Today’s lesson teaches you to play in a new key and a new time signature.
How Many Beats Is A 6/8 Time?
Many songs are written in 2/4 or 4/4 meaning 2 or 4 beats per bar ( or measure). The time signature 6/8 has 2 main beats per bar but each of those beats is broken into 3 rather than 2 and this gives the music a definite swing.
How To Count In 6/8 Time
The count is 1 2 3 4 5 6 and you need to make sure that you are accenting the 1 and 4 beats.
I find it helpful to tap my left hand as I say the 1 2 3 and my right hand for the 4 5 6. This gives me the sense that there are 3 shorter beats in each of the 2 main beats.
Swing Beats Written In 6/8 Timing
Playing the 1 and 2 beats as a single beat and the 3 beat a quicker beat that comes after makes for a simple swing rhythm that is not too difficult to read:
Playing The Cigar Box Guitar In G minor
The key signature is 2 flats, Bb and Eb, and the related chords are G minor, C minor and D minor.
Let’s look at the chord shapes/ power chords. You could play these along to the melody as I play it on YouTube ( see link below)
The power chords are:
Remember that power chords are neither major or minor because they don’t contain the third note. You can read about this more here:
If you are a little more advanced in your playing, try adding your little finger on the top string 3 bars up from the 1-finger barre to play a minor chord:
If you want a bit more information on this, you can read my article here:
Suggested Fingering
This music is beginner friendly but there is a tricky jump from the 5th fret on the bass string for the low C to the 1st fret on the middle string for the Eb :
Practicing this jump will help your dexterity and it might not be much of a jump for you if you have bigger hands- I just can’t quite stretch that far.
When I’m playing the first section, I like to put my first finger on the 3rd fret of the bass string and my 3rd finger on the 5th fret as this makes it easier for me to play, but it’s best that you experiment to see what works best for you.
Video Lesson
I have a YouTube video for this piece coming 13th Jan 2022:
Free PDF Download
This TAB is provided free for your own use. Please do not distribute it without linking back to my site.
Other Similar Lessons
I have a few beginner-friendly original songs on this site and here are links to a few that you might like to explore:
https://beginnercbg.com/sad-song-blues-in-e-minor/
