Thanks again to Sean Deighan for his guest appearance in our class. It’s important to recognize that melody players each have their own unique style. I actually find that my accompaniment will be different depending on whom I’m backing up. For example, generally fiddle players have more “swing” to their playing than string players (such as mandolin or banjo) due to bowing (and slurring) vs. pick. So, if you find yourself playing somewhat differently, that’s not only okay, but encouraged. It means you’re really listening to the melody player and picking up on their unique style.

I also encourage you to find people to play with. Playing along with a recording is great for practice and learning chord positions, etc. But it is extremely important to learn how to play with other people (and, it is a heck of alot more fun!). It will also stretch you and that is an important elemen to improve your playing ability.

I’m hoping that our last class encouraged you to explore the upper part of the fretboard, especially when playing out of D or Em (capo 2). Just to drive the point home, it is another way to bring out new sound combinations when playing a tune multiple times. And, once you get more confident in the upper half of the fret board, it is fun to venture up there.

The Em chord progression shown below is the one I showed you and is an alternative to the minor progression that we worked on out of the Am (7th fret position). It is also a really nice example to show the importance of fingering (1s for minors, 2 for majors in this pattern). Once you practice it some, the patterns become second nature and much more logical than how we typically play out of standard position.

Play along with and practice the Em progressions on Sheep in the Boat