music, which makes it more interesting to listen to. Unlike ornaments used in classical music, an ornament in Irish music is generally used to articulate a note instead of being perceived as a separate note on to itself. Irish ornaments tend to be more of a rhythmic device instead of a melodic one.

There are no hard and fast rules for ornamentation, and generally it is up to the player’s discretion and taste to dictate the number and type of ornaments to play, if any. Ornaments will be played slightly differently from instrument to instrument (mostly due to the physical differences in the instruments), but there is a known traditional method of ornamentation for the “core” instruments (fiddle, uilleann pipes, flute, and penny whistle) that most players are familiar with and other instruments typically emulate.

One of the most common ornaments used in Irish music is a single-note ornament called a “cut.” Though often notated like a grace note, the cut is played a little differently. A cut is played so quickly as to be barely perceptible and it differs from classical-style grace note in that a cut is played directly on the beat, not before it. A cut can be thought of as an articulation to the note it precedes and having no time value of its own. The cut becomes part of the “attack” of the note that follows, which will gives that note emphasis. The note used for a cut has a higher pitch than the note it is articulating, normally by one or two scale steps. On the guitar, the cut is played using a pull-off.

Another common single-note ornament is the “strike,” which is similar to a cut, except that it is lower than the note it is articulating. The strike can be played with a hammer-on on the guitar.

The main thing to remember is that the cut (and strike) should be played so quickly as not to be perceived as a separate note, but instead so that is has unidentifiable pitch and duration.

The cut comes from the piping tradition where it is commonly used to “cut” two successive notes of the same pitch. Highland bagpipes are played with a continuous stream of air and there is no way to “stop” the chanter to insert silence between two repeated notes (this isn’t true of all bagpipes, though). So to play the same pitch in succession, a cut is placed between the two notes.

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A cut can also be used to add emphasis to a particular note, regardless if it is preceded by the same pitch or not.

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Now on to the tune…

The bass line is fairly simple, with the right hand thumb playing steady quarter notes. The bass pattern changes in the B section, so that may be something you want to practice separately. Though I’ve notated several ornaments, remember, ornaments are entirely optional and it’s up to you if and when you want to play them.

The left hand fingering for this tune is fairly consistent, and once you place your fingers on the fretboard, you won’t have to move them much. I play the A on the second fret of the third string with my index finger, the D on the third fret of the second string with my ring finger, and the G on the third fret of the first string with my pinky. I play the fingered bass notes (G on the third fret of the sixth string, and C on the third fret of the fifth string) with my middle finger. I do play the F# in bar four with my thumb so I can keep my index finger on the third string. Doing this, you’ll want to play the cut (the B on the fourth fret of the third string) with your pinky. You could also use your middle finger, but that will require a little more finger movement.

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I hope to cover Irish ornamentation for guitar in much more depth in a future lesson. However, you should be able to get a lot of mileage from the cut and strike, as these ornaments are quite useful and commonly used in traditional music.

Once again, I hope you’ve enjoyed learning this lovely tune as much as I have.

Slán go fóill.

The Eagle’s Whistle was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

Before we venture off to the world of jigs, reels, and hornpipes, we’ll start with some simple tunes based on traditional songs and airs. One of my favorite Irish songs, Buachaill On Eirne (Boy From Ireland), is often played on Irish uilleann pipes and I first learnt it from a book titled Learn to Play Uilleann Pipes with the Armagh Pipers Club by Eithne and H.B. Vallely. While this is a common tune that most Irish musicians will know, it is perhaps better known in it’s song form, sung in the Irish language. This beautiful song has been recorded many times, perhaps the most well known version is from Clanadd’s LP Macalla in 1985. Another popular recording is by The Corrs, who recorded Buachaill on Eirne on their CD Home, which was released in 2005.

This tune is typically played in the key of G, and though my arrangement is in the key of G, I’ve used a capo on the third fret, so it will sound in Bb. The entire arrangement stays in first position and should present little difficulty. While no ornaments have been notated, I normally use a few simple ornaments when I play it. I quickly arrpegiate some of the chords on the downbeats, usually the G chords. Another ornament I use is a hammer-on . One spot is in bar four, where I hammer on from the open D to the second fret E on the fifth string. Don’t fret (pun intended), I’ll be covering ornaments in detail in upcoming lessons.

