Our first two Atkins' DIet Sessions - a collective of hobby players interested in learning more about the music and playing style of Chet Atkins - in Toronto went really well.
We watched lots of videos - thanks Jo-Anne! - and decided to tackle learning Chet's arrangement of "Mister Sandman", a tune we had all been thinking about learning but hadn't got around to yet.
The version we are working on is from . This version is also available on the Compilations/Reissues:
Here are some things we have discovered so far...
- The first chorus is a relatively simple Boom/Chick in the Key of A. Some things we discovered for playing this are:
When you get to the first position B7 Chord with a G# Melody, fingering it as if
your are playing a B9 will make the stretch feel easier.
There are two fingering solutions
for getting the same notes on the Dmi Chord with the A / B Melody (or Dmi6, if you prefer). One is to play the D Bass on the Sixth String with your Thumb, the A Bass on the Fifth String, and the B / A on the Second String. The other notes are D on the Fourth String, F on the Third String.
These same notes are available as; D Bass on the Fourth String, A Bass on the Fifth String, D on the Third String, F on the Second String, and the Melody Notes B and A on the First String.
To keep the Boom/Chick going on the E7 Chord at the end of the tune while playing A / B Melody, play the E7 in the Fifth Position and either hold the Bass Note B with your thumbor play the Bass Note B with your Third Finger and have your First Finger do double duty - playing the G# Note of the Chick
with the tip and then leaning the knuckle one fret lower to play the Melody Note A. For this passage, either technique works equally well.
- Then Chet plays the Intro in the Key of D but, ends on a D7 Chord and plays the Second Chorus in the Key of G.
- For the Second Chorus in the Key of G, Chet strums and applies some Banjo-type rolls to creatively voiced Triads. When figuring these Triads out, taking a moment and write out the 7 notes that belong to each Chord/Scale will help a great deal - unless your eyes glass over when you hear the word "Theory".
- Chet then plays the Intro again - this time in the Key of C and he stays in C for the Third, and final, Chorus. It is a return to the Boom/Chick feel and is what we will be working on for the next Atkins' Diet.
If you are interested in attending the Atkins' Diet Sessions, which happen by-weekly in Toronto, you must be a Member.
Contact Randy for more info
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The Basic Chords for "Mister Sandman", in the Key of A, are:
A
G#7
C#7
F#7
B7
E7
A
F7
E7
A
G#7
C#7
F#7
Bmi
Dmi
B7
E7
A
"Mister Sandman" on Wikipedia
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