Stone Angel

Here is another song using the Dropped D Tuning where you lower the low E string to D.  I re-recorded this recently with no overdubbing and just solo guitar and vocal, since most of the recorded versions were not clear enough to hear the guitar work very well.  For this recording I also used a full verse intro so that the guitar work could be clearly heard on its own.

Here are the chords as used in the Dropped D Tuning:

And here is the complete music, tablature, melody line and chords:

Here is the version  recorded with the Wetband and featuring some excellent harmonica and harmony vocals by Eric:

Stone Angel Recorded with the Wetband

No Road Home - High Chords Up the Neck

Here is a song in standard tuning that I strum with my fingers while adding some bass with my thumb pick, but it also works well with a flat pick.  I like the opportunity to add some thumb picked bass.

 The opening descent is also used for the even numbered verses.  It is done from way up the neck on the 10th fret starting with three string chords (h), using fingers and the palm to dampen the other strings. The fretting hand fingering is arranged so that the 3rd finger stays on the 3rd string and can achieve a slide effect.  Some of these high chords are used elsewhere in the song as indicated by (h).  I usually slide up from Am/F to G(h).  The Am/F would be an F if just the three fretted strings were being played, but I generally involve other strings at this point for a fuller sound.

The guitar technique was not always easy to hear on the version of this song recorded with the Wetband, so the above demo was newly recorded to highlight the guitar work.  Here is the Wetband recording done with lots of great vocals, guitar and bass added by the band:  

Digging a Well

Here is a version done on my classical guitar.  I composed a new intro for this version which I will notate here at some later date.  This track is just guitar and vocal with no overdubbing:

Here are the chords used, though I usually pick notes from these rather than strum.  

The F#m and E are full barr chords while the D is played open with notes sometime added:

Here are the notes, tablature and slowed down music for the picking pattern used throughout.  The indicated slides up and down are optional.  I usually include them now, but you will notice for this recording I do them with a quiet vocal:

Putting it all together, here are the notes, tab, chords and vocal in the key of F#m:

This tablature was created using a great freeware program:  

Musescore

Musescore is completely free with no limitations and has developed an amazing online community of musicians.  Once you have entered your tablature or sheet music, you can experiment with different sounds.  Here is one of my favorites:  Digging a Well on Trumpet:

Here is the  lone guitar and lead vocal track for the song Digging a Well as recorded for the Wetband CD of that name.  We had four people on a four track recorder, so my guitar and vocal track were mixed through my Yorkville Amp as we were recording.  This is the reason that the acoustic guitar seems so amped up and the thumb picked bass line so strong.  A lot of barr chords were used and this led to some string buzzing that gave a kind of vibraslap effect. This song is in the key of F#m (A for harmonica) and was done in the Dropped D tuning where the low E string is tuned down to D and yields some heavy duty bass:

The song rolls along grim and relentless, but was given an added spark by the background vocal and excellent guitar of Eric Dennis on the version released on the Wetband Digging a Well CD.  Ted added some great bass guitar as well.  Later on our musical friend Squeeler Jake added some amazing lead guitar:

Into the Rhythm of Love - FingerpIcking in Dropped D

The song Into the Rhythm of Love has an interesting fingerpicking guitar part to look at.  It is in standard tuning and the picking is done with a thumb pick and the 2nd and 3rd fingers. 

 Here are the basic chords and left hand fingerings for the verses.  Note that these are the chord shapes used for picking.  There is no strumming in this song.  Sometimes I do add an index finger strum when I am doing the bass with my thumb and picking with the 2nd and 3rd fingers.  The left hand fingerings are shown below the lyrics:

Note that I play the Bm7 up on the 7th fret.  The second and third fingers are slid up and down the fretboard in the same position on the third and fourth strings. The sliding action is used as an effect, particularly when going from Bsus2 up to Bm7.

Note in red that after the A/F# the fourth finger adds a note as a transitional effect.

