Description
In this acoustic guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a simple fingerstyle melody that requires no backing track or accompaniment. This sounds great on it’s own and works on both acoustic or electric guitar. In addition, I’ve created a bonus video for Premium Members that shows you how to write compositions like this. It isn’t as difficult as you might think.
Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson
Part 2 - For Premium Members
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Bonus Video - How To Write Solo Guitar Compositions
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Slow Walk-Through
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Video Tablature Breakdown
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Nice tribute from one Brian to another. Great little piece you put together there.
Thanks,
Ray
outstanding Brian…lot’s of feeling for a good reason….
Thank you!
Roberto
Brian this is a very cool idea. The prospect of being able to writ some home grow tunes certainly appeals to me so i shLl really look forward to this. Thanks John Strat
Could you explain how you create Chord progressions?
I unterstand that for example in C I can use C d e F G a ( very folk style) or that a E7 leads to A or a .
But I am sure there are a lot of other rules.
So far I use my ears. But some theory would be helpful.
One oft the next lessons?
To find chords that fit together within the same key just follow the major scale for that key and apply this formula: Major, minor, minor, Major, Major, minor, diminished
Meaning any of those chords will play nicely with each other if you’re writing a song
Mellows me out !!
I love the added video about how to write the songs. I’m at the point in my guitar playing (thanks to a year of Active Melody!) where I want to create my own music.
Thank you.
Michael
Love the Folk stuff. In this song, “I see fire and I see rain.”
Like I said already to Brian………..and just like his own nice kitty Alfie……………my wife and I are about to lose yet another battle with a beloved pet cat (Birmingham or Birmie) to cancer……our second (younger) great cat in two years……….so I choose to think of this tune more as ‘Song for Birmie’. This is mainly due to now seeing definitely signs he won’t be with us much longer and this reality really hit me when I opened up Brian’s newest lesson this afternoon and this brought tears to my eyes………..the vet gave us 3-4 months tops (melanoma) and this was over 10 months ago so he at least bucked the trend for over half a year!! He’s been a super beautiful pet cat and this tune somehow seemed appropriate to how I feel……….Jim C.
Great tune. Great tribute. Great teacher.
Thank you Brian!
Beautiful song for Brian, lovely tribute. Look forward to getting on it Brian, cheers Phil
Another great lesson .The bouns video on how to write solo compositions was awesome Brian !! Thanks Jimmy B
Another great composition to add to favourites .I haven’t even had time to go through the bonus video yet but it is definitely a subject of interest to me.
Great Lesson.
Thank you Brian.
Wonderful sound! I can’t wait to learn this one Brian.
Thanks Brian. It fits my mood and have to add my 10 yr old Rottweiler Gus to this tribute for Brian. He died Wednesday morning on my living room floor while I petted him and told him how much he meant to me. I thank God for the time we had but I sure do hurt losing him. Sorry if this isn’t the appropriate place for this type of comment but it’s all I’ve got in me at this time
Hey Michael, sorry to hear about Gus.. that’s rough man. I know how much pets mean, they’re family.
Thanks Brian
Sorry Michael, I posted but seeing yours,, it after four years , I too lost my family dog 14 years hunting fishing partner,,(first and only (German short hair from tiny pup) she was too sick in her old age we had to put her to rest one day.. it is as Brian said rough and they’re family!.. Sharing the peace of this acoustic piece! Such a wonderful peaceful hopeful Melody .. Brian, Just another five stars for this new lesson and on acoustic!
See?? It’s not just me lamenting over pets due to this tune of Brian’s…..it drew me in as well…..we used to raise/breed German Short Haired Pointers and as much as I loved them (tougher to sell 2 month old puppies than anyone can imagine if they’ve never raised puppies from day 1 to point of sale but we had an even dozen puppies with every litter) …..my heart’s always been for felines………..large and small, wild and domesticated. But as we watch our poor kitty also ride slowly into his sunset……….this song does deliver some solace. Oh and funny story with German Short Haired puppies raised from birth………..for some reason my Mom assigned me always to take them all in to visit the vet and just in case anyone believes German Short Hairs are born naturally with bobbed tails….they’re not……….and my job was to securely hold each puppy still along with the vet and assistant as all 12 little tails were snipped and wound up wiggling on the veterinarian’s operating table all in a row!! Great fun (note: sarcasm here!!)!! Don’t wait too long to get another puppy……….not to replace this one but to honor her memory!! Great dogs and by getting another one you’ll really tell her how much you miss her so!! Jim C.
Really cool thoughtful tribute “Song for Brian” , I learn something new every time .. this is so cool, I need to watch the intro ..because it’s the only way I’m going to get this percussion thing going! lol.. Amazing! ty much
Thank you so much again, Brian, another break through lesson for me. So much progress, thanks to you.
I printed the TAB and the 3rd and 10th measures of the TAB are written differently than you showed on the video. Did I misunderstand the video portion? Great little song; really enjoying working on it. Thanks.
Bob
I thought I was the only one confused on this. The tab looks nothing like the video. Very frustrating/
Sorry I had the measure numbers wrong in my post; should be measures 3, 5, and 9. The songs works either way and is very lovely; having fun learning it. Thanks
Very good lesson, Brian – especially the bonus. Also love the Station Inn shirt. I have one like it. Great place.
Thanks Brian Great Tune. I need to thanks you, I have been playing for about 4 years and I feel I have learned so much more with you in the last 5 weeks than i have in the last 3 years. Great Job and keep up the good work.
