| Spanish
Romance |
| Spanish Romance is a very well known classical
guitar solo. It’s played here on a classical guitar but
it works just as well as on a steel string acoustic guitar.
If you’ve been through Charanga’s beginner Guitar
Coach you’ll be familiar with a simple arrangement of
this tune. Here it’s in its original form and is more
technically demanding.
To
listen to this track click here |
| Danny
Boy |
The tune to Danny Boy is actually a traditional
melody entitled Londonderry Air or Air of County Derry. The
origins of the melody are disputed but it first appeared in
print as early as 1855. The Danny Boy lyric written by Fred
Weatherly was combined with the traditional tune in 1913.
To prepare for the solo there are three arpeggio exercises using
the chords of G, C and Em. These are a good way to build up
your technique. To
listen to this track click here |
| Swing
Low |
Swing Low Sweet Chariot is a spiritual
that has been arranged here for solo guitar. Spirituals emerged
from the experience of enslaved African Americans, and are an
important part of a rich musical tradition in America. The song
has become associated with the England national rugby team and
is regularly sung at matches by supporters.
The technique this arrangement employs builds on the fingerstyle
skills used in O Tannenbaum. Before you begin, an exercise will
help you to work on your fingerstyle skills at the same time
as helping you become familiar with some of the fret hand chord
shapes that the solo uses.
To
listen to this track click here |
| The
Water Is Wide |
| The Water is Wide is a traditional ballad
though to have begun life as a Scottish song called O Waly Waly.
Its beautiful melody and lyrics have prompted many recordings
over the years by among others Pete Seeger and Sarah Brightman.
The tune was also used extensively in the 1994 film The River
Wild.
This solo guitar arrangement in the key of D uses dropped
D tuning. The solo may look pretty straightforward but it’s
not that easy to play well. Before starting work on it you’ll
find a couple of lessons that will help you prepare for the
solo. These lessons look at a technique of sliding between
notes and at the fret hand chord sequence used in the song.
To
listen to this track click here |
| O
Tannenbaum |
| O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree), is a traditional
German song. As well as being a popular Christmas song, it's
tune has been widely used to accommodate different lyrics. The
tune is used for the state song of four American states, and
it is also famously used for the tune for the Internationale
(The Red Flag). It has been recorded by many artists but one
to look out for is the 1982 recording of the Internationale
by Robert Wyatt.
To
listen to this track click here |
