Guitar Tab Red Haired Boy- Intermediate

In this lesson of Guitar Tabs from Ultimate Guitar OnLine we will explore another popular Acoustic Guitar Solos. Red Haired Boy or Little Beggerman -This song was popularized by Tony Rice from his California Autumn CD. 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 beginner version and you can click HERE to see the beginner version.

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.

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.

This version of the song is quite straight forward driving flatpicking and should give you no problems as it is quite minimal on ornamentation with the exception of a few bluesy slides.

Measures 5 and 14, hold down the first and third fingers on the single notes in the 3rd and 4th notes of that measure to form the modified F chord. Let it ring through too.

Measures 9, 10, 18 and 19, be careful to execute this blues slide correctly with your 3rd finger.

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 to 240 bpm - so it is one of the faster numbers you will learn.

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.