Below is the lesson for “Lagrima” by Francisco Tárrega.
Helpful Tips
This classical fingerstyle piece serves up two beautiful melodies in contrasting tonalities; one in major and the other in minor. Our first melody is set in the key of A Major. This melody contains the two most difficult measures of the piece: bars 5 and 6. These two bars are quite the finger frenzy – requiring the use of unusual fingerings to tackle the tough chord shapes.
In the part 1 lesson, we’ll cover the fingering for these measures. I’d highly encourage you to use the suggested fingering as it will make this section easier to play and increase the sustain of each note and chord.
Melody B is set in the key of A minor (the parallel minor of A Major). Being a minor key, the tonality of this melody is reflected as having a somber, sad feel. From a fingerpicking perspective, this melody is a lot easier to play than the first. But there is one tricky aspect to it: the artificial harmonic hit at the 12th fret of the A string.
These harmonics are executed using a right hand plucking technique. If this technique is new to you, then check out our Harmonics Course, which is part of our techniques series: Technique Toolbox.
Part 1 – Performance & Free Lesson