Month 6, Lesson 2: Little Brown Jug – Version 2
Source: Guitar Lessons
Little Brown Jug – Version 2
This is an extension from Lesson 1.5 in our first months lessons. We learned Little Brown Jug, just as it was originally written by the song artist. Now with this lesson we will step thing up a bit by altering the original score and making our own arrangement.
About This Lesson:
This Lesson is all about arrangement or arranging a song. This can by done by the teacher (me) or by the student (you). I will tell you that this takes some experience to be able to do this though. There have been several different words or terms used for doing this on the guitar, such as “noodling around”, “playing around”, Playing Around or “playing around the melody” is also a term that is used.
It really means to take the song and add your own feelings to the song or your own “style”. A couple of forms of music or types of music that really do this to the maximum are “blues” and “jazz”. Sometimes the musicians take this to such an extreme you can’t even tell it’s the same song.
Learning Points:
Double Notes:
There are only a couple of double notes in this song. I could have made all of the chords double notes, but the song would have sounded what I call a bit ‘thin’ or lacking in full sound.
Remember with the double notes that the lead or the melody – that would be the note that you would sing in the top note on the stem.
Arpeggio Triads – or – Chords:
Arpeggio: According to the dictionary: is Italian for broken chord where the notes are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously. I prefer to call it a slow strum rather than a normal chord strum. If you play it about 1/2 the speed of a normal strum it will sound about right.
Remember with the triad or chord notes that the lead or the melody – that would be the note that you would sing in the top note on the stem.
Keep an Eye On The Rhythm Chords:
As you are playing the lead notes and the lead double notes and triads or chords. Always be aware of what rhythm chords are being playing where you are. For easy reference, I always print these rhythm chords above the notation score.
The same chord is played until you reach another chord name, in other words, I don’t label the chords in each measure, if they are the same or a continuation from the prior measure.
About the Tab Notes:
I have gone through quite a length explanation about the rhythm chords and how they relate to the lead notes and chords. Read this carefully and be sure you understand it by the end of this week.
Articles You Should Read:
Down Up Strokes of the Pick: important as always
Using down ups is the only way to play them fast enough.
Chords in the Key of C Major
Double Note: Be familiar with how they are formed and why.
Triads Chords: As above.
Proper Left Hand Position:
Music Theory You Should Know:
Time Signature
Rest
TAB
TAB Staff
Goals:
Goal #1:
Play the arpeggio chords smoothly and consistently. Listen closely to the Guitar Pro file. You should connect the relation between the arpeggio chords and the rhythm chords that are labeled above the notation score and see they are the same.
Goal #2:
Compare this versions (v2) to the previous version in Lesson 1.5 (v1). See if you can find the differences and mark them on the notation and TAB of the (v2) song. Try to understand why I made the additions and how I did it. If you don’t get this, don’t worry, it will come in time and with more lessons on this subject.
Goal #3:
Play just the melody notes first, not the double notes or triads (you would only play the top note of the double and triad chords). When you are comfortable playing the song like this, then slowly introduce the chords.
Goal #4:
Memorize each triad and say the chord name as you play it. To find the chord name look above the notation. I have the rhythm chords all laid out in the musical score.
See our How To Practice article:
First play Little Brown Jug though as the version one song, the next time through you would play it as the version two break. This is how you would play if for your audience (friends and family) and you will notice that most musicians play a song more simply first and every time they go through it, it gets more difficult or complicated and has more of a WOW factor.
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 – Little Brown jug – Version 2
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PDF File – Little Brown jug – Version 2
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Go to Little Brown jug – Version 2, Lesson 6.2 Score
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