Windy and Warm Chet Atkins Fingerpicking Piece

Overall Information Song is mainly in the key of A minor, but at one point goes to C major and at another point goes to A major. Very common key changes. C major is the relative major of A minor. Song is a Rondo in form. How a Rondo works is that there is an A section then a B section back to A then a C back to A … Very common in classical music and does happen in a number of popular tunes.

Start with the bass First step is to get the bass going on the Am chord. This is the backbone of the piece. Doing quarter notes play the A (5 th string open), E (4 th string 2 nd fret), E (sixth string open) to E (4 th string 2 nd fret). If you look at this song closely you will see that this is the main chord and the main movement. Against this is the melody. Note that the majority of the melody is in the chord. Back to the saying that “The Chord Rules”.

Key to this is alternate the bass – as described before. Then for the chords use a claw type with the index playing the 3 rd string and the middle finger the 2 nd string. Get measure 1 down perfectly before moving on to the 2 nd measure. The only difference it the last beat and a ½ where the chord comes in on the & after 3. This can be confusing at first but is way cool! Also note that the & after 4 is a rest. This is needed to give you time to get to the next chord. Very common also. Count & 4 &

While this is just moving down chromatically from Bb major to an E chord the temptation is to play a full barre chord – I was tempted when I first learned this piece and am certain that you will be to. But notice that you only need to play 4 strings. So instead of doing a full barre you may want to play the barre but not fully push down the middle strings. Then you are only using the index and middle finger. You will find that much easier on the hand. You need to pluck these with the thumb taking the 6 th string, index the 3 rd string, middle the 2 nd string and ring finger the 1 st string. Note the rest at the end. The G (open 3 rd string) will be hammered on the next beat. While this introduction is simple it is also very effective. An introduction can really help to set the tone of a piece in any style.

Above is the entire introduction. It isn’t difficult but get it down perfectly! In some ways it is a piece by itself. Think of how you might use this same introduction in other songs that you perform. I will be asking for volunteers to play this for the class.

Now for the A section There are only 3 chords in this section: Am, E7 and Em. They might be played a bit differently than you are used to so pay attention. The E7 is just hinted at and is called E7 as that is what is implied. You won’t be playing a full E7. Also note that your 4 th finger is doing quite a bit of work on the left hand. Don’t fret about that as it will come. I play this at home on a nylon string guitar without any issues. In performance I usually use a steel string guitar but have even used my archtop.

Count & 4 & & 4 & This entire line is based on an Am Chord. You play the D (2 nd string 3 rd fret) with the pinky – do not play with any other finger). Do the 1 st measure until you have it down. The first note on the 3 rd string is actually hammered from the previous measure during the introduction. Be sure to count while you play!!! The 2 nd measure has a bend on the 2 nd string 3 rd fret up to the pitch of the 2 nd string 3 rd fret. Do this again with your pinky on your fretting hand!! Note that the timing is the same for both measures. For the right hand use the index and middle on the melody and thumb on the bass.

Again the Am to start. Similar to previous measure. But for the E7 there is a big change. You slide up on the 2 nd string from the D (3 rd fret) to the E (5 th fret) while striking the 6 th string E open and holing it for the entire measure. This is a little riff. For added emphasis you can play the open high E (1 st string) at the same time. Then play the 1 st string 3 rd fret. The last riff is a bluesy riff where you play the 2 nd string 4 th fret and immediately slide down to the 3 rd fret and then just go down to the other notes. The last note will be hammered on in the next measure. When you have this mastered you are over ½ way through the A section as much of this repeats. This is a song that you can play and be proud of to others. Count & 4 & & 4 &

This part is easier than the previous part. Just Am Em and Am. Just picking the notes out. Do notice that the last note on Em is an anticipation of the Am chord. So the chord really changes on the & after 4. Also beat 2 of the last measure you will play both the 4 th and 3 rd strings with the thumb. Very common in this style. Merle Travis did this quite a bit (most of the time). Count & 4 & & 4 & This section is the same as you did before in measures 1 and 2 of the theme. I won’t go over in detail since you already have that in this presentation.

Now get the 1 st 12 bars down perfectly. It isn’t that hard. But take your time and count while you play. You might want to bring a tape recorder to tape the instructor playing this to get it into your head. The arrangement is based on Chet Atkins version. I will also show you some of what Tommy Emmanual does on this once the class has it down. My take is that it took me about 10 hours total to get this good enough to perform the entire piece. But I had to work out much of what I am giving to you. So it may take as long for all the sections. But have heart, you really only need to do the 1 st couple of sections. Section 1 is about 1 hour work, section 2 even less. A section Introduction

This starts the B section. Notice that it is actually easier than the A section. There are no bent notes and the timing is even easier. The whole fist 4 bars are just Am with an added D and B every so often – and those done scale wise. Even the timing is very easy. Other than the very last beat the bass is constant 5 th string 4 th string, 6 th string 4 th string. And for that beat it is just playing the 4 th and 3 rd together. If you don’t get both notes it will still sound good and most likely no one would ever notice unless they were very familiar with the piece! Count & &

See how this is the same as the 1 st 2 measures of the B section!

