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intermediate Saturday Night Shuffle
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I learned this Merle Travis tune when I was twelve years old. Not enough can be said about Merle
Travis. He was a true genius and virtuoso, who not only wrote great instrumentals, but also classic
songs like "Sixteen Tons" and "Dark as a Dungeon".
Saturday Night Shuffle is a very memorable
tune that's stayed with me ever since I learned it, and I also think it taught me a lot about playing
the guitar. For one thing, it introduced me to the wrap around F chord. That's when you wrap your left
hand thumb around the neck and fret the 6th string on the first fret. It's a nice way to introduce the
F chord because you don't have to cover the 1st string first fret like you usually do with a F chord.
Most everybody, including myself, has trouble making the wrap around F chord in the beginning. Eventually
you'll have to be able to cover both the first and second string first fret with your index finger to
master the F chord. So this is a nice way to introduce this chord.
The other thing that will
be introduced is the "triplet". Playing the triplet has it's own feel and sound. I suggest you listen
to the recording a few times and identify the four times when the triplet occurs in this tune. You'll
see a bracket with the number 3 above the staff on top of the three notes needed to play a triplet. Notice
that the first two triplets are exactly the same. Isolate and practice getting the triplets down, then
back up and add the notes leading up to the triplet.
Another part of the tune I enjoy playing
is going from the D9 chord to the G chord with the D note(2nd string 3rd fret) on top. This is a fun
resolution that brings you into that great C7 to Fdim measure. Don't be afraid to dig into this piece.
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TABULATURE
you need Adobe Acrobat
Reader to open this. If you
don't have it, go HERE.
MP3s....a fast and slow
version. Listen to the fast
version a few times to
get the feel of
the tune.
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questions, problems with guitar? ericlugosch@yahoo.com
problems with the site? webmasterlugosch@gmail.com
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