Hey guys, Marco here welcome back to another fingerpicking lesson. Today I am going to show you how to play a beautiful folk chord progression in B minor.

One thing I like a lot about playing in B minor is that you can play a lot of basic chords such as G major, and A major but also open strings chords like Dadd11, Bm(add11), and G6.

This chord progression can be interpreted in many different ways.
For me, this is excellent music for a journey. The chords are flowing smoothly and the rhythmic pattern played by the thumb creates a lot of movement.

It’s easy to imagine someone driving on a dusty high-road.

On the second part of the song, I added a very interesting percussion played on the guitar body. I basically rubbed my hand on the top body following the rhythm of the song. This technique created a cool sound that reminds me of an old steam train.

I hope you enjoy this lesson guys.

1. How to Play this Folk Chord Progression

The first step is to learn the chord progression.
We are playing a

Bm(add11), which is played with fret 2 on the A string, 4th and 3rd string fret 4, B string fret 3, and the E string open. You are playing the Root note, 5th, root again, minor 3rd, and perfect 11th.

The second chord is a beautiful Aadd9(6) or a Bm(add9)11/A. It’s played with the A string open, D and G string fret 4, the B string fret 2, and the E string open. If you consider this chord an Aadd9(6) you will play the Root note, the major 6th, the major 9th, major 3rd, and perfect 5th.

The third chord is a simple Em7 played with low E string open, D string fret 2, G string open, B string fret 3, and E string open.

The last chord is a Gadd9(6), played with low E string fret 3, open D, G string fret 2, B string fret 3, and top E string open. This is a very interesting chord with Root, major 3rd, major 9th, perfect 5th, and major 6. A very rich chord.

Play the chords for a while before start practicing the fingerpicking pattern. All the strings should ring out beautifully.

2. Simplified Fingerpicking Pattern

The fingerpicking pattern is the same throughout the entire song.
We are using a technique called ” The Travis picking,” in which the thumb plays two bass notes on a steady rhythm while the index, middle, and ring finger take care of the top strings.

We can break down the arpeggio into two separated steps.

Position the B minor chord and pluck the A string with the thumb followed by the D and B string with thumb and middle finger. Go back to the A string with the thumb again, then hit the G string with the index and the D string with the thumb again.

The pattern isn’t complete, but you could practice the chords with this very first choice. Remember to repeat the pattern twice for each chord.

3. Full Fingerpicking Pattern

You can then complete the fingerpicking pattern by playing the A and top E string with thumb and ring finger, the D string with the thumb, the B string with middle finger, A string with the thumb, G string with index, and finally the last D string with the thumb.

Play the same pattern for the other chords too. Remember that the pluck will always pluck two bass notes.
For the B minor and A chord, the thumb plucks the A string and D string.
For the Em7 and Gadd9, the thumb plucks the low E string and the D string.

4. B Section Opening with Dadd11

There is also another section of the songs which is played with different chords.
The fingerpicking is the same!

You will play a beautiful Dadd11 chord on the A string fret 5, D string fret 7, open G, B string fret 7, and E string open. Use the same pattern.

The next chord is a simple A major played with A string open, and 7, 6, and on the D, G and B string. You will also have to play the top E string open.

Moving on to the E minor chord played in position VII. Play the A string 7, D and G string fret 9, the B string fret 8 and the top E string open.

The last chord of this section is the Bm11. You will play with only half of the fingerpicking pattern. Go all the way to plucking the strings with thumb and ring then play two single notes on the A string fret 2 and 4.

Play the Dadd11 again, the A major and then play this beautiful G6 on the low E string fret 3, D string fret 5, G string fret 4, B and E string open. Play a full pattern and pause on the bass note then play an F#7, fret 2 on the low E string, D string fret 4, G string fret 3, and E string open.

The last chord is Bm11.

Let’s Wrap This Up!

That’s it for today guys. I hope you enjoyed this lesson.
Learn each chord step by step.
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See ya!