Download Music Here (PDF Format)

How To Play The Music of The Jackson Five is Adam Rafferty’s newest instructional DVD for fingerstyle players. Included are four of Adam’s signature arrangements: “I’ll Be There”, “I Want You Back”, “Never Can Say Goodbye”, and “ABC.” The DVD/booklet includes full standard notation and tablature and sells for $34.97 at www.adamrafferty.com. Running time is 1 hour and 58 minutes.

This release is a natural follow-up to Adam’s previous instructional DVD, How to Play the Music of Stevie Wonder [Review]. It follows virtually the same format and offers the same high quality playing and instruction. Adam begins the video by offering up some valuable strategies for how to go about tackling new and difficult pieces including: warming-up, playing slowly, focusing on one piece at a time and engaging in positive self talk while you practice. Adam points out that although immediate results are not usually apparent, after a good practice session your mind will continue to process the music while you are doing other activities. I’ve found this to be true in my own experience, but I’ve never heard anyone else express it before.

After the introduction, each song is shown as a complete performance followed by an instruction segment lasting about 25 minutes. You could basically consider the package as a series of four in-depth half-hour lessons that you can review at your leisure. Quite a value when you think of it that way! Here’s some of what I said about the Stevie Wonder video. All of it holds true for this video as well:

“Adam is comfortable in front of the camera and is obviously used to breaking down information into short, easily understood phrases. There is enough detail given to the specialized guitar techniques used that you can’t misinterpret how to recreate them. Once enough explanation has been given, short sections of the tune are demonstrated at a slow enough tempo that intermediate-level players should be able to start playing along with only a little practice. Adam ends most instructional segments with some performance notes and often points out places where he has slightly changed elements of the original songs in order to make them groove harder and sound more at home on the guitar. The booklet that accompanies the DVD contains very detailed scores in standard notation and tablature. Left-hand fingerings are included for every note and occasional right-hand fingerings are indicated as well.”

The attention to detail given to the right- and left-hand fingerings here is something rarely seen outside of classical circles. Adam takes his time explaining each arrangement and gives specific demonstrations that compliment the written music perfectly. He has clearly put a lot of time into not only the arrangements themselves, but the way in which he chooses to execute and teach them. It’s meticulous but never tedious. Adam’s skills as a performer and arranger have obviously developed since the last video too. The songs in the Jackson Five video are funkier and a bit more technically advanced than the Stevie Wonder portfolio and the collection seems to have a few common elements that are evident throughout. Luscious chords and deep grooves abound. Percussive slaps and funky muted lines are used liberally as well as cool percussion breakdown in “ABC” which will definitely turn some heads.

The only thing that I found a bit confusing at first was the way in which the songs that use a capo were notated in the tablature staff. Most publishers tend to notate the capo location as the nut and notate all other frets in relation to the capo. Instead, the tab here shows the actual fret number where the capo is positioned and indicates all of the fretted notes in their actual location as well. The choice to notate the songs this way actually makes a lot of sense – especially as you will be moving all around the neck – but it may throw some folks for a loop until they get used to reading the TAB in this format.

I absolutely loved watching and working with the Jackson Five DVD. Any fingerstyle guitarist willing to spend time practicing will surely be rewarded with some uplifting new repertoire and gain some new insights as well. I can’t wait to hear what Adam does next. Whatever it is, I hope that he will continue to share his knowledge and arrangements with like-minded guitarists.

Visit www.adamrafferty.com to find out more about Adam or check out his YouTube channel to enjoy more of his music.

If you’d like to hear all of the arrangements that are available on the new DVD follow this link: http://krunchd.com/raffertyj5tunes. You can scroll through the videos using the arrows in the upper right corner of the screen. Below is a short trailer for the DVD.

How to Play the Music of Stevie Wonder by Adam Rafferty is a fantastic new release aimed at fingerstyle guitarists wanting to hone their chops and add some R&B and funk to their repertoire with arrangements of the Stevie Wonder hits “Superstition”, “I Wish”, “Overjoyed”, and “Sir Duke.” The DVD/booklet sells for $34.97 at www.adamrafferty.com.

The DVD lasts just under two hours and Adam spends between 20 to 30 minutes teaching each arrangement. The video begins with a short introductory segment in which Adam encourages guitarists not to be intimidated or frustrated with the complex material presented in the video. He then briefly talks about what he calls “learning how to learn” and describes four specific stages of the learning process that students will encounter while working through the pieces. Adam adds that he continues to practice these pieces often and that he too is still fine tuning his performances!

The remainder of the video takes a no-nonsense approach. Each of the four songs is shown being performed in it’s entirety and is then deconstructed and analyzed in the following segment. During the instruction segments the video consistently shows a close up of Adam’s left hand and an smaller inset of his right hand so guitarists can closely study either hand. Adam is comfortable in front of the camera and is obviously used to breaking down information into short, easily understood phrases. There is enough detail given to the specialized guitar techniques used that you can’t misinterpret how to recreate them. Once enough explanation has been given, short sections of the tune are demonstrated at a slow enough tempo that intermediate-level players should be able to start playing along with only a little practice. Adam ends most instructional segments with some performance notes and often points out places where he has slightly changed elements of the original songs in order to make them groove harder and sound more at home on the guitar. Below is a short trailer for the DVD.

