https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/o-holy-night-fingerstyle-guitar-guitar-intermediate
Merry Christmas! I don’t think there’s a melody out there that beats this one, wow! I built it to be approachable and playable for a wide range of skill levels. I hope you enjoy learning it!
Yay!!! I think that will work well with arpeggios on mando to accompany.
What guitar is that? That doesn’t look like a typical Martin sunburst, but I really like it! I think they did some like that recently (I think called a 1935 style) as well as some back in the 70’s
This is a bad to the bone D-18. A Martin D-18 1937 Authentic Series Shaded Top…they’re rare. I think it’s probably 10 years old. It came in the shop on consignment and Jake told me it was the best Martin he’d played in a long time, so I bought it myself without even playing it first. He was right!
@BanjoBen this is awesome! I absolutely love Christmas music and this is one of my favorite tunes. I was sitting in my garage tonight just picking the melody and when I pulled up the site there it was! To top it off we’re performing Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s version of Oh Come all he Faithfully/Oh Holy Night at church on Sunday, so I’ve been practicing the song a lot. This will be my first time performing on electric guitar since I was a teenager. I’ll be sure to post the video on the forum. I’m playing the second guitar part, and my goal is to play the lead part next year. Thanks again for the arraingment!
I finished The First Noel fingerstyle and I’m eager to jump into this one.
Sweet!!! Yeah, I love the D18As. Not too many shadetops made of those. Gorgeous! You like the big neck alright?
I do, it’s great for clumsy people.
Ben you are an outstanding musician. I can only say that you are a genius of world music. Thank you so much for giving us your talent.
Beautiful arrangement. I hit the download button while I’m on my iPad and it said it was done but I can’t find it. Any ideas where to look. Thanks
Should end up in a “download” folder…
Turn off the internet and open your browser and you should find it there
Okay, if I made a list and checked it twice, this carol would be right there at the top. A very well arranged fingerpickeng good lesson. Your music learnin shows itself once again. Last year you had a intermediate version of Silent Night. That " push your pointer finger over" in the first posistion g chord really made good melody sense but I just could not get the move! I stand six four and push two hundred and fifty so my fingers aint quite sissy’s!I lowered the action and tuning, capoed up a few frets and the Larrivee just wouldnt budge on that great lick. I just put some Elixer’s on the Taylor and the action was great on this OHN first times through. Going back and try the Silent Night move; Merry Christmas to the Clark Clan! Been following your twin sisters and theyre showing the world how its done right in America…
Sounds like we’re twins!
He is so good; folks at least have time to consider Him during His birthday celebrations…
What strings do you use on that martin?
I think these are the EJ17 mediums
This is driving me CRAZY!! I probably mentioned before that I have no talent, so everything I learn to play, I must play strictly by rote. I can bumble through the verse OK, but when I get to the chorus I am stopped dead in my tracks. My guitar is perfectly tuned, but when I try the very first bars, playing the exact notes as written and demonstrated, it doesn’t sound anything like the way you play it. I think the reason is the two initial picks of the G and B strings, the G is the melody note but the B drowns it out and it sounds awful. Then drop down to the D and G, the D is the melody note, but the G drowns it out. Same result. The only way I can find to make it sound right is to only play the melody note, leave out the other, and try to work that base E in as written. I am using an ancient ( I mean pre historic ) Yamaha classic git fiddle with nylon strings. Would it sound better if I invested in something more akin to what you’re using? Thanx Bill L
PS, If I ever get those first 2 bars right, I’ll tackle the next ones. At the rate I’m going, my progress is roughly one bar a month. Maybe I should devote my time to golf, but I’m no good at that either. sigh
It takes a lot of time & practice to get pairs to sound balanced.
It’s great that your ear is developed enough to hear the difference! You’ve already won 1/2 the battle!
Try isolating just those pairs you are having an issue with and playing them over and over while experimenting with different picking pressures of each string until you can get it to sound more balanced & to your liking.
I deal with this problem a lot playing double stops on fiddle & mando, or chords on guitar and mando. It is a challenge that can be worked out with patience…it’s not the easiest technique challenge to overcome though and takes perseverance & time.
Hint: bigger strings normally need picked slightly harder than thinner strings to get a balanced sound.
Thank you. I appreciate the encouraging words. I’ll try that.
love this song so much