Guitar Exercises For Dummies
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If you’re old enough, you may recognize “The Three Ravens” from the Peter, Paul, and Mary version of this folk song. Playing "The Three Ravens" on guitar gives you a chance to practice your harmonic minor scale. The key signature in the music tells you that this song is in F minor, but because you’re using the harmonic minor scale, every instance of the note E will be E natural, not Eb as indicated by the key signature.

Because the harmonic scale here is in 1st position and you have some out-of-position notes to play, you have a pretty serious case of finger stretching ahead of you! So, first play bars 1 through 3 in isolation. This bit of practice allows you to execute the stretch in both an ascending and descending context. Practicing these stretching parts ensures that they don’t take you by surprise when you try to play the whole piece.

The Three Ravens
The Three Ravens

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About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

This All-in-One guide includes content from Jon Chappell, a guitarist, composer, author, and magazine editor;

Mark Phillips, a guitarist, arranger, and editor;

DesiSerna, a guitar guru and music theory expert; and

Hal Leonard Corporation, a renowned U.S. music publishing company.

Jon Chappell has jammed with countless blues musicians at Chicago's blues clubs. He is an award-winning guitarist and composer as well as past editor- in-chief of Guitar Magazine and Home Recording Magazine. His other books include Guitar For Dummies, Guitar Exercises For Dummies, Classical Guitar For Dummies, and Rock Guitar For Dummies

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