I hope you enjoy learning this great Irish tune as much as I have…

Slán go fóill (goodbye for now).

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Buachaill On Eirne was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

The lyrics are based on a poem written in 1849 by Dr Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810-1876), a Unitarian minister who lived in Massachusetts. Sears, a champion of the disadvantaged and downtrodden, wrote the poem while preparing for a Christmas sermon. The poem was published shortly thereafter in the “Christian Register” in December of 1849.

Several melodies have been associated with this carol, including the tune Noel by Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842-1900), who is perhaps better known as one half of the popular musical writing team of Gilbert and Sullivan. However, the melody now associated with Midnight Clear is Carol, which was written by Richard Storrs Willis (1819-1900). Willis, also from Massachusetts, studied composition in Germany and was a friend of composer Felix Mendelssohn. Willis returned to American in 1848 and later served as a music critic for the New York Tribune and The Musical Times (where he also worked as an editor). Willis somehow came across the Sears’ poem (probably in the Christian Register) and discovered that one of his melodies fit the poem perfectly.

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear was sung during the holidays in World War I by American soldiers in the trenches of France. Midnight Clear was also a holiday favorite at the U.S.O shows of World War II, Bing Crosby being one notable entertainer who sang it for the troops. The song’s message of “Peace on Earth” was one of great poignancy.

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Most of this arrangement is in first position and uses familiar chord shapes in the key of C. I use my left hand thumb in a few spots to fret the bass notes on the low E string. In measures three and four, I use my thumb to fret the bass note F, my second finger for the F#, and my thumb again for the G. In measure 11, I use my thumb for the bass note G, and then my second finger for the F# and the subsequent G in measure 12. I also use my thumb for the bass note F in measure seven. In measure nine, I play the second fret E on the fourth string with my third finger. I slide from the E to the F# on the fourth string with my third finger and then stretch with my first finger to play the G# on the third string. In measure 11 I create a harp effect by letting the melody notes ring into one another, which is why I chose to play the C on the fifth fret of the third string instead of on the first fret of the second string.

I hope you’ve had as much fun learning this beautiful Christmas carol as I have. Have a very merry Christmas and happy holidays to all.

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

One technique that I’ve used in my DADGAD arrangements is a “harp-like” effect that is produced by allowing two or more notes to ring together. This effect can also be used in standard tuning, and I’ve used it in a few spots in this arrangement.

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In most cases this shouldn”t cause you any trouble – just let the adjacent notes ring together. Spots where you can do this are in measure one (F# and G), measure three (B and A), measure five (G and F#), measure seven (B and A), and measure 10 (B to A).

But there are two spots that may prove to be a little more difficult due to the fact that the higher note is played on the lower string, contrary to what we”re used to doing. In measure six, instead of playing the melody note ‘A’ on the second fret of the third string, I’m using the ‘A’ on the seventh fret of the fourth string so I can let it sustain while playing the adjacent open G string. In measure eight I play the ‘C’ on the fifth fret of the third string instead of using the first fret of the second string. Here I allow the ‘C’ on the third string to ring while I play the adjacent open B string. These are awkward maneuvers, but well worth the effort for the sound it provides. If you find this difficult, feel free to play those two notes in their first position locations.

I hope you enjoy playing this arrangement as much as I do. Until next time, happy holidays!

Infant Holy Infant Lowly was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

One that really struck me was The Huron Carol, a Christmas hymn written by Jean de Brebeuf (1593-1649) in Quebec in 1643. This carol is based on a 16th century traditional French melody Une Jeune Pucelle (A Young Maid). Brebeuf, a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie, wrote the lyrics in the Huron language so he could tell the story of the birth of Jesus to the Huron people. Originally titled Jesous Ahatonhia, the carol was later translated to French (Jesus est ne) by another Jesuit priest. In 1926 the lyrics were translated to English by poet Jesse Edgar Middleton (1872-1960), where it became known as ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime.

The Huron Carol was recorded by Bruce Cockburn on his 1993 Christmas CD, and is still commonly sung in churches across Canada. ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime is included in many hymnals, including the Methodist hymnal, which is where I first remember seeing it.