The 30-page booklet that accompanies the DVD contains very detailed scores in standard notation and tablature. Left-hand fingerings are included for every note and occasional right-hand fingerings are indicated as well. Often there are notes from Adam in the music suggesting alternate fingerings or describing guitar techniques that printed notation can’t clearly show. My only gripe about the booklet is that it’s a bit small. The booklet is made from standard 8.5 x 11 paper folded in half like a church bulletin. It’s certainly not any worse than what is included with most instructional DVDs but I may take the booklet to Kinko’s and enlarge each page to make it easier on my 39-year-old eyes.

Although the arrangements are quite complex and will take even an experienced player some time to master, I’m sure anyone wanting to better understand how to arrange for solo fingerstyle guitar would benefit from watching the DVD. Adam either directly or indirectly addresses a myriad of concepts and techniques that guitarists use when creating solo arrangements. Some of these include: choosing a key signature, isolating melody and bass lines, understanding syncopation, cross-string scales, right-hand-slaps, hammer-ons form nowhere, hinge barres, and more.

I totally enjoyed watching and working with this DVD. Adam’s friendly vibe and attention to detail ensure that any guitarist willing to spend time practicing the material will be able to master the four songs presented.

Visit www.adamrafferty.com to find out more about Adam or check out his YouTube channel to enjoy more of his music.

I updated my Practice Record forms yesterday, with room to record roughly eight weeks of both repertoire and fundamental studies with tempo markings and list long-term goals. A good way to keep track of your progress on weekly assignments and document your daily practice routine. The Practice Record will continue to be available from the Student Resources page.

Download Practice Record (PDF Format)

Until recently, I’ve never bothered to learn a respectable arrangement of “Happy Birthday.” Here’s a song that I never plan on performing, and yet receive more requests for than any other. When you consider that most folks go out to a bar or restaurant with friends and family to celebrate their special day, I guess it should come as no surprise that there’s a birthday in the room almost every night. So after faking my way through a few times, I finally sat down to create a solo guitar arrangement for myself. If you enjoy the arrangement or have any questions please leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

The Music

Below you can download my arrangement in PDF format and listen to a recording of it. Please leave a comment below if you enjoy the arrangement.

Happy Birthday PDF
Download audio file (Happy_Birthday.mp3)

Looking for an easier version?
Try Easy Happy Birthday Accompaniment for Guitar!

Practice Notes

My goal was to create a simple, traditional sounding arrangement that would support vocals if anyone wanted to sing along. No fancy ornamentations or chord substitutions were used, although I am considering doing a jazz arrangement at some point.

Pay close attention to the left-hand fingerings indicated in the music. These will give the smoothest, most connected sound to your playing.

As always, the melody is paramount. Work to bring the melody notes out above the volume of the accompaniment. Be careful not to let one melody note sustain into the next. The most important example of this is in measure 6. When you place your second finger on the A on beat two, let the side of your finger touch the open B string to stop it from ringing. The same concept applies the melody notes in measures 2 and 4 and the bass run in measure 6 although you’ll need to explore ways of using both your left and right hand fingers to dampen any unwanted notes.

You can generally let the notes of the accompaniment sustain except where indicated by the quarter rests. Where the rests occur, let the melody sound alone and use this little reprieve to get your fingers set for the next measure. You’ll especially need the rest to transition between measures 2 and 3.

Performance Tips

You never know what will happen on the gig, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

Play an Intro
If you want to make the song a little longer or if you think there’s any chance that people will actually sing along, it’d be a good idea to play a little introduction. Playing the last four bars of the piece with the pickup notes as I’ve done on my recording will do nicely.

Cajoling the Audience
Depending on the circumstances, I sometimes like to see if I can entice the servers and the rest of the room to join in with singing. You’ll have to be the judge of what’s appropriate based on the venue and the audience.

Once is Enough
Save yourself from having to play Happy Birthday a second time by always asking if there are any other birthdays in the house before you begin. You don’t want anyone to feel slighted, and a second time though is never quite as special!

Let it Breathe
You’ll notice I marked the piece rubato. I like to slow down a little at the end of every two-measure section to give singers a chance to breathe. Even if you play the piece as an instrumental, these changes in tempo will create an expressive performance that implies the familiar lyrics.

The Key is Key
If you plan on singing, or leading a sing-along of Happy Birthday, decide on a key ahead of time. My wife Melanie who has a strong background in choral music suggests that the key of Eb Major is probably a better key for the average singer considering the one-octave range of the piece. If you’d like to try it in Eb, just place a capo at the third fret to transpose. If that key doesn’t suit your voice, move the capo around until you’ve found comfortable key.

Have At It

Well, there’s one more request you’ll be prepared for. It may not be the hippest tune in your set, but people will really appreciate it! Have fun and let me know if you use it.