Amazing Grace - Fingerstyle Blues Version
This is my version of the traditional song Amazing Grace. This must be one of the most played and well known songs there is. It is a Christian hymn dating back to the late 1700s and there are countless different versions of it which you can listen to. This is my acoustic fingerstyle guitar version of this song. I have also added a small rhythm section played on a distorted electric guitar. This version can be played as just the fingerstyle piece, or you can add the electric guitar part on top. Also, you could just play the underlying chords on an acoustic guitar if you want. There are tabs below for both the lead and rhythm sections. The underlying chords are also shown on the tabs too.
The song is in 3/4 time, which is a bit of a departure from my usual music. Both guitars are tuned to Open D and the music is in the Key of D.
Below are the lyrics, some tips to help you play this piece, and links to download the tab.
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I am found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
Through many dangers, toils and snares
We have already come
'Twas grace has brought us safe thus far
And grace will lead us home
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright, shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I am found
Was blind, but now I see
- Playing in 3/4 Time - The song is played in 3/4 time, which is three quarter notes in every bar. This is different to most of my other music, which is usually in 4/4 time. Although this shouldn't cause too many problems, you should be mindful of the bass notes you are playing. This has a loose travis picking pattern alternating between bass strings but because of the 3/4 time, the standard picking pattern doesn't work. As such, I have included half notes and also sometimes the same bass string is played on the same string, instead of alternating between strings. If you study and follow the tab you will learn which strings to play the bass notes on through the music. I will do a later video looking at Travis Picking in 3/4 time.
- Improvising in Open D - The acoustic fingerstyle section is played on a guitar tuned to Open D. When playing in open tunings it is quite easy to vary and add the notes you are playing. For example, when playing the melody line in the open position, all the strings on the guitar are part of the D Major triad and make up a D chord. Therefore if you play any of the other strings in this open position, the notes will sound in tune. The same is true when you are barring across all 6 strings in this tuning, as this will also form a major chord. Try adding in your own notes to embelish this tune and make it your own.
- Stretching for the A7 chord - The only problematic section you may find in this tune is stretching to make the A7 chord in bars 15 and 31 of the music. You will have to make the chord using the index and middle fingers and then stretch the picky to fret 4. If you are having difficulty with this, you could play the chord stripped back a bit. If you play fret 2 on the 4th string of the guitar and alternate the bass notes between strings 4 and 5, and then only play the melody notes on the highest string you can more easily make this chord using only two fingers. I would however recommend you learn to play the full chord as written, as it sounds better in the music.
This is about all I need to say about this piece. It is quite a straightforward fingerstyle piece, so if you are familiar with this playing style you should be able to learn it quite easily. The electric guitar section is just straight power chords played using a slide, but this section can be left out if you want.
Thanks for Reading,
Neil
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