The hymn is in the key of G minor, and I immediately tuned my guitar to open G minor to see how well the tune would fit in that tuning. I was quite pleased to find that the melody fit perfectly, and my arrangement fell into place quickly. Though I had never used open G minor before, I knew that English guitarist John Renbourn had used it, and might be a good tuning for a 16th century melody.

Open G minor (DGDGBbD) is similar to the open G tuning you may already be familiar with (DGDGBD), except that the B is lowered a half step to Bb. To get into open G minor, lower your first and sixth strings down a full step from E to D, lower your fifth string down a step from A to G, and lower your second string down a half step from B to Bb.

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Like playing in DADGAD, this piece is best played by letting notes ring together when possible. The arrangement is pretty straight forward, but there are a few spots they might trip you up. In bars five and six, the melody is repeated but the bass notes have changed, and so has the fingering for the melody. On beat two of bar five, play the Bb on the open second string and play the C on the third string. This may feel a little awkward at first, as typically you play lower pitches when moving to a lower string. In this case the melody note is a step higher. However, this makes it easier to play the new bass notes. I finger bar five using the index finger on the Eb in the bass, the third finger on the A, second finger for the C on the fifth fret of the fifth string, and the third finger for the C on the fifth fret of the third string. If you like, you can play bars five and six using the same bass notes from bars one and two. The new bass provides a nice variation, though.

In bar 13, slide up to C and G with your second and third fingers. You can leave the open third string (G) ringing instead of picking it again. Slide from F to Eb with your first finger in bar 14. I move my right hand index finger back to the third fret for the F note in bar 15. In bar 16, play the C on the fifth fret of the fifth string so you can play the G on the fourth string with your little finger.

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning this new tuning as much as I have.

The Huron Carol was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

I’ve used the DADGAD tuning for this arrangement, and as it’s not too technically demanding, you can focus most of your energy on the feel of the piece. Play the tune at a nice moderate tempo and try not to rush. Allow the melody notes to sustain and ring together where ever possible, which will give the piece a harp-like sound. For example, in bar 2 I play the last two eighth notes of the measure using the open G and A strings, letting them ring together briefly. Hold each bass note for its full value, which will give the bass line a nice stately feel. I also let the bass notes ring together for the most part, but I do dampen the fourth string open D with my left hand ring finger when moving down to the C# in bars 2 and 6.

Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions. Just send me an e-mail via the contact form on my web site or directly at dougsparling@yahoo.com.

The King of Love My Shepherd Is was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

My favorite hymns have always been those that use traditional Celtic melodies for the hymn tune. In some cases, the melody may be an original composition, but based on a traditional tune or folk song. That’s the case with In The Bleak Mid-Winter, a well-known hymn from the British Christmas tradition.

Perhaps best known for his orchestral masterpiece The Planets, Gustav Holst (1874-1934) also left his mark on hymnody by composing the melody to the hymn In The Bleak Mid-Winter. Holst’s melody, Cranham (named after the town in which it was written), was set to a poem written by English poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), which had been previously published in her posthumous collection Poetic Works. In The Bleak Mid-Winter was first published in The English Hymnal in 1906, and has always been one of Holst’s most popular compositions.

The melody Cranham was based on a folk tune, which is not surprising as Holst’s music was influenced by English folk song (to which he was introduced by lifelong friend Ralph Vaughan Williams). The beauty and simplicity of folk song struck a chord with Holst, inspiring him greatly.

This simple arrangement uses DADGAD tuning and should be played in a harp-like manner, that is, allowing notes to ring together where possible. This ringing of notes and open strings is a common technique used with DADGAD and is part of the tuning’s great appeal. The four-bar introduction, which is a simple repeated arpeggiated chord, and the ascending lines in measure eight and sixteen should be played in a harp-like fashion, allowing the notes to sustain and ring together. Another spot where the notes should ring freely is in measure five, where I’ve placed the first three notes of the melody on three adjacent strings. The first note of measure five (B) could have easily been played on the second string, but playing it on the third string allows you to sustain that note as you play the C on the second string and D on the open first string.

This is a simple, beautiful melody, so I’ve left the arrangement quite sparse. Allowing the melody notes to ring together is what brings this arrangement to life.

In The Bleak Midwinter was written by Doug Sparling for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise