O Waly, Waly (Guitar Lesson)

Chapter 1: (01:13) Introduction Music Sit back and enjoy Steve's performance of "O Waly, Waly." He plays the guitar intro and the first verse of the song. In the scenes that follow, Steve will teach the melody and chords to this Celtic classic. He will also explain how to combine the melody and chords within a fingerstyle arrangement. Chapter 2: (06:55) Learning O Waly, Waly "O Waly, Waly" also known as "The Water Is Wide" is a Scottish folk song that may have English origins in the 1600s.

Lyrics

O Waly, waly, (a lament) up the bank,
And waly, waly, doun the brae (hill),
And waly, waly, yon burn-side (riverside),
Where I and my Love wont to gae (go)!
I lean'd my back unto an aik (oak),
I thocht it was a trustie tree;
But first it bow'd and syne (soon) it brak (broke)—
Sae my true love did lichtlie (lightly) me.

O waly, waly, gin love be bonnie (beautiful), A little time while it is new! But when 'tis auld (old) it waxeth cauld (cold), And fades awa' like morning dew. O wherefore should I busk my heid (adorn my head), Or wherefore should I kame (comb) my hair? For my true Love has me forsook, And says he'll never lo'e me mair (more).
Now Arthur's Seat
Sall (shall) be my bed (burial place),
The sheets sall ne'er be 'filed by me;
Saint Anton's well sall be my drink;
Since my true Love has forsaken me.
Marti'mas wind, when wilt thou blaw (blow),
And shake the green leaves aff the tree?
O gentle Death, when wilt thou come?
For of my life I am wearìe.

'Tis not the frost, that freezes fell,
Nor blawing snaw's (snow) inclemencie,
'Tis not sic cauld (such cold) that makes me cry;
But my Love's heart grown cauld to me.
When we cam in by Glasgow toun,
We were a comely sicht (sight) to see;
My Love was clad in the black velvèt,
And I mysel in cramasie (crimson).

But had I wist (known), before I kist (died),
That love had been sae ill to win,
I had lock'd my heart in a case o' gowd (gold),
And pinn'd it wi' a siller (silver) pin.
And O! if my young babe were born,:
And set upon the nurse's knee;
And I mysel were dead and gane,
And the green grass growing over me!

Alternate Lyrics

The water is wide, I cannot cross o'er,
But Neither have I the wings to fly.
Give me a boat, that can carry two,
And both shall row, my love and I.

I leaned my back up againgst an oak
I thought it was a trusty tree
but first it bend and then it broke
And so my love did un to me.

A ship there is and she sails the sea,
She's loaded deep as deep can be,
But not so deep as the love I'm in
I know not if I sink or swim.

O love is handsome and love is fine
And love's a jewel when it is new
but love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like morning dew.

Steve usually elects to plays this arrangement with his fingers. He plays with Fred Kelly freedom picks on his index, middle, and ring fingers. He uses an Alaskapik on his thumb.

The Alaskapik

Fred Kelly Picks

When trying these picks, you will have to experiment with various sizes, shapes, and models of picks to find which works the best for you.

If you do not use these picks, you will probably want to play with a slight nail. Refer to the following lessons for nail shaping tips.

Danny Voris - Phase 2 Classical Lesson #2
Jim Deeming - Phase 2 Fingerstyle Lesson #1

Tuning

Steve's fingerstyle arrangement of "O Waly, Waly" is played in drop D tuning. If necessary, review the tuning guidelines listed below.

Tuning to Drop D

Steve demonstrates this song in Drop D tuning. This alternate tuning allows for some fuller sounding voicings that are not available in standard tuning.

1. When tuning to Drop D, first tune your guitar to standard tuning. Within standard tuning, the open strings are tuned as follows:

6th string: E
5th string: A
4th string: D
3rd string: G
2nd string: B
1st string: E

2. Tune the sixth string down to the note D. This step can be accomplished by three different methods. Experiment with all three methods to determine which yields the best results for you. Most guitarists begin with one method. Then, a second method is used to check tuning accuracy.

A. Method 1

Match the pitch of the open sixth string to the open fourth string. Remember that the open fourth string produces the note D.

B. Method 2

Match the pitch of the note played at the 7th fret of the sixth string to the pitch of the open A string.

C. Method 3

Match the harmonic played at the 12th fret of the sixth string to the harmonic played at the same fret of the fourth string. The harmonic at the 12th fret of the fourth string produces the note D. This method tends to yield the best results for most players.

Regardless of which method works best for you, Always tune up to the pitch. The human ear is more accurate when using this approach.

Right Hand

For this arrangement, Steve follows the basic fingerstyle guidelines that he has discussed in countless fingerstyle lessons. Check out Steve's Fingerstyle series in conjunction with these lessons. Many of the materials from this series will also overlap with the Celtic series. You may find some information in the Fingerstyle set that will help you with Celtic concepts that you are struggling with.

