Month 3, Lesson 4: She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain
Source: Guitar Lessons
She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain
Let’s have some fun with this old time song that is always popular and makes for a good sing-along song. Not only can you learn this as a beginning to intermediate song, but I plan on putting together an intermediate and advanced version on this TAB on Ultimate Guitar OnLine.
So by learning this version you are preparing yourself for a more advanced version down the line.
You may find this song quite a challenge because I have spiced it up a bit with some bass runs, dotted quarter notes and eighth note fill-ins. I have marked all of the tough areas in the Tab Notes that will need extra work.
About This Lesson:
First of all this lesson in played in the key of G major. Notice the F# key signature at the beginning of the first measure. This means ALL F notes will be played sharp, even though they aren’t marked.
Since this is a primer for learning a more advanced version down the road, try to pay special attention to the difficult (at times) timing of the dotted notes.
Learning Points:
Play The Song In The Key of G Major:
Remember the F’s all are played sharp. That means play the F# on the 2nd fret 1st string, and play the F# on the 4th fret 4th string. The sharp move the note up by only one fret.
Watch The Pick Up Notes:
Note that there are 2 quarter note pick up notes in the first measure. Also note that there is a half rest before these notes and also the rhythm guitar does not start in until the 2nd measure – look at the rhythm track of the Guitar Pro file.
Dotted Quarter Notes:
I have played with the timing quite a bit in this song. In this arrangement I have added dotted quarter notes followed an eighth note (this adds up to 2 beats total)
I know this will be a challenge for you. The best advice I can give you is to play the Guitar Pro file of this song slow and play along with the song. This timing is perfect in this transcription and if you can play the song that same as the Guitar Pro file, you will have it made.
Bass Runs or Bridge:
I put this one in to keep you on your toes. The base runs in measures 4 and 16 tie the measures together and gives a lot of interest and color to the song. This is called a bridge because it bridges a gap of silence between the notes before the run to the notes after the run.
About the Tab Notes:
Most of the hardest areas are highlighted in the Tab Notes. Each section that is identified, work extra hard on that section. These areas in this song are the bass runs and the dotted quarter notes, followed by the eighth notes. If you can master these sections, you will master the song.
Articles You Should Read:
Notes in the Key of G Major: Know these notes for memory and be able to play the F# notes.
Pick Up Notes: Know what they are, their purpose and how to play them.
Down Up Strokes of the Pick: This is really important for the fill-in notes. Using down ups is the only way to play them fast enough.
Chords in the Key of G Major and E Minor
Music Theory You Should Know:
Time Signature
Rest
Dotted Notes
TAB
Treble Clef
G Scale
TAB Staff
Goals:
Play this song slowly, but with the correct timing, lead chords and down-up strokes.
Goal #1:
Work really hard on your down up pick strokes in this song. I have noted each one of them and you should play them exactly this way. This will become more and more important as you gain speed on you songs.
Goal #2:
Again, watch those dotted quarter notes, followed by the eighth notes. The dotted quarter gets 1 1/2 beats and the eighth note after it gets 1/2 beat for a total of 2 beats.
Goal #3:
Play your bass runs smoothly. They are all eighth notes so 2 notes per beat on the runs. Play them with down ups pick strokes, accurately and cleanly.
Goal #4:
Play this song slow at first. I know I say that a lot, but it is important. It is more important to play a song slowly and play it correctly, than to play is fast with a lot of mistakes.
What You Should Practice This Week:
Practice a play along with the Guitar Pro of this song this week. I would start it out at about 50 bpm,
If you haven’t up until now, you should be as comfortable playing the notation as you are the TAB. If you aren’t, you should take out some of your previous lesson material and work on reading the notation – get comfortable. You should know how to play notation as well as TAB
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
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PDF File
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