Advanced Left Hand Technique

In this area we will work on how to play bass and melody with the left hand. You should be very comfortable with using your thumb. If you choose not to use the thumb you can still get some ideas from this lesson.

We will begin by playing part of Elanor Rigby as our first exersize. Notice the low bass note are all quarter notes. Practice only the left hand parts first until you can keep the low bass note steady while playing the melody with your other fingers.

The blue numbers indicate the fingering for the higher notes only. The low D note on the 7th string and the Bflat on the 6th string are played with the thumb while playing the other notes with the other fingers. Next work on adding simple melody parts on the  other hand only after you are comfortable with the one handed bass simultaneous melody.

Also note the odd stretch of the first finger and thumb at the beginning of the 5th measure. This seemed to be the best way to reach the notes and keep the timing fluent without having to shift position.

Now we are going to work on a 1 handed version of Greensleeves. This piece will require a lot of practice. I diagramed all of the fingering for this piece because of it's comlpexity. I came up with this way of playing by studying classical guitarists and how they they would arrainge the bass and melody with their left hand.

The real challenge is when you attempt to improvise with the other hand. Besides being physically difficult you actually have to deal with too many notes in the song and what to play that sounds good. I find that if you stay with a lot of chord tones in the arrangement, it sounds less cluttered.

 I also use this technique on Greensleeves in the "Season Of Joy" CD.