Guitar Logic

15 Bonus - October 2021 - David Popper Etude No.6

For the October Bonus Tabs we have an outstanding exercise, David Popper's Étude No.6 for cello, which I have adapted for guitar. This exercise is excellent practice for improving muscle and mental memory, endurance, scales and arpeggios, finger stretches, picking technique and, eventually, speed.

As far as picking technique is concerned, I am a flat picker myself and use alternate picki...

Muddy Waters blues - You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had

One more time, we are going to look into an outstanding blues composition. It is a timeless blues classic “You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had” by the legendary Muddy Waters.

In this song he artistically expresses his reflections about the nature of possession, which reflects in the lines like  "Had a sweet little girl, I lose my baby, boy ain't that bad...Had a sweet lit...

Voices of Spring (Frühlingsstimmen)

I thought it would be very interesting to do an acoustic guitar cover of Johann Strauss’s well-known masterpiece “Voices of Spring” (Fruhlingsstimmen), Op.410, written in 1882. The cheerful melodies in this waltz were intended to celebrate the joys of spring - the composition itself was at the time a must have in popular classical orchestral repertoires.

This is a faster tempo waltz...

14 Bonus - September 2021 - I Know Why (And So Do You)

For the September's Bonus tabs we have Glenn Miller's song called I Know Why (And So Do You). The song was recorded in 1941 for the movie Sun Valley Serenade and Pat Friday sang the vocals. 

The song is in the key of C major and most of the time it involves a basic turnaround progression C - Am - Dm7 - G7. The form is standard AABA with an additional A part as an Intro. Hope you'll e...

I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James

I believe that every guitarist should regularly explore blues music. One of the most effective methods of improving as a musician is to listen to the pieces that you like and learn them by listening and trying to repeat them. Not only are you doing ear training and technique building, but you are also broadening your music vocabulary with new tricks and phrases, improving your style and adding ...

Cheek to Cheek

Back in 1935, the American movie Top Hat gained huge popularity. It was a musical comedy starring a legendary duo – Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The song that the two of them sang and danced to called Cheek to Cheek became no.1 hit in 1935 and later became one of the top tunes of the American cinema. It was composed by Irving Berlin. Some of the greatest musicians who covered this song are...

La Luna en Tu Mirada

La  Luna en tu Mirada, a beautiful Cuban bolero/ballad, was composed by Manuel Galban and first recorded with his group Los Zafiros back in 1974. Later, this masterpiece was released on a collaboration album with the great Ry Cooder, called Mambo Sinuendo, and this cover is based on this rendition. 

I  made two versions using two different instruments – classical and elec...

13 Bonus (August 2021) Chet Atkins - Sabrosa

For this month’s bonus material we will check up on a rare piece by Chet Atkins. The song is called Sabrosa and it's very comparable in style to the song Tico Tico. 

This is a standard flat-picking song and you should play it with ordinary alternate picking technique or classical apoyanto/tirando technique. I believe Chet Atkins was playing it with the thumb-pick and index finger w...

Behind the scenes (August/September, 2021)

Hello, fellow guitarists! I’m making a new announcement regarding the upcoming projects!

I’m  currently working on a lovely bolero by a Cuban guitar maestro Manuel  Galban. The song is called La Luna en tu Mirada and it can be heard on  Ry Cooder’s album Mambo Sinuendo on which both of them played.

My  idea for this song is to juxtapose two different instru...

Son of a Preacher Man

This  song is so well-known that it almost needs no introduction. The  everlasting R’n’B hit was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins and  the most popular version is the one sung by Dusty Springfield. Many  other artists contributed to making it legendary, like Elvis Presley,  Chet Atkins, Joss Stone. The song was originally offered to Aretha  Franklin (w...

Oye Como Va

Oye  Como Va became a massive hit after Santana released it in 1970. But,  did you know that the song was originally composed and recorded by Tito  Puente back in 1962? Both versions are based on a typical cha-cha-chá  rhythm and they are essentially the same, they just differ in style.  Santana's version has more of a rock flavor with a lot of drive in the  sound...

12 Bonus - July 2021 - Patterns 2

Ok, here is the promised second installment on  the topic of patterns. As I mentioned previously, I call these patterns  "sweet" ones because their sound is so pleasing, and that is because of  the approach note added to the pattern. For  those not familiar with the term, an approach note is literally the  note that approaches the target tone, whether from behind or in ...

Poinciana

Poinciana is an old tune with a very interesting background.

The song has been identified as a development of a Cuban folk song  entitled "La Canción del Árbol" whose title translates as "the song of  the tree", the royal poinciana being a favorite Caribbean flowering  plant. However composer Nat Simon would claim the song's  tune came to him while he was dining at M...

