Guitar Tab Beaumont Rag Beginner

In this lesson of Guitar Tabs from Ultimate Guitar OnLine we will TAB out for you the song Beaumont Rag. This song was made popular by Tony Rice, with his spectacular cross-picking technique, syncopated timing and blues runs. I have tried to capture many of his runs in these breaks so you can show-off your cross-picking techniques to your friends.

All of these files were authored in eMedia's Guitar-Pro. This is the favorite tab and notation authoring software for us here at Ultimate Guitar OnLine. It is filled with features and is simple to use - even without a manual. It is compatible with PC and Mac. We use it on the Mac here and it is a pleasure to use. To see a full review click HERE. Otherwise if you would like to try a free copy of it, you can download the demo HERE and use it for 15 days.

I will have three breaks of Beaumont Rag TAB available.

Beaumont Rag Beginner Tab - The First Break, This page is the first version of this song and, is a beginner version of the song, but don't let that mean it is easy. It is a fairly straight forward break and sounds really nice when played up to speed, which is about 220 bbm. You will be challenged by the syncopated timing and cross-picking in this beginner version too. If you can master this break, you will have a much easier time in the intermediate and advanced areas of this song that are to come.

Again, this song is usually played with a Capo on the second fret, which means you will be playing it in the key of D major, so you can play it easily in the key of C major.

Beaumont Rag Intermediate Tab - Second Break: Hold onto your hat for this version. This is a full-blown Tony Rice version with all of Tony's syncopation and cross-picking written down for your enjoyment (or frustration). Be really careful with your down-ups throughout the song because the syncopation throws the normal picking way out of whack.

I would recommend that you listen to the free Guitar Pro file that you can download and set the speed very low. Then, slowly play along with the song, which will play the notes exactly as they should be played. Use the Speed Trainer to gradually build speed and accuracy.

The link to the intermediate version is: Beaumont Rag Intermediate.

Beaumont Rag Advanced Tab - Third Break: We take it up another notch on this break. Now we will be exploring the song up the neck into some of the higher positions. Beginners, this will be way too hard for you to attempt to play. Only try this version if you are a solid intermediate picker - what is that? If you can play the intermediate break at about 160 to 180 bbm without a hitch, you can consider yourself intermediate.

One thing I would like to point out here. This song played at 180 beats per measure is not the full up to speed version that you ultimately should play. While it sounds great at that speed, the song is usually played somewhere around 230 beats per measure, depending on the arrangement.

The link to the advanced version is: Beaumont Rag Advanced Tab.

If you are not familiar with reading Guitar Tab, click HERE for a quick tutorial. If you are not familiar with reading notation click HERE for some online lesson material we have put together. There are a few more areas that you can brush up on to really get going on this song. I have summarized them below. Just click the links and you can go to that particular article.

Having trouble with Crosspicking technique? We have a great article on Learning How to Crosspick.

Having problems with that flat pick? This article gives you lots of info on proper techniques - Right Hand Techniques.

Having trouble with the fingering? Take a look at Left Hand Techniques and get some help there.

Watch your up and down strokes carefully. It is critical that you keep them consistent. Down strokes are almost always on the downbeat and upstrokes are often on the upbeat, but not always. We have clearly shown the down and up strokes below each note in the tab. The down-up strokes are shown on the tab below the Guitar Tab staff.

If you are being challenged by crosspicking, this song will be hard for you at first. It is however an excellent song with which learn crosspicking and you will get much satisfaction once you master it. If you need help click the link above on Learning How to Crosspick.

Beginners should start this song at about 120 to 140 bpm until fully memorized and mastered. Then gradually work up to about 180 to 200. The 220 to 240 gets you into expert status territory.

Guitar Pro has a really cool feature called speed trainer. you can set a loop of accompaniment chords to be played and after each loop the speed increased by a percent that you specify. I love this feature and it gives you milestone very clearly as to you speed conditioning.

Each quarter note = one beat in the measure so there are 4 quarter notes in just about every measure.

Although this song is tabbed in the key of G major, it is most often played in the key of A Major. Therefore use a Capo on the second fret and play it in G and you will be playing automatically in A. With a Capo on the Second Fret, it tends to play a bit easier also, since the frets are closer together. Watch for this technique a lot in flatpick guitar pieces.

Make sure to memorize your songs. What is the easiest way to do this? Unless you have perfect pitch, you will have to learn one section or measure at a time. Once you can play flawlessly move on to the next measure and add it to what you have memorized. Continue this and make sure you can play the first half of the song, including the second ending.

Once you have the first half memorized, move on to the second half, doing the same thing with the second half of the song.