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5 | The Treble Strings

Love Me Tender and the Third String

Peter Kun Frary

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Today we present notes on the third string and learn Aura Lee, commonly known as Love Me Tender.

Elvis Presley | Jailhouse Rock PR image | Wikimedia Commons

Elvis

Notes on the Third String

The diagram below illustrates notes on the guitar's third string, the G string.

3rd_str_note_chart

B Note Choices

The B on the third string's fourth fret is a unison—a duplicate of the open B string. Either B may be used. The fretted B allows techniques such as slides, bends and vibrato whereas the open B is brighter in tone and easier to play.

Aura Lee Musings

Aura Lee, originally an American Civil War ballad, was recorded by rockabilly icon Elvis Presley in 1956 as Love Me Tender, and featured in the movie by the same name. Although the melody roams across the first, second and third strings, Aura's mellow pace and phrase repetitions result in few technical challenges. Alternate between the middle and index (m-i) finger and accent beats one and three. Aim for a tempo of about 100 BPM.

Listen to the Track

Watch the video to become familiar with the sound and feel of this piece.

Aura Lee - Love Me Tender | Frary Guitar Duo

In the video above, the melody is played note for note per the score, but Peter is free stylin' the chords.

Play the Melody Now!

Practice the melody of Aura Lee until smooth. Read the music—don't chase the finger movements in the video. Play along with the audio track or video to help shore up your rhythm.

Aura Lee | Melody only. Play along!

Aura_Lee_Tab

Now that the melody of Aura Lee is under your fingers, work on playing the chords.

Chord Tips

Better Transitions

The challenge of Aura Lee lies in the use of six different chords. Spot practicing troublesome chords always yields improvement, but application of better technique will make transitions even smoother. For example, holding the fingers as near as possible to the fingerboard results in faster and more efficient chord changes.

Chords with Shared Notes

Lifting the fingers off and then back down for a new chord is labor intensive and may result in a disconnected sound. Fluidity of some chord transitions may be improved by leaving down shared notes. For example, C and Am7 share two fretted notes (red arrows below). As you move from C to Am7, simply remove the finger from the fifth string. The two remaining fingers form the Am7 chord. As you move from Am7 to D7, there is one shared note—C on the first fret of the second string—to leave down during the transition.

Chord Tones | Leave down shared notes (red arrows) during chord changes.

shared chord tones

Whenever possible, hold down common fingerings and chord tones.

Flat-Four Strum

The Flat-Four Strum is so named because it has four quarter note strums. And, of course, only works in quadruple meter. It lays down an old timey vibe and sounds great if you're careful not to cover up the melody of your duet partner. Here's how to play the Flat-Four Strum:

Flat-Four Strum | Strum downwards four times in each measure.

flat 4 strum

Aura Lee | Chords only (flat-four strum)

Aura Lee Flat-Four Strum | Strum sheet

flat 4 strum

Use the flesh of the thumb in a brisk motion, and maintain even pressure across the strings. Place a gentle accent on the downbeat and a slight accent on beat 3. When played well, each down strum sounds rich and fat, imparting an old timey jazz feel: chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp. I prefer to aim my Flat-Four Strum at the upper four strings, omitting the low bass strings.

Aura Lee - Flat-Four Strum "How To" | Peter Kun Frary