11 Bonus - June 2021 - Patterns 1

In this monthly bonus material we will take a look at patterns. I consider this is a crucial practice element, not only for guitar players but, for all instruments. They have always been a major part of my practice routine.

You can use patterns for several purposes. They are an effective way to practice scales and to become familiar with them. This way you will avoid playing scales in a ...

Ménilmontant

Here  is another sweet old tune from France! Ménilmontant was composed and performed by French singer Charles Trenet. Django Reinhardt, a famous French guitarist, also recorded this song back in 1949. Trenet was a prolific writer and many of his hits from the '30s and '40s effectively combine the melodic and verbal nuance of French song with American swing rhythms. 

In order ...

Valerie

Valerie is originally in the key of Eb major,  however, the best way to play it on guitar is to use a capo. After sampling it on the different possible frets (1st, 3rd and 6th) I found  the best solution was to put the capo on the 3rd fret and, thus, all the phrases can be played in the open C major position. 

The song has three parts. In the PDF they are named as A, B...

Behind the scenes (June/Jully, 2021)

Hello everyone! How's it going? Here is another update on the upcoming covers.

I'm currently working on a famous Amy Winehouse's song Valerie. It's going to be a subtle but intricate fingerstyle version with a simple drum groove in the background. Since the song has a very simple form of only 3 repeating parts, I tried to make it more interesting by embedding different melody lines that A...

10 Bonus - May 2021 - Fingerstyle Booster 3

Here is another set of fingerstyle exercises to help you develop individual dexterity and independence for the fingers of your right hand.

The exercises are to be played on three strings only, string by string, no chords. These six exercises present all possible combinations of the strings.

For the purpose of this exercise we will name the strings 1, 2 and 3, so that the combination...

Bluesette

For  this jazz episode we have a transcription of the famous Toots  Thielemans's masterpiece Bluesette. Toots Thielemans was best known as a  harmonica player, but he was also an excellent guitar player, whistler  and composer. He recorded Bluesette in 1961 and dedicated it to his  colleague, a violin player, Stéphane Grappelli. (He said in an interview  that he h...

Cavatina

I'm  sure everyone has heard this beautiful piece by Stanley Myers. He composed this piece back in 1970 originally for piano, but later Myers re-wrote it for guitar and then it was recorded by John Williams, a famous classical guitarist. After that Cavatina was used in  two movies: The Walking Stick and The Deer Hunter.

This cover is made for two guitars (chords and melody). T...

09 Bonus - April 2021 - Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)

I have found Michael Jackson's song "Billie Jean" to be good material for a challenging fingerstyle exercise.

What I did here was to merge playing the bass line and the chords at the same time. Since the song is in the key of F#m this is a great opportunity for bar chord practice . There are also a lot of finger stretches along with the bar chords. All this makes it a very useful exercise...

Don't Know Why

Don't Know Why is a song originally composed and written by Jesse Harris, but most people associate it more with Norah Jones because she did such a great cover of the song in 2002 that which she won three Grammy Awards for it!

One of the better versions of this song, in my opinion, is by Pat Metheny. You can find his live performance on Jools Holland show on You Tube, it is worth seeing h...

Behind the scenes (April, 2021)

This is a quick update on what's coming up.

I'm currently working on Nora Jones' well known song Don't know why. It's a delightful song and I will be doing it in an easy fingerstyle. I'm still exploring playable fills and positions but here is a short preview for you to catch the vibe of the song.

And for the following song, I still want to get back to my earlie...

Blue Monk

Thelonious Monk was one of the most original, influential, and peculiar jazz musicians of his time. He was a one of a kind improviser and composer whose many songs became important jazz standards.

His  composition Blue Monk is by far the tune he recorded the most. This simple blues form is filled with his quirky lines and seemingly oddly  placed accents - until you realize it's...

Unchained Melody

Here is another beautiful ballad from the past!

Did you know that over 1,500 recordings of "Unchained Melody" have been made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages? Four versions of this song made it into the Top 40 in 1955! Probably the most popular version is by the Righteous Brothers and this cover is based on it.

The song is carried by a simple 6/8 beat with basic c...

08 Bonus - March 2021 - Think (Curtis Mayfield)

Hi! I think you are really going to enjoy this month's bonus tabs 🙂

I have been wanting to share this song with you guys for a while because  it's so addictive to play. It's a delightful fingerstyle by Curtis  Mayfield called ''Think'', from his album ''Super Fly''. Once you get into these beautiful Mayfield patterns you'll just want to stay and keep playing!<...