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“I Believe” Arrangement
from Stephen Bennett’s Fingerstyle Finesse
Last month, we followed our tune, “I Believe” through the second
verse and began approaching the bridge. This month, we’re going to
continue through to end and wrap up this fingerstyle arrangement.
The Bridge
The bridge is my favorite part of the whole tune, and it uses a lot of
harmonics. The harmonics really begin with the fifth string and the
fourth string together, at the seventh fret. Make sure to hit those and
get out of the way, so you can get over to the 12th fret quickly. You’ll
want to use your thumb to cover the root of the F in bar 64 before we
essentially repeat it all again.
As you approach bars 74-75, you want to have a complete G fingered,
before you play the slap harmonics at the 12th fret – slap with your
ring finger for a beautiful-sounding G chord. That will take us towards
the end.
Wrapping Up
Leaving the bridge will take us into the conclusion of the song, and it
consists mostly of variations of themes that we’ve played earlier. Starting
in bar 84, we’re going to go straight up to the C, hit the the D harmonics
and back into to the F-C theme we cultivated earlier in the song. At
the end, pause, form an A minor with a bar at the 5th fret and do a final
sweep harmonic. Use your index finger (or your ring finger) and just
slightly touch at the seventeenth fret – remember not to press down;
just touch the strings, and let it ring for a gorgeous A minor chord.
So that finishes our look at all of the pieces that make up this tune, but
remember that a song isn’t just all of the pieces – you have to put them
together, make them flow, and make the melody sing out. As you find
yourself playing or composing, try to introduce variations into your works.
Even subtle changes will keep it interesting for the listener. Have a good
time with the song, we’ll see you next month!
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