The picking is done with a thumb pick and the second and third fingers.  Here it is for the Bsus2 chord with left hand fingers on the 2nd and 4th frets:

 
In the above, the thumb picks out a steady bass on the 5th or A string.  The following music demo separates the four chords of the verse so they can each be heard more clearly:



Here are the chords for the chorus.  As with the verses these are the chord shapes used for picking.  There is no strumming in this piece:

And here is the classical guitar solo based on this song, recorded on my telephone but should give a feel for how this song can become a classical guitar piece:

Now is the Time - Finger Picking Good

Here is another song from the Yesterday's Dust CD released by Eric Dennis and myself:  Now is the Time.  Have always enjoyed the finger picking in this one.  For emphasis I occasionally add a strum with the index finger while picking with the 2nd and 3rd fingers.  Note:  This is played in Dropped D Tuning with the low E string tuned down to D.  Here is a version with just guitar, vocal and no overdubbing:

Here are the tab and notes for the first part of the Intro.  Note:  The H indicates a Hammer-on effect where you play the first notes and get the second ones by hammering down on the indicated frets.  The vertical line between some notes indicates that they are "pinched" with the thumb and 2nd finger:

And here is the above section slowed down so it is easier to follow the tab:



Here is the second part of the Intro which is also used as a break between verses:

Here are the tab and notes for the final line of each verse:

During the chorus sections I tend to strum the chords for emphasis with the index finger while picking with the 2nd and 3rd fingers, so here are the chord diagrams which go along with the above tablature as well as the final G(+1.3) which ends the song.  Note:  +1.3 merely indicates you are adding the 1st string 3rd fret note:

And here are the rising chords used for the last line of each verse:

 Eric Dennis added some excellent harmonica and harmony vocals to this one for the Yesterday's Dust CD.  Click on the CD cover to listen to this and other songs from the CD:




I like to think of this song as my version of the ancient Greek Seikolos Epitaph which is considered to be the oldest surviving complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world.  The lyrics are:  

 As long as you live, shine, 
 Let nothing grieve you beyond measure. 
 For your life is short, 
 And time will claim its toll.

A beautiful rendition from the Atrium Musicae de Madrid directed by Gregorio Paniagua, recorded in 1979:

Equilibrium: Further explorations into the Dropped D tuning

Uncredited picture from gomerblog.com

Equilibrium:  This song is once again in the Dropped D Tuning where the 6th or low E string is tuned down to a D.  The song is mainly strummed with some bass notes sometimes thumbpicked for emphasis.  This track just features the Solo Guitar and Lead Vocal tracks so that the guitar technique is easier to hear:  

Here is the first set of chords.  For convenience I decided to keep some of the names from standard tuning chords, although this is not strictly accurate.  The Fmaj7 is actually probably closer to Dm7 in this tuning:

And here is the next set of chords.  In the Dm7/F the first finger position is not used at first, but does come in useful in the chorus when the 4th finger is lifted and the Dm6 is played.  The G chord is the standard one I use for G in Dropped D Tuning:

This song appears on the Yesterday's Dust CD released by Eric Dennis and myself.  Eric added some great harmony vocals.  Click on the CD cover to listen to this and other songs from the CD:

Big Round Summer Moon

 
Big Round Summer Moon:  another song using the Dropped D tuning (when you lower the low E string down to D).  This song is mainly fast strumming.  This is an example of a song that grew out of a guitar riff I worked out and that knocked around in my head until I finally expanded it into a song.  The melody closely follows the riff and so I call the riff an "instrumental verse" and use it for both the intro and breaks.

This take just includes the solo guitar and vocal, so that the guitar work comes out clearly. 

 Here are the chords for the intro riff:

 These chords are played by moving the first three fingers up and down the fretboard.  That is why the initial D chord has an odd and seemingly awkward fingering.  This is done so that it can be shifted quickly to the Dm formation used further up the neck.  Also, this allows for a slide effect.  I use the numbers below the chords to show the progression and the A is the standard A chord:

A-----1-2-3-4-3-4  3-4-5-4-3--  4-3-5-4-6--  5-4-3---2---1---A

And here is the riff played at a slower pace:

Here are the chords that are used for the first part of each verse.  The first three F# chords are played successively where the F#m is shown on the lyric sheet.  There is a slide effect using an A chord shape to the Am7 on the fifth fret and for the Dmaj7 on the seventh fret.

Here are the chords used for the second part of each verse.  As we are in Dropped D tuning, the barr for Bm only goes across five strings and the sixth string is played open.  The G chord is the way I usually play G in Dropped D tuning.  A and D chords are played in the standard way.

This recording forms the basis for the version on the Yesterday's Dust, Along the Way CD that I did with Eric Dennis, who added some great harmonica and harmony vocals to this song: 

Yesterday's Dust, Along the Way 

Some Traveling Music Please

Here is another song using the Dropped D Tuning that we looked at last time:  Traveling On (Part 1 of the Traveling Trilogy).  This is just the lone guitar and vocal so that the guitar work is easier to hear.  I used my electric guitar for this recording, but it works fine on acoustic guitar as well.


