Fingerpicking A Melody
This lesson will teach you how it is possible to combine a melody line with a bass line and fingerpicking pattern. This technique mostly involves the playing of a melody line on the treble strings. The first example is the popular song When the Saints Go Marching In. First practice the melody to this song which is played solely on the first and second strings.
Now practice bass line that corresponds with the chord progression.
Now try combining the melody and bass line together which requires pinching the melody and bass notes together.
Now try the melody to another traditional song, Sloop John B.
The following arrangement contains the pinching of bass and melody notes on some beats, as well as the individual picking of notes on other beats.
Enhancing An Arrangement
An arrangement can be enhanced by applying many of the techniques outlined in earlier lessons. One way of making an arrangement sound more interesting is too incorporate a basic picking pattern into the bars where only a bass line is played.
This technique is applied in the second arrangement of Sloop John B. To further enhance this arrangement, the picking of three or four notes together and hammer-ons are also applied.
Down in the Valley is a simple song in ^ time.
A standard ^ bass line can now be combined with the melody to Down in the Valley.
The following arrangement of Amazing Grace combines the melody (Lesson 6) with the arpeggio style. To combine a melody with an arpeggio pattern can prove to be a little difficult at first. It is necessary to avoid using the arpeggio pattern on a string that contains the melody note therefore there will be no set pattern to the right hand.
Melody on The Bass String Technique
The previous lesson arrangements combine a melody on the treble strings with a bass line and fingerpicking pattern. It is also possible to combine a melody played on the bass strings with a fingerpicking pattern. First practice the following melody, a simplified version of House of the Rising Sun.
The following arrangement of House of the Rising Sun combines this melody, played on the bass strings, with an arpeggio style. The notes in the arpeggio are played strictly on the treble strings only, thus clearly separating the melody.
Another melody picking technique is demonstrated next. This technique involves the thumb playing the melody on the bass strings. The fingers pick the treble strings together producing a chord. The chord is played on the beats where the melody is not played.
