Jazz Fingerpicking Arrangements
This lesson contains several Jazz fingerstyle arrangements of popular songs. You will learn how to combine many of the Jazz chords, single note runs and techniques from earlier lessons with a melody line.
First study the following simple melody. Aura Lee is a traditional French folk song.
Most Jazz fingerpicking arrangements contain the melody on the first three strings. Try the same melody (example 205), but play it one octave higher with a chord played on each chord change.
The final arrangement of Aura Lee plays a chord on almost every melody note. The name of the chord changes to suit the melody note. Other techniques such as bass runs and single note runs are also incorporated into the arrangement.
Now try the melody to an old Jazz-Blues classic, St. James Infirmary.
The following Jazz arrangement features the thumb percussion technique.
Staccato Chords
Another rhythm technique that you will need to learn is the use of staccato. This technique is similar to left hand damping, introduced in Lesson 19 except the chord is cut even shorter.
The left hand releases the pressure on the chord immediately after the chord is played, producing a chord with no sustain at all. This technique is demonstrated in the following example. Staccato is indicated by a dot above the notation.
Shine On, Harvest Moon is another old song that can arranges well in the Jazz fingerpicking style. First try the melody line.
The arrangement to Shine On, Harvest Moon features staccato chords.