OK these 2 measures will take some work. It starts on a Barre on the F7, 1 st fret. But the good news is that you only need to do a full barre with the index finger, then put the 2 nd finger on the 3 rd string 2 nd fret – nothing else. Only 2 finger, and then pick out the notes that you will use. Pluck the 1 st 3 strings with your index, middle and ring as a group. The bass is syncopated so that is a difference. Then once you play the E7 pluck on beat 1 the chord, hit the bass on beat 2 and then do the run on beats 3 and 4. Count 1 2 & 3 & 4 & & 4 & This can be a pull off.

This is the entire B section. Again, it is just an Am and at the end an F7 to E7

Here is what has been done so far. Make sure you can play all of this!!!!

You now have over ½ of the entire song down. There are only a few sections. And you have now learned 3 of the sections. You could stop here and have a nice 2 minute piece or go on. We will cover the rest of the song but also talk about adding in your own section. When I perform this I stretch this out to about 4 minutes by adding in sections of my own. The next part you should do is repeat the A section. I won’t go over that in detail as I already have done it. So far the form is intro, A repeat A, B and then A. Play it slowly and relaxed! Next we will cover the C section that moves from Am to C major. Relative keys!! This section is also very bluesy!

Section C This goes through the following chords: –G7 (the V7 chord of C), C9 (leading to the F chord), F7, to E7. Very much like some of the Gypsey Kings material. This section is a bit harder at first. Be sure to do the chords properly before tackling the rest of the song. See the fingerings on the next page.

rd Fret 4 G7 3 C9 F E7 Note that you don’t need every note of every chord on this.

rd Fret 2 G9 For the melody on the 1 st string use your pinky at the 5 th and 6 th frets. It starts with a slide from the 5 th to 6 th fret. You don’t play the 5 th string but hold it down as it is easier. This is the same fingering that you did for the F7 earlier but now on the 3 rd fret instead of the 1 st fret. So we are building off of what has already been learned.

Count 1 2 & 3 & & 4 This is very cool and very common in this style of music on a G7. Important to hold the chord down and then you just pick the appropriate strings. For measure 2 change to a Barre chord. The melody is now on the 1 st string. It will be the same melody as the C9

Again hold the chord down and on the 2 nd measure the melody is with the 4 th finger. Timing is the almost same as on G7 so this should not be that hard. The bass is different strings but you are still barring at the 3 rd fret! Coun 1 2 & 3 & 4 & & 4

Notice that from here for 3 measures you barre the 3 rd fret. Get these barres down perfectly!!

To start notice how similar this is to the G7 section. Only the bass notes are different. That may cause you some issues but just anticipate the low F (6 th string on the last beat of the first measure and you should be fine. Count & 4 & & 4 &

For the Dm this is just Bass pluck – a rhumba rhythm in the bass. The E7 is very easy, you play the chord on beat 1 bass on beat 2 and then just a run coming down for beats 3 and 4. Count 1 2 & 3 & & 4 & Pull off On this note.

Now the 2 nd ½ of C as a group.

This is the entire C section. After this you repeat the A section. I have heard many players only play up to this point and repeat the A section. You would be up to 2 ½ minutes so that is very good. It could be a completed piece at this point! I stress that as sometimes it is good to do up to a point and then master it before adding a final section. Chet does one more section and I usually do at least 2 more sections – I like to stretch this out a bit.

Final Section on Chet’s This changes from Am to A Major. Very common in popular and classical music. Examples, Runaway by Dell Shannon, And I Love Her etc. See if you can identify any. Bach used this technique all the time. The difficult part is the ½ barre that is absolutely required to play this.

1 1 A 4 0 A7 3 0 The A7 here is how I first learned A7. It is a voicing that is very pleasant to the ear as it puts the dissonance on top.

Note the A bass (5 th open) comes in on the & after 4 in the previous measure. But look closely and you will see that the barre stays for most of the 4 measures. The last beat of measures 2 and 4 the barre moves to the 1 st fret and then back to the 2 nd fret on the first beat of the following barre. Some do this as a slide. The grace note on the 1 st beat of measure 2 can be an issue. Many players omit this. Counting & 4 1 & 2 & & 4 1 & 2 & 3 4

A7 same as before. E7 is E7 to actually E7b9 sometimes known as the Hendrix chord. Again the picking hand is bass pluck as before. After this it goes back to the A section again. The timing on this can be a bit tough so count while you play. Just take your time and you can get this. Count & 2 & 3 & & 4 & 1 2 & 3 & 4 &

A7 like before. The D7 is actually a D9 with a D7 form but the 1 st string open. Chet is doing a roll on this. The bass is like a Latin beat. Notice how after the first open 1 st string (E) that the bass happens every time the E is played! That adds lots of interest. Now keep the faith we are almost done with this. Count & & & 4 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 * 3 & 4

Well the last 2 measures before the repeat are just bass lines leading to the top. This is the easiest part of the tune. Then the last 2 measures above are the coda. The 1 st measure you have played before and the very last chord is an Am at the 5 th fret. While this piece is deceptively simple, it is also one that can be a centerpiece for you. There are a number of technical problems that are solved along the way. I am confident that every one of you can learn this. Even if you don’t do the C and D sections you will have something that you can play for the rest of your life!! Something that you can be proud of.

These last 4 slides are the whole piece. Just take your time. Realize that there are only 40 total different measures in this piece. To master it will take about 10 hours of work and for performance maybe triple that. This is a good warm-up. Do that for 30 days and you are ready for the road with it.