Flatpicking Guitar Magazine

Free Lesson December 2019

Hatikvah

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 I offer “Hatikvah” the melody to the Israeli national anthem. I think it’s important to learn beautiful melodies from all over the world. Over the past eleven years I have offered folk melodies from Ireland, Canada, and Romania. I hope you enjoy working on “Hatikvah” and adding it to your list of slow haunting tunes.

“Hatikvah” consists of two sections. Unlike a bluegrass fiddle tune the parts are played once (instead of repeating each section). The melody is straight forward and should be simple to play. One does not have to worry about playing “Hatikvah” fast. The slower the better. Try to let the notes sing and breathe. The melody will do the work for you.

Their are several chord options that work with “Hatikvah.” I had fun coming up with chords that sound great. Some versions have as many as four chords in a measure. Make sure to click on the included lesson mp3 to hear the chords and melody in action. As always should you have any comments or questions on this lesson just drop me a line a [email protected]