Use the thumb to pluck any notes on the three bass strings. The index finger plays notes on the third string. The middle finger is used for second string notes. Finally, the third finger plays the first string. When scalar passages consisting of eighth notes or faster rhythms are played on a single string, alternate between the two most practical fingers.

Harmony

This song is played in the key of D major. The progression features the I, IV, and V chords plus a few additional chords.

D Chord Voicings

Note: Fretboard diagrams with proper left hand fingerings to all of the chords discussed in this lesson can be found under the "Supplemental Content" tab.

At this point in the series, Steve has discussed several viable chord options for D major.

Dadd9

This chord utilizes a portion of a C shaped major chord plus some open strings (6, 5, and 1).

Open D Major Chord

Play the basic "open" D major chord shape with the inclusion of the open fifth and sixth strings.



This chord is based on the visual shape of the "open" C major chord. You can play the root on the fifth string with the third finger or you can play the fifth string open. When tuned to drop D, the open sixth string can be played as the root note.

G Chord Options

G Major

The basic "open" G major chord must be re-fingered when played in drop D tuning.

G6

A movable G major chord shape played on the lowest four strings is combined with the open first and second strings.

G major

This new voicing for G major features a unison played with the note B on the second and third strings.

F#m Barre Chord

This barre chord must be fingered differently in drop D. Use fingers two, three, and four at the fourth fret on the bass strings. Use the first finger to barre the first, second, and third strings at the 2nd fret.

In this scene, Steve demonstrates how these chords can be used to create a fingerstyle accompaniment part that works great when supporting a vocal line. The melody is not included in this guitar accompaniment.

Chapter 3: (03:35) The Right Hand Guitar Break

"O Waly, Waly" is a ballad style song with several verses. Sometimes, the "O Waly, Waly" section of the lyrics is used as a repeated refrain or a chorus. Hearing this vocal line over and over again can get quite monotonous. To add some variety, you can incorporate the melody line into the accompaniment part to create an instrumental solo guitar break.

Right Hand Pattern

Basically, Steve improvises an arpeggiation of each chord. The transcription provided under the "Supplemental Content" tab provides just one sample of how the progression can be arpeggiated. Play arpeggios that are most conducive to supporting the melody line. A bass note must always be played on the downbeat of each measure. Otherwise, the accompaniment will sound quite strange. Notice how Steve varies the arpeggio pattern that he plays for each chord. This prevents the accompaniment from sounding boring and mechanical. He keeps a steady eighth note pulse going most of the time. Occasionally he will hold a note for a quarter note to let the accompaniment breath.

To make the accompaniment more interesting, Steve includes several scalar bass segments between chords. This implies the presence of a bass line.

Chapter 4: (04:22) The Melodic Line Steve demonstrates how to incorporate the melody into the accompaniment pattern in this scene. Now that the melody is included, you have less room to improvise. The melody and bass walks must always be played the same way. You must also play the low root note on the downbeat of each measure. Feel free to improvise various arpeggio notes around these two features of the arrangement.

Learning the Melody

Note: Standard notation and tablature to the melody line by itself can be found under the "Supplemental Content" tab. You can also view notation / tabs to the solo arrangement. This provides one way of incorporating the melody within an improvised arpeggio pattern.

Learn the melody a phrase at a time. Remember that it is always easier to learn something new when you break it down into smaller chunks. Learn the melody by itself before you try to incorporate it into the accompaniment. When playing a melody within an improvised accompaniment, you absolutely must have the melody line memorized. Otherwise, your brain will have too many tasks to juggle at the same time.

Once you have the melody memorized, begin to incorporate it into the improvised accompaniment. Throughout this scene, Steve provides you with an opportunity to play each of the phrases along with him. This is excellent practice for improving your rhythm and ability to play with other musicians.

Octave displacement

In order to use a Bm barre chord voicing within the accompaniment, Steve shifts the D note in the melody up an octave. It is not vary practical to play an open D string note with some sort of Bm voicing. This occurs in measure 6. The melody returns to the lower octave in the following measure.

Measures 4-5

The melody is played out of the open D chord shape in these measures. Notice how a scalar bass movement is played on beats 3 and 4 of measure five to create an effective transition to the Bm chord in the next measure.

Playing Fingerstyle Arrangements

Always pay careful attention to where the melody line is played within each chord. Remember that the melody is always sacred. It should be heard as the focal point of the arrangement at all times. The accompaniment should be played at a slightly lower volume.

Chapter 5: (02:56) Song Demonstration Steve sings and plays through a few verses and choruses of "O Waly, Waly" in this scene. You can either practice the accompaniment with him, just the melody, or you can play the fingerstyle arrangement that incorporates both of them. If you are so inclined, feel free to sing along as well.

Form of the Performance

Verse 1
O Waly O waly verse / chorus
Verse 2
Instrumental Guitar Break

All of the guitar parts as well as the lyrics to the song can be found under the "Supplemental Content" tab.

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Video Subtitles / Captions

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