Today we are going to learn to play a simple melody in Dm ( D minor) on the 3-string Cigar Box Guitar.
This is the pentatonic scale for D minor:
There are 5 notes in the scale- 6 are shown above because I have repeated the D in the higher octave.
The minor pentatonic scale is based on the 1st note of the octave scale, followed by the flattened 3rd , the 4th, 5th and flattened 7th.
The song we will be looking at today uses just these notes but includes the low C in the melody and the low G in the version with chords which is in the next post:
Although the music shows a Bb as the key signature, we do not actually ever play that Bb in the music but we include it as the piece is written in D minor.
Melody And Tab For Wayfaring Stranger
A full page PDF of this is available for download here:
Video
I have a video lesson for this song coming soon
Alternative Fingering Allows For Easier Playing
The G and A notes can be played on the 5th and 7th frets instead of the open and 2nd fret top string which makes for easier transitions in the song. This is an example of using the fact that different notes can be played on different positions on the fretboard and something you will want to experiment with as you work out how to play your own songs and riffs.
You can, if you prefer, play the G and A on the top string using the open string and the 2nd fret.
Learn The Song In Chunks
This is the way I suggest learning to play:
- Look at the first phrase and play it through slowly.
- For this part of the song, I tend to use my 1st finger on the 2nd fret, my 2nd finger on the 3rd fret and slide my 1st finger up to use it on the 5th fret. But you use what works best for you-it’s worth experimenting a bit.
- The 2nd phrase is a repeat of the first so try playing both the 1st and 2nd phrases through without stopping.
- It’s better to play slowly and with a steady beat than to try to race through the easier parts.
- The 3rd phrase is a bit trickier because we are going to move up the fretboard and use the 5th and 7th frets. This is why I move my hand up the fretboard to use my 1st finger on the 5th fret for that low C in the 1st 2 phrases.
- You may find that this phrase takes a bit longer to learn than the 1st phrase so don’t worry if you need to keep coming back to improve this.
- Feel free to move onto working on the last phrase before you perfect that 3rd phrase, especially as the 2nd half of this last phrase is a repeat of the beginning.
- My old guitar teacher often used to recommend learning the last phrase of a piece of music before the middle trickier bit. This helps you feel like your heading home to familiarity as you progress through the music.
Improving Your Playing Once You Are Confident With The Notes
Learning the notes is really only the beginning of playing a piece musically. Technique will help, but it’s really all about feeling the music. As you get more confident with the piece, try to experience the music more fully.
You may want to try some different techniques discussed in these articles which will help you make the piece personal to you :
How To Hammer-On With A Cigar Box Guitar which also discusses bends and slides
What Is A Pull-Off On The Cigar Box Guitar?
How Do You Begin To Play Slide On A Cigar Box Guitar?
I will be adding another lesson based on this song. We will use the melody to add chords to see how we can play a simple chord melody.