Month 5, Lesson 3: Greensleeves Lead
Source: Guitar Lessons
Greensleeves Lead
Here we go with our first Classical Guitar type song or a just a Classical Music song. This one is known by many people and it would be a good one to place in your “I can play that” column. This song is also known as What Child Is This and is played as a popular Christmas Song – with just one note change to the song.
About This Lesson:
Greensleeves has been played anywhere from classical to bluegrass circles and it can certainly be played in many different styles. It would be good to just play this song at a slow to medium pace, nail the notes perfectly and clearing and get your timing just right.
Learning Points:
Play The Song In 3/4 or Waltz Timing:
If you remember, 3/4 timing is also called Waltz Timing and it has 3 beats per measure rather than 4 beats per measure. About this most important thing to remember about waltz time is with playing the rhythm portion of the song. You don’t use a pick-strum-pick-strum for the 4 beats of the measure, you use pick-strum-strum, which is 3 beats per measure.
Watch Out For The Sharps:
There are quite a few sharps played in this song. Just remember that with a sharp you play the not just one fret higher than the regular note. The easiest place to pick this us is in the TAB portion of the music. This will show you just where to play the note, then relate it back to the notation above the tab, see what the note looks like and then try to play the song without the TAB and by the notation only.
4th Finger Stretch:
There is a really big stretch to catch that F# on the 4th string, 4th fret with your pinky finger of the left hand. Work on this and try to play it without taking your hand out of position for the rest of the notes. It is a very long reach with small hands, so don’t be too discouraged if you can’t get it. You will over time.
Rhythm Chords:
We will work on the chords for the rhythm portion of this song at a later date, but it does not hurt to take a look at them and see what is coming up.
About the Tab Notes:
Pay attention to the 3/4 timing and the timing for the dotted quarter notes. Remember that dotted quarter notes receive 1-1/2 beats and they are followed by eighth notes, which receive 1/2 beat, for a total of 2 beats.
Articles You Should Read:
Pickup Notes.
Chords in the Key of C Major and A Minor
Dotted Notes.
Music Theory You Should Know:
Time Signature
Rest
TAB
C Scale
TAB Staff
Dotted Notes
Goals:
Goal #1:
Try to memorize this song. I think it will be familiar to you as the Christmas Song, What Child is This. The only difference is that there is one note that is different from this song to the Christmas song, otherwise they are identical.
Goal #2:
Play in strict 3/4 time and give full time to the dotted notes, followed by the eighth notes. A bit tricky and syncopated (remember that term)? It means uneven timing and not strictly 1 – 2 – 3, 1 – 2 – 3.
Goal #3:
Look at the chords in the song – they are above the notation staff. See if you can pick out the chord forms in the lead notes that you play.
Goal #4:
Pickup Notes. There is a quarter note to that is a pickup note to kick off the beginning of the song. If you look at the rhythm track of the song, you will note that the rhythm chords do not start until the beginning of the second measure.
What You Should Practice This Week:
Commit this song to memory. It is a very beautiful song played on the guitar. Play it at a slow to medium pace and you will find that you can really impress your listeners, as just about everyone knows this song. This song also has the option to be played as a Christmas Song if you desire.
See our How To Practice article:
If you are having trouble with your practice techniques, or can’t seem to get “in the groove”, review the article on How to Practice and this will help you develop a consistent practice method.
Help Us Out:
Lastly and most importantly, give us feedback, either good or bad. We want to improve this site and we want kids to learn how to play the guitar. If you have suggestions for us, leave a comment. If you appreciate these lessons, leave a comment on that too.
Songs in Downloadable Format:
If you have difficulty reading this score information, we have this score information available free of charge for you with an instant electronic download. Just click on the song title below and you will be taken to our secure server site. You will get a PDF file of the above score complete with the Tab Notes. Be sure to download Adobe Acrobat Reader v6.0 or above. This version will allow you to turn the Tab Layer on or off.
Also you will get the Guitar Pro file. You can download Guitar Pro and get a free trial so you can play along with this song in real time on your computer. If you upgrade to the full version of the song you will have a lot more features available to you, such as the RSE modules which give you realistic guitar files – they sound just like an Acoustic Guitar.
Guitar Pro File – Greensleeves Lead
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PDF File – Greensleeves Lead
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Go to Greensleeves, Lesson 5.3 Score
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