Here are the lyrics and basic chords (the chords I use in Dropped D tuning are listed after the lyrics):

Here is the first set of chords.  The open circle in the D chord indicates that this note (played with the index finger) rhythmically alternates with the open A.  In this song I often slide up to the D from a D formation on the first fret.  When moving from the D into the bridge sections, I walk up and down the 5th string bass notes:  A B C A.  For the F chord, the P5 and P4 represent when a pinky note is added to the chord as per the lyric and chord sheet:

Here is the next set of  chords.  The chords with the (h) indicate they are played high up the fretboard and are used at the end of lines as shown on the lyric sheet.  There is a slide from the C(h) to D(h) and again from the D(h) to Am(h).  The barr in the Bm is only across five strings and the 6th string (D in Dropped D Tuning) is played open.

Here are the final two chords.  The E/E7 indicates that you move smoothly from E to E7.  The /G indicates that you slide the E up three frets where it becomes a G.

When I released this song in  the Traveling Trilogy, I decided to add some bass (done with my Yamaha keyboard) and slide guitar (since there was already a lot of sliding going on):

Woody's Traveling Trilogy

Dropped D tuning to get a strong bass line

A tuning I have come to use a lot is the Dropped D tuning where you lower the 6th or low E string down to D.  I generally do this by pinch playing it and the D or fourth string and lowering the 6th strung until they sound a clear octave apart.

In the song Cold and Dark I use this tuning to easily generate a strong bass line with the thumb pick while strumming the higher strings with the fingers.  

This recording features just the guitar and vocal tracks recorded in one take and without enhancing them or adding any effects at all.  The thumb picked bass line comes out strongly even without enhancing it in any way through studio effects.  The chord fingerings used for this one are very easy and are given below the music.

For the F, G and A chords I barr the lower three strings with the 2nd finger and slide this barr as I move it up and down.  This allows the thumb pick to generate a bass line using only the 6th string, while the other two barred strings generate the chords and are usually dampened slightly by barring so that only the 6th string is fully down.

At certain points I lift the barr and lead into the next chord with an open 6th string D note.

This recording formed the basis for a fuller recording with Ted Burton playing bass and Nanci Hobson and Ted Burton providing backing vocals. 


This version of the song was released on the Wojoergy (2011) CD featuring songs by Ted Burton and I:

Wojoergy CD on Alonetone

This CD also features the other two songs (Road Unknown and Gone with the Night Time) that together with Cold and Dark form the Goldenbridge Orphan Trilogy inspired by Bernadette Fahy's harrowing account of life in the orphanage: 

 Freedom of Angels 

The song Road Unknown is also done in the dropped D tuning using similar chords to Cold and Dark.

Song Index and Introduction to Webster's Guitar Technique

SONG INDEX

Here is an alphabetical index of song titles in this blog.  All songs are written by me and are available copyright free for anyone to listen to or play for themselves and others: 

•  All Winter Long
•  Big Round Summer Moon
•  Cold and Dark
•  Digging A Well 
•  Dreams Fly By
  
•  Equilibrium 
•  Her Song 
•  Into the Rhythm of Love
•  Long Rugged Road
•  No Road Home - High Chords Up the Neck
•  Now is the Time 
•  Shelter of Song
  
•  Some Rainy Day
•  Stone Angel
•  Through the Rain 
•  Traveling On

INTRODUCTION TO 

WEBSTER'S GUITAR TECHNIQUES BLOG

This a blog for presenting various guitar techniques that I use for songs and classical guitar solos.  The recordings are presented without any overdubbing so that the solo guitar technique is as clear as possible.

NOTE:  This blog is a work in progress and I will be often tweaking and reorganizing it, sometimes adding more music demos or tablature to the various posts.  It is NOT a journal blog where posts are made regularly but never revisited or updated.

All of the music demos for this blog can be found at my ReverbNation site:  ReverbNation

Song Chords and Lyrics are at:   Chords and Lyrics

When a piece has been recorded in a finished fashion for a CD you will find it at one of the following music websites for the Wetband:

Wetband at Alonetone 

Wetband at ReverbNation

Wetband at SoundCloud 

Our group The Wetband also has a blog with lots of history and photos:

Wetband:  The Blog