The Heritage Fingerstyle Guitar Arrangements Includes FREE CD! By Stuart Ryan The Heritage An Overview PICKING HAND TECHNIQUES There are several diferent approaches to the picking must ensure your fretting hand is clean and accurate hand that you will encounter in this book. Pieces so you can really keep these strings sounding. When like ‘Amazing Grace’ rely on the traditional ‘pima’ building your own arrangements you’ll fnd DADGAD is fngerpicking approach. In this system the thumb is ideal for pieces from the Irish and Scottish canon (and typically used to pluck the 6th, 5th and 4th strings whilst beyond) but you may come to a point where you fnd it the index, middle and ring fngers pluck 3rd, 2nd and always drags you to the key of D so make sure you try 1st strings respectively. Of course there are variations arranging in some other keys when using this tuning! on these patterns and sometimes the fngers move to diferent strings but if you come from a traditional Standard tuning is ideal for pieces requiring walking fngerpicking background then you will probably be basslines or chords that are commonly associated with already familiar with this approach. Other pieces like Gospel and Blues and you’ll fnd this used on pieces ‘Since I Lay My Burden Down’ rely on the traditional like ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot.’ American blues/Travis picking system where the thumb A close cousin of Standard tuning is Drop D where the is used to pluck alternating basslines on the 6th, 5th and 6th string is lowered a tone from E to D. This is used in 4th strings and the remaining strings are mostly plucked ‘Shenandoah’ and is particularly efective when you are with the index and middle fngers. Indeed as you will see arranging in the key of D Major or minor and want to add in the case of ‘Since I Lay my Burden Down’ this system some low end weight to things – a sustained open 6th is sometimes reduced down to just the picking hand string can be a great device to use in cases like these. thumb and index fnger. This approach was popularized by the great American Country guitarist Merle Travis in You’ll also fnd some tunings that are more commonly the 1930s and 40s though you will also fnd it in the Delta associated with Blues and slide – open G major Blues and legendary blues artists like Robert Johnson (DGDGBD) is used for ‘Just A Closer Walk With Thee’ and Mississippi John Hurt. The Celtic reels ‘The Bucks of and open D minor (DADFAD) is used for ‘Wayfaring Oranmore’ and ‘Lord Gordon’s Reel’ use a system that is Stranger.’ These tunings can provide the open strings designed to mimic the performance and ornamentation required for the alternating basslines and some of fddle and harp players. To this end its foundation is in interesting harmonies that may not fall under the fngers the ‘pima’ approach discussed earlier but there are also so easily in standard or other tunings. some demanding techniques unique to this style such as executing rapid phrases mimicking fddle bowstrokes (usually on the 1st string but also on the 4th, 3rd and SUGGESTED FINGERINGS 2nd strings on occasion). The various picking systems are discussed in more detail in the performance notes for I have added suggested detailed picking and fretting each piece and it’s worth going into each arrangement hand fngerings for each piece but remember that these with a good sense of how the picking hand will be elements are entirely subjective, there is no defnitive way working each time. to play these pieces so if you fnd alternate fngerings that work better for you then don’t hesitate to use them! TUNINGS/ALTERNATE TUNINGS You’ll see fretting hand fngerings by the note heads on the stave as follows – Some pieces seem to ‘sit’ well in standard tuning whilst others demand an altered tuning in order to make them 1 = Index or First Finger work on the fretboard. Celtic reels, airs and jigs are 2 = Middle or Second Finger typically drawn towards DADGAD tuning as the modal 3 = Ring or Third Finger nature of this tuning and the I-IV-V relationship between 4 = Little or Fourth Finger the D, G and A strings respectively allows for simple (sometimes referred to as the ‘Pinky’) open string accompaniments to be played against The picking hand fngerings are notated as follows – the complex melody fgures. This tuning is also ideal for slower Irish and Scottish airs or harp pieces where p = Thumb you can really exploit the evocative, wistful harmonies i = Index fnger that can be found within DADGAD tuning, e.g. in