Blitzing Fingerstyle - L5 / S14 - NAILING MELODY

Session 14 is the second of three lessons at level 5 from our Blitzing Your Fingerstyle guitar series.

This session is all about mastering melody. We’ll be using the Carlos Jobim piece WAVE which is regarded as one the most recognised and loved Bossa nova melodies around.

Level 5 / Session 14 – Playing a beautiful melody using fingerstyle technique

Nothing beats playing a stunning but fun melody over the top of a band, duo accompanist or backing track. But to play it well you need to have a good control of your picking techniques, dynamics and fretting hand vibrato. We will utilise both apoyando which stands for rest stroke and tirando which stand for free stroke techniques.

The melody we will be learning is one of the most recognised and loved from the Bossa nova and jazz communities, WAVE by Antonia Carlos Jobim. We’ll be providing you with a bespoke backing track so you’ll be able to play along properly once you’ve mastered the melody. I’ve added a cool extra solo section in the middle which will walk you through.

The great news is that the main melody is not overly complicated and is really made up of only 3 parts

  1. The intro/out
  2. Section A
  3. Section B

Here is a video from of few years ago of me playing the arrangement we will learn

 

Materials

  • Lesson PDF
  • Any relevant MP3s used in the session
  • Access to a video recording of the complete live session

 

What’s in level 5’s three sessions? 

Session 13 – will we show you how to master the perfect arpeggiating picking hand technique. By the end of the session you will of learned the Gounod/Bach AVE MARIA. For more information click this link.

Session 14See above

Session 15 – will show you how to maximise drop D tuning, taking three well known songs as examples. For more information click this link.

 

FIND OUT ABOUT AND PURCHASE PREVIOUS AND UPCOMING LEVELS USING THIS LINK

 

SONG SUGGESTION

If you would like to learn a Dire Straits song that will use similar chords and techniques then check out our SULTANS OF SWING course.

 

Who’s this level suitable for?

The level is ideal for players who want to:

  • further their fingerpicking
  • correct/tweak existing fingerpicking skills
  • take fingerpicking to totally new levels

As a guide you should be familiar with:

  • Fretboard knowledge – basics (E and A strings but all strings should be the target)
  • Reading TAB Yes (including basic rhythm)
  • Chords – Open and basic CAGED barres
  • Ability to change between chords smoothly and play basic melody
  • Scales – you should be comfortable with major and minor scale as well as your common pentatonic patterns

Things you won’t need to know (but you should definitely not ignore them):

  • Theory – although it’s so useful to understand the essentials as it makes learning things much faster and better when playing with others
  • Reading music – this is something to strive for as a long-term project

 

Attending the sessions

By default, you’ll start every session with complete anonymity i.e. with your mic muted and your camera switched off. You have total control of these at your end.

You can ask questions at any time:

  • Using the online Chat facility
  • Simply unmuting your mic
  • Switching on your camer and unmuting your mic

It’s all very friendly and there isn’t such a thing as a daft question – they usually lead to deep, interesting streams of very relevant stuff!

 

Can’t Attend

If you want to come along but can’t make the sessions just book in and you’ll receive the full materials and lesson video.

 

IMPORTANT POINTS

  • You will receive the Lesson PDF just prior to it being run.
  • The lesson video will only be available after the session has run. It is usually uploaded and the link sent to students 1 to 2 days after the lesson.
  • If you don’t want to be on the live video recording keep your camera switched off
  • If you’ve missed a course you can still purchase it as part of a level or the Complete Series.
  • If you want to be part of the online session, please avoid booking in on the day of a course. This ensures that you’ll get the Joining Instructions in time.

BUT this shouldn’t put you off booking in as you’ll receive the full materials including the video of the complete live session.

Start slowly – if you decide to book just one Level but then become interested in other Levels or even the Complete Series, just buy them on the website.

Full Course Overview

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    Prices

     
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    Level 5: Sessions 13, 14 & 15
    £45

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