Songs · Guitar · Intermediate
Prelude in E Minor
Matteo Carcassi (1792–1853) · Méthode complète pour guitare, Op. 59 (1836): Preludes in Progressive Keys, No. 4 in E minor
Guitar · classicalfingerpickingE minor6/8 time8 barsstandard tuning
Arranged: Teddy Rook Book: Carcassi’s notes as written, with the bass shown as held dotted quarters, as in the edition. Fingerings, accents and dynamics left out.
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About this piece
A rippling study over the open low E string. Count two big beats in each bar, each split into six quick notes: thumb on the bass, then the fingers climb to the top string and come back down. Let the bass ring through the whole half bar. The last note is a harmonic: touch the 1st string lightly right over the 12th fret, pluck, and lift the finger.
What it practices
- sixteenth-note arpeggios in 6/8
- open bass strings
- a natural harmonic
- first position
Chords in this song
Em · Am6/E · Am/E · B7/E · E7/D · Am/C · Am · Em/B · B7
Each link opens the chord finder with more ways to play that chord.
Where the notes come from
Mutopia Project edition of Carcassi’s Preludes in Progressive Keys, Op. 59 (entered by Jeffrey Olson from the 1906 Oliver Ditson edition by G. C. Santisteban; public domain). Upper and lower voices read twice and compared with this file note by note.
How to practice with it
- Listen first. Press Play and follow along. The note being played lights up in the tab, in the notation and on the fretboard, and the chord being played lights up in the row of chord diagrams.
- Learn the chords. Press each diagram to hear it, then practice changing between them slowly.
- Slow it down. Use − and + to set the tempo. 60% is a good place to start; the notes keep their pitch.
- Loop the hard part. Under More…, turn on Loop, pick the bars, and play them a few times in a row. Count-in gives you a bar of clicks before it starts.
Click a bar in the music to start from there. Space plays and pauses. Left-handed? Turn on the left-handed view: the chord diagrams and the fretboard are mirrored to match your instrument. Tab reads the same either way: the top line is always the first (highest) string.