Flatpicking Guitar Magazine

Free Monthly Lesson - July 2019

"In the Garden"

Arranged by Mickey Abraham

Download PDF | Download mp3

Hello and welcome once again to Flatpicking Guitar Magazine’s free lesson portion of our monthly newsletter. This month’s lesson is a chord melody arrangement of the classic hymn “In The Garden.” From the beautiful opening phrase to the epic ending “In the Garden” is truly a masterpiece. “In the Garden” is a perfect example of how to make a simple melody sound larger than life.

This lesson arrangement is designed to be played solo or with a back up player. The chord shapes imply every note of the song’s melody. When arranging a chord melody I try to place the melody note on “the top” of each chord. If you play a C chord but only strum three strings (the A, D, and G strings) the G string will be the note your brain hears as the melody. If you strum five strings, allowing the pick to play through to the high E string you’ll here the high E string as the melody. Both of these ideas are used in the first two measures of “In the Garden.”

The back up chords are very simple. Besides the usual C, F, and G you will need an E7, Am, and C7 for the ending. I’m playing with the capo at the fourth fret (key of E) for no particular reason other than I like the way it sounds and feels. The melody plays great out of the C shape and the fourth fret capo makes it sparkle. Makes sure to click on the included lesson MP3 to hear the chords and melody in action.

I hope you enjoy working out this cool chord melody for “In the Garden”. Should you have any questions or comments on this lesson just drop me a line at [email protected]