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7 | The Treble Strings

Love Me Tender and the Third String

Peter Kun Frary

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Today’s session delves into the third string and introduces Aura Lee, an iconic tune made famous 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, pitch 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 Video

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

Aura Lee - Love Me Tender | Frary Guitar Duo

In the video, Peter is free stylin' the chords.

Play the Melody Now!

Practice the melody of Aura Lee until liquid smooth. Read the music—don't chase the finger movements in the video. Play along with the audio track or video to enhance your rhythmic accuracy.

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 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 results in a disconnected sound. Fluidity of chord transitions may be improved by leaving down shared notes.

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

shared chord tones

For example, C and Am7 share two fretted notes (red arrows below). As you go 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.

Flat-Four Strum

The flat-four strum is so named because it has four quarter note strums, and works in quadruple meter. It has an old timey vibe and sounds great if you're careful not to drown out your duet partner's melody. Here's how to play the strum:

Aura Lee - Flat-Four Strum | Tutorial by Peter Kun Frary

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

flat 4 strum example

Play the Chords

Practice the chords until smooth. Play along with the audio track or video to enhance your rhythmic accuracy.

Aura Lee | Chords only (flat-four strum)

Aura Lee Flat-Four Strum | Strum sheet

flat 4 strum example

Use the flesh of the thumb in a brisk motion, using even pressure across the strings as you strum. Accent the downbeat and use a slight accent on beat 3. Strums should sound rich and fat. I prefer to aim the flat-four strum at the upper four strings, omitting the low bass strings.