Free Music!*
(And Some Other Possibly Useful Information)The Beginner Blues.pdf
This is a fun duet for beginners. It is based on the traditional 12 bar blues progression. It is from "How to Play the Acoustic Guitar, Book ".
To hear this tune, click here : Beginner Blues.
The Slightly Tougher Blues.pdf
This is basically a little fancier version of The Beginner Blues, this time arranged as a solo. It is also from "How to Play the Acoustic Guitar, Book 1". (several pages later, needless to say!)
To hear this tune, click here: Slightly Tougher Blues.
The Major's Kale.pdf
This is a duet from "How to Play the Acoustic Guitar, Book 2". As you might guess, it is based on the major scale (C major, to be specific).
To hear this tune, click here: The Major's Kale.
Blusiny Dorian.pdf
This arrangement is from "How to Play the Acoustic Guitar, Book 2". It is a slightly more complex blues solo in the Dorian mode.
To hear this tune, click here: Blusiny Dorian.
The Sloop John B.pdf
This solo is from "Folksongs for Classical Guitar" . It is a Jamaican folk song, and has been recorded by many artists, probably the most famous being the Kingston Trio and the Beach Boys. The arrangement is in the key of D, and uses dropped D tuning. It has a fairly syncopated bass line.
Al la Nanita.pdf
A la Nanita Nana is a beautiful tune that is not only a Spanish Christmas carol, it is also a lullaby (which is how I first heard it when my daughter was an infant). So, it is one of the few "all purpose" Christmas carols. This arrangement is included in "An International Christmas". You can hear me playing A la Nanita Nana at this link: A la Nanita Nana.
The Rabbit.pdf
This is the first page of a piece from "Asanas for Classical Guitar". It is in B minor and is mostly in 3/4 time, but there are a few 2/4 measures thrown in just to keep you on your toes!
Lalo.pdf
This piece is by Jim Giddings. It is from his self published book "Sketches of Latin Amerca". This is a collection of 18 delightful pieces. All the arrangements fairly easy, and they all have a distinctive Latin feel, as the title implies. Jim obviously understands this style very well - I was playing some of these peices in a restaraunt once, and a lady came up and thanked me for playing "South American" music. I later learned that she was from Brazil! This is great gig material.
La Casa de Miguel.pdf
This is the title piece from Jim Gidding's book "La Casa de Miguel".
Prelude 3.pdf
Another composition by Jim Giddings, this one from "Passages: 12 Preludes for Guitar" . GuitaristsJohn McClellan and Tim Thompson have included this piece on their recent CD, Joshua Hit the Road. Not only is this more great gig material, these pieces would be a very good suppliment to any method book.
Amazing Grace.pdf
This arrangement is also by Jim Giddings. It is from his self published book "10 Hymns for Guitar". This tune, as well as all the arrangements in the book are in dropped D tuning. The hymns are very well arranged, and none of them are very difficult. Let me know if you would like more information on Jim's work.
(The Following Is The Other Possibly Useful Information That Was Referred To At The Top Of The Page)
Beatles for Classical Guitar User Guide.pdf
Through the years, I have received many comments, questions (and occasionally even a few compliments!) from guitarists regarding the arrangements in Beatles For Classical Guitar. I always enjoy and appreciate reading these comments, and they have prompted me to create this page. It is designed to serve as user's guide for people who own the book. In addition to playing tips and general information on the arrangements, there are links to performances of all 30 of the tunes. I hope this is useful to you - I just wish I had read this page before I recorded the book! By the way, if you have looked at the guide previously, you may have to empty your browser's cache to be sure you are looking at the most recent version. The most recent version is 3/6/15. That is the date you should see at the bottom of the last page.
How to Buy a Guitar
If you are thinking about getting a better guitar, there might be some useful information for you here. On the other hand, if you've gotten this far and don't even have a guitar yet, I'm very impressed! You must be pretty interested, and in that case, I would say you should definitely read this! It is also from "How to Play the Acoustic Guitar, Book 1".
Moveable Chords and Bar Chords
This useful one page chart contains fingerings for over 200 chords! It is also from "How to Play the Acoustic Guitar, Book 2".
Five Major Scale Patterns
These five moveable fingering patterns of the C Major scale are very useful since they cover the whole neck of the guitar. Because they are moveable, they can be played in any key. This concept can also be applied to any mode simply by starting on the appropriate note of the scale. The chart is from "How to Play the Acoustic Guitar, Book 2".
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Send comments, questions, or orders to lb@larrybeekman.com or call 816-523-0090.
