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Thursday, December 8, 2011

Good Morning to All - arranged for guitar

Download files:

> "Good Morning to All" in C
> "Good Morning to All" in D


Explanatory notes

These are 2 different guitar arrangements of "Good Morning to All" which is the title of the original tune of "Happy Birthday to You". One is written in C major, and the other one in D major.

Each one of this arrangements presents a particular technical issue. Here follows some notes about them:


 "Good Morning to All" for classical guitar in C

In this version the guitar student learns how to play in the first position of the fingerboard with a violin-like left hand posture. A good premeditate exercise is to play the diatonic natural scale in the 1st position of the fretboard - all the available notes that are not affected by a flat or a sharp signal.

When playing this scale the third finger should stop the notes G, C and F on the third fret of the sixth, fifth and fourth strings respectively. The fourth finger should stop the notes D and G on the third fret of the second and first strings.

I guess some of you (the beginners) still don't know where to locate all the notes of the diatonic natural scale in the first position of the fingerboard.

Here's a little help:

E - 6th open string
F - 6th string; 1st fret
G - 6th string; 3rd fret

A - 5th open string
B - 5th string; 2nd fret
C - 5th string; 3rd fret

D - 4th open string
E - 4th string; 2nd fret
F - 4th string; 3rd fret

G - 3rd open string
A - 3rd string; 2nd fret

B - 2nd open string
C - 2nd string; 1st fret
D - 2nd string; 3rd fret

E - 1st open string
F - 1st string; 1st fret
G - 1st string; 3rd fret

First finger should stop the notes located in the first fret. The second finger will, logically, stop those notes located in the second fret. To what concerns the third finger, read above.

By practicing this scale with the indicated fingering the guitar beginner will develop a basic hand posture that is used in a huge part of the guitar literature. This guitar version in C major is written with the purpose (in fact just one of several purposes) of learning that left hand posture.

The fingering for the right hand is a very simple and comprehensive one. The p finger plays the basses - of course! The upper voice is played with the fingers m and i which alternate constantly. Finger a is used only once in a quite logical situation in guitar playing.

For those guitar beginners who are not acquainted with the fingering terminology here it goes:

p = thumb of the right hand
i = index of the right hand
m = middle finger of the right hand
a = ring finger of the right hand
e = little finger of the right hand

1 = index of the left hand
2 = middle finger of the left hand
3 = ring finger of the left hand
4 = little finger of the left hand


"Good Morning to All" for classical guitar in D

This version frees the left hand fingers from stopping the bass notes. They're all on open strings. The contrast here is that the guitar beginner will use a left hand posture parallel to the fingerboard located in the second position. By this I mean that all the fingers of the left hand will be distributed within an interval of four frets.

Each of the fingers should be well positioned above each fret. In this case (2nd position) the first finger should stop all eventual notes located in the second fret. Second finger will take care of all the notes located in the third fret and so on.

Watch for the palm of the left hand, it should stay parallel to the fingerboard - hence the term. This is very important because of the fourth finger. It must be well located above its corresponding fret so that it can function well.


Final words

It can be a great lesson for the guitar beginner to learn these 2 guitar arrangements. Presented are the 2 basic left hand postures - the violin-like and the parallel. On the other hand he will get acquainted with the concept of key transposing - a very useful tool for guitarists and musicians overall.

And lastly, but not less, it should be a great pleasure to be able to entertain your family and friends during a birthday party.

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