How To Make Your Fingerpicking Sound Like Blackbird By The Beatles - 10th Harmony

by Simon Candy

In this video, I show you how to create a great fingerpicking sound using 10th harmony.

This is the harmony the song “Blackbird” by The Beatles is built on and almost exclusively uses throughout. The 10th harmony is also a great concept to integrate with percussive fingerpicking. What you are about to see is an expert from a live masterclass I presented in Chicago.

In it, I take a simple chord progression and show you how to spice it up by applying 10th harmony to it in a fingerpicking context.

First, I show you how to easily find 10th harmony on your guitar by relating it to common bar chord forms.

It’s super easy!

Next, I show you how to use 10th harmony by applying it to a chord progression, adding the drone of open strings just like in the song Blackbird.

You also learn how great 10th harmony sounds with percussive fingerpicking. I show you a percussive fingerpicking pattern you can use anytime with 10th harmony for a cool groove.

Watch the video below to learn how:

10th Harmony

10th Harmony Shapes: Root 6

The following are 10th harmony shapes that can be found in the root 6 bar chord forms:

10th Harmony Shapes: Root 5

The following are 10th harmony shapes that can be found in the root 5 bar chord forms:

10th Harmony: Droning Open Strings

Droning open strings sound great with 10th harmony shapes.

Here is an example:

10th Harmony: Percussive Fingerpicking

Adding a percussive fingerpicking pattern sounds great with 10th harmony shapes.

Here is an example:

10th Harmony: Masterclass Example 1

The following is the 10th harmony example from the masterclass using droning open strings:

10th Harmony: Masterclass Example 2

The following is the 10th harmony example from the masterclass using a percussive fingerpicking approach:

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