{"id":146260,"date":"2025-01-05T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=146260"},"modified":"2024-12-30T16:18:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T00:18:18","slug":"flatpicking-guitar-lesson-combining-melody-and-chords-for-a-unified-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/flatpicking-guitar-lesson-combining-melody-and-chords-for-a-unified-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn to Flatpick Melody and Chords with \u201cI\u2019ll Fly Away\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"3 Ways to Play &quot;I&#039;ll Fly Away&quot; | Flatpicking Guitar Lesson\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C3juR_K0DRE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While flatpicking is often associated with single-note lines, one of its trademark techniques is combining melody and chords for a unified sound. In a full bluegrass band, pickers typically stick to fast lines that cut through the mix, but when playing solo or in small groups, they\u2019ll add more harmony to flesh out the sound. Working chords into a melody line is a difficult concept to master, but with some practice, it can be transformative. In this lesson, I walk through three approaches for flatpicking melody and chords together using the classic spiritual \u201cI\u2019ll Fly Away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example 1<\/strong> presents the verse melody and chords in the key of G major. Before moving on to the other examples, I recommend three important steps. First, listen to many recordings of the song. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/49ZCkED\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch rendition<\/a> is a good starting point. Second, memorize the chords using a boom-chuck pattern\u2014if you need a refresher on the boom-chuck, see <a href=\"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/how-to-play-boom-chuck-guitar-variations-in-g-the-most-common-bluegrass-key\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cathy Fink\u2019s Basics lesson in the May\/June 2023 issue<\/a>. Finally, memorize the song\u2019s melody, so you&#8217;re able to play it confidently and in time without referring back to the tab. Only use downstrokes, as every melody note lands on a beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>Example 2<\/strong>, the same melody is fleshed out with chordal strums on the downbeats of every other measure. These strums do not strike every string of the chord but instead keep the melody note as the top note of the chord. You can use a rest stroke when strumming the chord to highlight that melody note (see the accompanying video for this technique). Be sure to let the lower notes of the chord continue to ring out as you play the rest of the melody. The approach in this example is a stripped-down way to combine melody and chords and can work well as an intro, outro, or minimalistic interlude between verses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example 3<\/strong> places the root notes of the chords in between spaces in the melody. This approach offers less chordal texture than Ex. 2 while adding rhythmic drive. Be sure to keep the root notes held and ringing in the fretting hand to give a sustaining drone in the bass. As with the previous examples, only use downstrokes in the picking hand. Ex. 3 is particularly effective once the chords and structure are already familiar to the listener, making it ideal as an interlude somewhere in the second half of a song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cross-picking is used to convey both the melody and chords in <strong>Example 4<\/strong>. As with Ex. 2, hold chord shapes in the fretting hand so that the chord rings out as you pick through it. Cross-picking is an advanced technique, so be sure to follow the pick directions and be patient if it doesn\u2019t come naturally at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While these examples provide a good starting point, they only scratch the surface. There is no one right way to do this, and the range of possibilities is what makes playing guitar a lifelong exploration. Take these examples as suggestions, combine them, build on them, subtract from them, and most important, enjoy the journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"759\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-1.jpg?resize=759%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-146264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-1.jpg?resize=759%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 759w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-1.jpg?resize=370%2C500&amp;ssl=1 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-1.jpg?resize=768%2C1037&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-1.jpg?resize=222%2C300&amp;ssl=1 222w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-1.jpg?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 759px) 100vw, 759px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"761\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-2.jpg?resize=761%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-146265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-2.jpg?resize=761%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 761w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-2.jpg?resize=372%2C500&amp;ssl=1 372w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1033&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-2.jpg?resize=223%2C300&amp;ssl=1 223w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-ILL-FLY-AWAY-NOTATION-2.jpg?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 761px) 100vw, 761px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/products\/no-350-january-february-2025\" name=\"magazine\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 150px; height: 198px; margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/001_350_Cover-150px.jpg?w=1290&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Acoustic Guitar magazine cover for issue 350\"><\/a>\n<p style=\"font-family: sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px 0px;\">This article originally appeared in the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/products\/no-350-january-february-2025\">January\/February 2025<\/a> issue of <em>Acoustic Guitar<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Walk through three approaches for flatpicking melody and chords together using the classic spiritual \u201cI\u2019ll Fly Away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":146262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"Walk through three approaches for flatpicking melody and chords together using the classic spiritual \u201cI\u2019ll Fly Away.\u201d","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1655],"tags":[1961],"ppma_author":[1589],"class_list":["post-146260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flatpicking","tag-january-february-2025"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/agm-ill-fly-away.mp4.00_05_44_16.Still001.jpg?fit=1200%2C757&ssl=1","authors":[{"term_id":1589,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"alan-barnosky","display_name":"Alan Barnosky","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Alan-Barnosky.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Alan-Barnosky.jpg"},"user_url":"https:\/\/www.alanbarnosky.com\/","last_name":"Barnosky","first_name":"Alan","job_title":"","description":"Alan Barnosky is a guitarist based in Durham, NC. He performs solo as a songwriter as well as in bluegrass and folk bands."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146260"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146779,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146260\/revisions\/146779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146260"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=146260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}