Red-Haired Boy, Part 1

from: Intermediate Flatpicking Guitar with Scott Nygaard

This lesson is part of the course Intermediate Flatpicking Guitar with Scott Nygaard.

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About This Course

Learn to play fiddle tunes and other bluegrass and roots melodies, with an emphasis on alternate picking, simple scales, and developing good picking- and fretting-hand technique. Designed for guitarists just starting to play melodies as well as intermediate players who want to work on their flatpicking technique.

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Sally Gooden

The B part of “Sally Gooden” starts with a simple scale fragment, starting on the open G, that may be familiar from the Alternating Picking video. Scott walks you through the melody of the B part phrase by phrase, and gives you advice on keeping your fretting-hand fingers in position above the notes, as well as “planting” them: keeping them down on the fret until after you play the next note in the phrase.These are very important things to work on, as they give your playing a lot of fluidity and make your fingering more efficient.

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The Intermediate Flatpicking Guitar Subscription Includes:

A step-by-step approach to mastering flatpicking technique
More than 40 extensive video lessons
34 complete tunes and songs to play, with variations
Detailed tab/notation for all lessons
In-depth lessons on flatpicking and fretting-hand technique
High-quality video with multiple camera angles so you can see closeups of both hands in action
Play-Along Tracks so you can practice what you’ve learned

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Red-Haired Boy

Red-Haired Boy, Part 1

Red-Haired Boy, Part 2

Red-Haired Boy, Part 3: Melody Play-Along Track

Red-Haired Boy, Part 4: Rhythm Play-Along Track

Red-Haired Boy, Part 1

The fiddle tune “Red-Haired Boy” is a jam-session favorite and one that every flatpicker should know. In this lesson, you’ll learn a version with a characteristic bluegrass syncopation that is good to become used to: eighth note, quarter note, eighth note, which takes up two beats. To pick this with strict alternating picking you’ll play down-up, up-down, with that second downstroke starting the next phrase. You can practice this by keeping your pick moving and “ghost” the downstroke that would normally be played between up strokes: down-up, _-up down. There are many versions of “Red-Haired Boy,” some of which start with this rhythm, and you’ll learn a version with a few more examples of this syncopation slipped into the melody. You’ll learn the melody of the A part in this video.

"Red-Haired Boy" (Available to subscribers)

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← Little Pine Siskin, Part 4: Rhythm Play-Along Track

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Red-Haired Boy, Part 2 →

Previous Lesson

← Little Pine Siskin, Part 4: Rhythm Play-Along Track

Next Lesson

Red-Haired Boy, Part 2 →

Previous Lesson

← Little Pine Siskin, Part 4: Rhythm Play-Along Track

Next Lesson

Red-Haired Boy, Part 2 →

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Red-Haired Boy, Part 1

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