m = Middle fnger the arrangement of ‘Bridget Cruz’ which would have a = Ring or Anular fnger originally found its setting on a wire strung harp. The ringing, open strings are ideal for these pieces but you 6 Stuart Ryan The Heritage Lord Gordon’s Reel This up-tempo reel from Ireland is one of my favourite pieces to play in this style. It does, however, contain a number of challenges from the speed of the piece to the particular phrasing and techniques required of the picking hand that are outlined in the performance notes. Compared to many of the other arrangements in the book this one is actually quite sparse – really it is just a melody line with bass note accompaniment which is a common way of arranging tunes like these. The fact that most of the bass notes are open strings gives the fretting hand more time to General Overview focus on the melody. In terms of learning pieces like these I would isolate the melody line frst and then add the bass accompaniment when you have the melody fowing smoothly. If you are new to the fddle style embellishment technique that I describe in the performance notes then I’d start really slowly with this particular element of the arrangement. For further inspiration check out the playing of the wonderful Scottish guitarist Tony McManus who specializes in this style and has adapted the techniques of the fddle onto guitar with a masterful level of skill. 36 Stuart Ryan The Heritage Traditional, arranged by Stuart Ryan PERFORMANCE NOTES Bar 1 – The sheer speed of reels arranged for solo Bar 11 – Some challenging work for the fretting hand fngerstyle guitar often demands a good, efcient legato here with bass notes on fret fve of the 6th string quickly technique (hammer-ons/pull-ofs) and that is at the heart followed by fret two on the 5th string. of this arrangement. Work slowly so the legato is clean and, just as importantly, in time. Bar 15 – It’s very common to have moving basslines in fngerstyle arrangements and that’s the case here – I’ve Bar 4 – The notes on string 4, fret two feature a written in suggested fretting hand fngers to make sure common rhythmic embellishment to mimic the bow- you can keep these bass notes sounding whilst the strokes of the fddle in traditional music and continues melody moves against them. a theme also examined in my previous book, ‘The Tradition.’ Executing this embellishment is a challenge Bar 18 – The rhythmic embellishment that we and the picking hand fngering is subjective. I choose encountered in bar four is now moved onto the 1st to use an alternating p/i/p/I pattern for this particular string. The picking hand pattern is more straightforward embellishment though other players prefer to use a here, the pull of takes care of the second note (fret down/up/down/up alternating stroke with the picking seven, string 1) whilst the rapid ‘ami’ pick hand stroke is hand thumb (and I do sometimes use this myself). used to sound the following notes. Another approach is to combine p, i, and m fngers on this string so try all the options to see which works best Bar 20 – It’s not essential to use the picking hand for you. thumb to strike the notes on the 2nd string at the end of this bar but it is my preference as it allows you to focus Bar 8 – Although many of these pieces can be the all important ‘ami’ pickstroke on the 1st string. performed with the p, i and m fngers on the picking hand doing most of the work there are also phrases Bar 26 – The melody remains intact here but there is which demand a more traditional pima approach as a bit more movement on the bass so make sure the with the melody on beat one here. Also pay attention picking hand thumb is comfortable with accurately to the triplet at the start of this phrase as it requires a moving into place each time. sudden acceleration with the picking hand. Stuart Ryan The Heritage 37 Lord Gordon’s Reel Traditional, arranged for solo acoustic guitar by Stuart Ryan DADGAD Tuning, Capo 2nd Fret 38 Stuart Ryan The Heritage Sally Gardens This beautiful Irish air derives from a poem by W B Yeats. He was trying to re-create the sound of ‘The Rambling Boys of Pleasure’, a traditional Irish folk song he overheard an old woman singing. However, the melody to accompany the lyrics of ‘Sally Gardens’ ended up coming from another old Irish air, ‘The Maids of Mourne Shore’. This tune is very popular within traditional circles and will be a great asset to any performance set - indeed I’ve placed this one in many live settings and it has always gone down well.