Rick C
Beautiful composition… Love it! Really into fingerstyle and percussive playing right now, this fits perfect, and it’s so pretty — nice work Brian!
I just been trying this a few hrs a day but not every day..still can’t get that clap down pat yet,, For me it is like that ole trying to pat my head and rub my belly at the same time.. sure it will come around! oh well, beautiful tune and a worthy lesson. Enjoy Florida vacation Brian! good time of year to get away before burst of Spring!!
Thanks very much for this lesson, Brian, you incorporated something I suggested into a complete fingerstyle lesson , thereby improving vastly upon my original idea.
I looked at another of your lessons on playing fingerstyle playing (Twinkle, twinkle little star, was it?). Very good.
Just to add something. I read a book by John Pearson, I think it was, many years ago, and he suggested playing the melody just before the bass notes. I never got far with this but I did manage to work out I’ve just seen a face I know by the Beatles and it is quite effective playing the melody just before the bass (obviously not all the way through).
Anton
another song right in my wheel house of what I like to play. thanks Brian for recognizing the popularity of the solo style non-accomplyment arrangements!
I had some trouble tying the instructions to the print out of the melody at the second measure – is there a variance between the video and the print out? also is each “3x’s” on the print out mean that is where you tap the guitar? thanks
Yes those 3 x’s are the muted clicks
Absolutely lovely melody….a little reminiscent of James Taylor at times…..This will be a pleasure to tackle…..particularly the percussive aspects of this one…..
Thanks, Brian……nice way to mix it up….
Marty
Great tune. Really like the song writing section – thanks for that….
it’s great, but your tab does not match what you are teaching on the video. eg the first line
Brendan, I just looked at the tab in the on-screen tab viewer (I clicked on “VIDEO” and switched it to “SYNTHETIC”) so I can hear the actual notes of the tab and it sounded exactly like what I played in the video. I don’t know what I would be changing.
I also watched the first part of the video and the instruction seems to be exactly (note for note) what is in the tab. Can you let me know what time timestamp is in the video that you noticed an inaccuracy?
Brian, I think Brendan is right. At 5:02 of the video,, where you mention to hit the high E string, this is different from the tab (and how you play it in the intro). When you demonstrate playing over the G/B chord at 5:34 of the video, you also hit the high E string. I am guessing this is what Brendan is talking about.
And by the way, it sounds beautiful both ways. The whole song is beautiful.
Thank you for clarifying Gary. Yes I see it now. I should have copied it exactly the same.. I guess you have an alternate version that includes that high E string 🙂 It’s a bonus, yeah… that’s it.. a bonus!
So when you teach in the first vedio and you play the first g chord you play the 5th and the 2nd strings then an open E string. That’s what you teach but the tab shows something else.
See comment above
Merci Brain, c’est une très jolie mélodie, cependant je n’aime pas trop le tchac que je ne joue pas comme toi mais merci
la mélodie est gracieuse comme j’aime.
Franck (Aurenck)
Pardon Brian !
Really nice tribute man! Well done!
I have to add that my creative process is exactly the same as the one you describe. First I find chords around a tempo. Then I go: “hmm so what frets can I reach from here with available fingers”.
I then usually play around with some melody concept I think sounds nice for a good long while. More often than not this concept grows further from a combination of random mistakes, that I think sounds good and then incorporate, as well as some theory in the form of: “hmmm.. how did I get all the way over here, and how do I get myself out of this mess and back to the one”.
Often I also have snippets / microlicks from other writing sessions that I try to shoehorn in. Most of the time these are highly inappropriate from a music theory perspective and hard to fit in to the current composition. And more often than not, it’s at this shoehorning point that the best stuff emerges for me.
Really cool to hear another person describe their “creative process” on a platform we both share, being the guitar in this case.
More of this stuff, (in a forum of your choice) certainly has my vote!
Right away I caught the slight difference between the video and the tab, but I tried both ways and each sounded good, so I decided to just switch from one to the other for variety. But for me, the most important take-away from this lesson was how to write a solo guitar composition. I sort of had the general idea, but that video just turned my understanding from mush to concrete. I have been enlightened!
I’m really enjoying learning this one Brian. It’s strong rhythm has meant learning it with a metronome really helped.
Beautiful tune and clearly taught as ever. Great Job!
So I’ve been dabbling with this one for a day or two now, instinctively feeling that there’s something wrong with the tempo. I’ve had a bastard of a time reconciling that first F hammer-on with the 4/4 tempo.
Well it turns out that if I start the song with an open D-string before playing the “reduced” G-chord it all suddenly makes sense.
The realization came when I listened to you loop the song and start again just at the end of the video.
GREAT Original. That is very much in my finger picking style. You have shown me some things I had not considered. It is difficult to think outside the box when it comes to your own style, until you see something great outside the box. Good job. This lesson has broadened my horizon.
Just listened to how to write a solo composition I have to tell you that was a great explanation . Ive been hoping to find something like this. I had an idea but you made it very clear and I realy appreciate that you took the time and had the patience to go through all that.I write a lot of songs but they just didn’t seem to have a solid melody so I think is going to help me a great deal.I think we tend to bounce around a lot when we are trying to learn to play any instrument but more so with the guitar.So we pick some stuff here and some there and that’s ok but im finding out after a lot of bouncing that having a solid place like Active to call home will lead to much faster and better success.So thank you Brain. also the price is great for all this incredibly helpful information.Thanks
Yeah nailed it! So simpel when i finally understand it.
Wonderful tune. Not so easy to master.
For me the best is to take it in steps. First the chords, then the melody, then the percussion slap…