1. Leadbelly Selected songs and backup

4. Chords Other than the B7 do them in 1 st position. For the B7 do the A7 form at the 2 nd fret. Notice the change in time towards the end of the piece from 4/4 to 2/4 back to 4/4 time. Best to feel this rather than try to count it. Backup is a great blues lick – Leadbelly did this on the 12 string guitar and very rough. Backup can be used for many songs.

9. Here play the B7 as a A form of CAGED for the 1 st beat then barre just the 2 nd, 3 rd, and 4 th strings at the 4 th fret for the rest of the measure.

11. Solo While we won’t do much with this if you were going to do a solo. Use the E blues in open position. Use lots of open strings and double stops.

12. House of the Rising Sun Another work song type blues. Leadbelly write this also. Most people know it by the group the Animals. Will start with chords.

14. Note that you could also do this with a pick. The next page has one variation to the chords where you would do a descending bass line.

16. Melody I wrote it out at the 5 th position. Can be played elsewhere. Best to learn it all over the fingerboard. On the 4 th fret use your index finger. Happens a couple of times – still 5 th position. Take your time and make sure you get it down. This is more of an outline. Great to use this as a starting point. Bend or slide up to some of the notes. Use vibrato and even slightly bend some of the notes. Let your ears decide what to do.

17. Watch the timing This is in 6/8 time so the 1/8 th note gets one count. A dotted ¼ note gets 3 counts. If you have trouble with this write in the counting. I can check it for you or one of the advanced students can check it.

20. Solo This song is totally in A minor. While it is roughly a blues and uses a blues feel the progression is not a traditional blues progression. You could just play a blues scale but when the chord was on F it might not sound all that great. There are 5 scales that need to be learned. You don’t need to learn them all at once but one at a time and then apply them. See that they are all very similar in that the 1 st 3 notes are the same! –A Minor Pentatonic scale. –A Blues Scale. –Natural minor. See next few pages for this and the next scale. –Harmonic minor - great for the F chord. –Melodic Minor – a bit harder to use but very cool for some parts.

25. Solo approach Keep the melody in mind. Sometimes refer to it or parts of it. Do bending, sliding etc. to add interest! Have fun with it. Pair up with another student or friend and work on it together! Take your time!! No rush. You might even want to start your solo after a measure or 2. Start with either the blues scale or the minor pentatonic. When the F chord happens just avoid the 2 nd string 5 th fret and the 5 th string 7 th fret as they will sound off. Or play those and bend up a ½ step (equivalent to one fret)!!

26. Song in ¾ time. Chords repeat over and over.