This famous classical / spanish ballad is very beautiful played fast or slow. That's not to say it's easy...it definitely has tough parts. If your fingers start crying and looking sadly at you after making them practice this song, don't worry, it takes a lot to do it well. So don't stress out over it. It is one of those tunes that can take a long time to play fast, even with regular practice. Hence the difficulty rating. The good news is that even playing it slow sounds good, so stick at the tough parts and once you can get them, the rest is building speed.
It's worth practicing this tune for improving your fingerpicking technique, and positional play too. Not to mention, it's just a fine piece of music!
The tune follows a very standard fingerpicking pattern throughout the chords and notes....
Use T/3 2 1 to start with, then 3 2 1 - 3 2 1 before repeating the whole sequence again with the chords / notes for the next bar.
Each bar always starts with the thumbpick on the bass note, together with the 3rd finger picking the high note. Let that bass note ring out until you reach the next bass note. This will take skill when playing the fretted notes, but the good news is that the open strings are much easier, and those are the majority of the bass notes in this tune.
Remember to keep your fingerpicking hand arched over the strings so that you get good access to the strings. Once your fingers get used to the fingerpicking pattern (T/3 2 1 - 3 2 1 - 3 2 1 repeat), you will be able to concentrate much more on your fretboard hand - especially those awkward chord changes!
The bass notes give the chords away as you pick through them. There are really only 2 main sections to the song, repeated. Each section ends with a long held chord on the Low E string and top 3 strings (all open, thus giving an E minor chord). So, look for that long chord and you'll know you've reached the end of a section.
The sections in this tune are:
Intro - mostly in E minor, moving through related chords occasionally such as A minor. End on open E minor chord. Repeat.
Midsection - Now in E major, but end on open E minor chord again. Repeat.
End - Bend, then repeat the intro section once more, except this time end on the 12th fret harmonics rather than the E minor chord.
The easier parts, such as the start, will probably come quite quickly and naturally to you if you are already able to fingerpick patterns comfortably. However, there are some hard parts that will take good finger strength (especially for barring across the strings and getting clean notes with your 1st finger). Switching positions at speed and not messing up your notes on these parts will take work. Unfortunately you can't use your thumb to fret the bass notes, due to the stretches your little finger needs to do at those parts. However, if these parts are just insane to you, just thumbpick the Low open E instead. That will work, and is much easier!
As usual, just take your time and build up speed slowly. Concentrate on getting it right first. Break it up into manageable chunks and then work on sewing those together once you've got them. Your fingers' muscle memory will take time to adapt and gain strength, and practicing tunes like this will help you advance quickly because they definitely give your fingers a decent workout!
