Doors open 7 pm — Session ends at 9:30 pm
Session Highlights on Youtube. Click here.
mailto: Charles@westrc.com for the Zoom link
This session features Bluegrass but that’s only a suggestion. I will go through Doc Watson’s — Doc’s Guitar for beginner/intermediate players. Video
Doc’s Guitar is a very fast classic that every fingerpicker should know how to play. The good news is that chords are quite simple and the right hand is mostly the fast banjo roll we learned at the end of Freight Train. The bad news is that full speed is 160 bpm and I’ll be surprised if anyone can play it at that speed. More good news; it sounds pretty good at half speed.
A Section — Chord shapes are C, Am, F , G and G7. The chords change every quarter note. At 60 bpm this is once a second. This is a great left hand study. The right hand is mostly just T, m , T , i. Thumb, middle, Thumb, index. We play the melody by stressing the Thumb playing the root of each Chord. C, A, F, G and if those notes are all you play, you can play along with Doc Watson at 160 bpm. Playing all the notes at 60 bpm means 4 notes a second — quite possible .
B Section — Chords are C, F, G — There is a pull-off in the C chord that is a challenge but very good for improving left hand strength and co-ordination. The melody moves to the higher strings.
C Section — Chords are E/E7, Am/Am7, D7, G7 is just a nice bluesy passage. Play the chord then add the 7th. It’s all in first position. Easy at 60 bpm but gets harder as you speed up.
If some just wish to play and listen we can break into two or three groups.
Beginners should review Chromatic and Diatonic scales but this is not a prerequisite.
Vancouver Folk Song Society 