“Sheep May Safely Graze” Arrangement

Posted on 2 CommentsPosted in Free tabs, Stories, Tips from Mark

This is my solo guitar arrangement of J.S. Bach’s beautiful “Sheep May Safely Graze.” I use it when I play for the hospitalized ‘premies’ (babies born before the full gestation period) in Portland. Play it as smoothly and gently as you can.  Suggestions: 1. To make the parallel thirds in the opening measures consistent in tone I pick EACH PAIR OF TREBLE NOTES with my index and middle fingers, including the low C on the fifth string; 2. In measure 2, sustain the low C note throughout; on beat 2, lift the middle finger silently (relax!) and place it along with […]

Cool Chord Progressions

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Free tabs, Stories, Tips from Mark

By Mark Hanson It was fun to read about Sting studying scores of French Impressionist composer Maurice Ravel (“Bolero”) for new harmonic and chord progression ideas. In this article we’ll study a chord progression you may not have seen: a dominant 7th chord resolving down 1/2 step (G7 to F#, or D-flat7 to C, for instance) — the “Augmented 6th” progression. First, here’s a fundamental harmonic movement to understand: You all know that V7 chords (“dominant 7th”) resolve regularly to the I chord (“tonic”): G7 to C, for instance. They also resolve effectively up to the vi chord of the […]