Guitar Tab Blackberry Blossom - Beginner

In this lesson of Guitar Tabs from Ultimate Guitar OnLine we will explore one of the most popular Acoustic Guitar Solos. Blackberry Blossom. Nearly every flatpick guitar artist has a good version or versions of this under their belt. We have arranged and intermediate version here and also a intermediate version and you can click HERE to see that version.

We also offer a much expanded version of this song as an digital download. Click the PayPal button below and go to our secure shopping cart to order this song for just $2.49. Here is what you will get.....

Professionally executed PDF file, with complete tab, notation and chords, showing every downstroke, upstroke, left-hand fingering, ornamentals, and were you are to hold chord forms and let passages "ring through".

Our Unique "Tab Notes" Virtual teaching notes for each file. This gives you an electronic teacher for a fraction of the price! It is included as an overlay layer as part of the pdf file and can be easily switched off when not needed, allowing you to print a "clean" version of your tab for your records.

The complete Guitar Pro file that we used to author this tab. You can use it to practice, do speed training and edit it yourself to do some arranging to meet your own style.

Complete chorded rhythm track so you can easily practice playing your song/arrangement.

For a complete review of how our tabs are setup see our Ultimate Guitar Tab Book overview page.

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.

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. Otherwise will be give you hints along the way by hovering your mouse over certain keywords in this text.

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

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 almost always on the upbeat. 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.

Watch your left-hand fingering very carefully when starting out on this. Make sure you follow the tab fingering exactly when you memorize the selection.

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

Notice in this song that there is a finger shift on a lot of the notes many of the measures. In other words the LH first finger plays the 2nd fret rather than the 1st fret, LH 3rd finger plays the 4th fret rather than the 3rd fret and so on. The reason for this is that it is much easier to play with your 1st and 3rd fingers rather than the 2nd and 4th at this speed. Also there is not a need to note anything on the 1st fret in these measures.

The most difficult passage for this song is the 16th through the 19th measures. There are quite a few eighth notes all strung together for some pretty fast pickin' so study these measures with extra care and master them before trying to attain any speed.

Start slowly and gradually work up to speed. Know the song by heart and be able to play it nearly flawlessly before you attempt to play it up-to-speed. This piece is usually played at about 220 bpm.

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.

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.

This beginner version of Blackberry Blossom is a "stripped down" version of the intermediate version we have of this song. In other words if you can master this beginner version the intermediate version will really come quite easy to you - with speed being the force to deal with.

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.