EXAMPLE DON MCLEAN STYLE

[Bar 1] never underestimate the importance of an intro! You’ll sometimes hear McLean play short, melodic licks or fills before starting a piece. It’s a great skill to develop and you’ll also hear it in the playing of that other master singersongwriter and picker, James Taylor.

[Bar 8] This particular section is worth committing to memory as you’ll hear this particular G to C/G movement in the playing of many other classic in the playing of songwriter-guitarists, including a certain Paul simon.

[Bar 9] From this point on we see how McLean connects a simple chord sequence using standard open major and minor shapes but arpeggiating them and adding short melodic sequences to connect each chord. In order to do this, however, you’ll need to be confident with Major and Minor scales in each key in the open position. In addition, you need to be good with chord tones so your melody always falls on a note belonging to the chord itself when to play it.