Sweet Baby James Guitar Lesson Fingerpicking

Hey, guitar enthusiast Lauren Bateman here. I have a very special James Taylor song called Sweet Baby James. I'm going to show you how to finger pick it in this lesson, but there is a very specific timing to it. So let's get into the lesson.

Now, there are a number of chords we're going to be using for this song, including two bar chords. We do have a B minor bar chord and an F sharp minor bar chord that we're going to come across. But we have a, A, A seven. We have a G chord, a D chord. We have E minor 7. We have E 7. The two bar chords, as I said, B minor, F sharp minor. And then in the intro, we do have this D F sharp in the bass. All right. And I usually like to play that with my thumb wrapped over the top for my hand. I have a small hand, so I find that's easier than doing the other way with the pinky that my guitar teacher insisted I do it. But I kind of do things my own way. Whatever is easier. That's what I to do. Now, if you want a strumming version of this song that's a little bit easier, I do have a video on that. I'll put a link up there. But in this, we're going to talk about the specific picking pattern that you can use to make this song sound beautiful. And it's a variation on a Travis picking pattern. All right, now what we're going to be doing, this song has a waltz feel. Okay. So you feel like you sway to the song. All right, so we're going to be in 3, 4 time here versus 4, 4. All right, so if I were going to Travis pick on a G, it would kind of sound like this.

Okay. But we can't use that for this song because it's in 4, 4. So we have to go.

So here that bass is coming in a little bit more frequently because we have to lose one beat off the pattern. So let's talk about this pattern. Pattern in detail so that you know how to play it. Let's stick with that G chord. So this is a six string chord. So our thumb is going to be alternating between the sixth string and the fourth string. Okay. Just like that. And this pattern starts off exactly that way. It's going to be thumb, thumb, and then it's going to be our first finger on the G string.

So it's thumb, thumb, one.

Okay.

Thumb, thumb one, Thumb, thumb one, thumb, thumb, one.

Okay. So that's the first two beats, and then the third beat, we're Gonna add on top of that is a thumb on the top string. Right? So our low E string. And then our second finger is going to play the B string. Okay, so it's thumb, thumb 1, thumb 2. Okay.

Thumb, thumb, thumb 1, thumb 2, thumb, thumb 1, thumb2, thumb, thumb 1, thumb two, thumb, thumb 1, thumb Two.

Okay, so you might want to pause the video and practice that a little bit, even if you have to say it out loud. And when I first learned these patterns, it really helped me just to go.

Thumb, thumb 1, thumb 2, thumb, thumb 1, thumb 2', thumb, thumb 1, thumb 2.

Until I was able to do it like I am now and being able to have a conversation with you. But it doesn't start there. It will get there with time. Now that's a G chord or an E chord or any other six string chord, the F sharp minor. That's how you're going to play those chords. We do have a lot of five string chords like an A chord. So for this, the thumb is going to be alternating between five and four. But the pattern stays the same. So the first finger and the second finger don't change. The first finger is still on the G string. The second finger is still on the B string, but the pattern is the same.

Thumb, thumb one, thumb two, thumb, thumb one, thumb two.

Again.

Thumb, thumb one, thumb two.

One more time.

Thumb, thumb one, thumb two.

Now put it together in a round.

Thumb, thumb one, thumb two, thumb, thumb one, thumb two.

Okay, and the last chord we have to deal with is our D chord. It's the only time we're going to shift. Okay, so our thumb is now alternating between the D string and the g string strings 4, 4 and 3. But the pattern stays the same. All right, our first finger has now shifted down to the B string. Our second finger has now shifted down to the E string.

And we have thumb, thumb one, thumb two, thumb, thumb one, thumb two.

So that is the finger picking pattern we're going to use. And as I said, you're going to change it depending on whether you have a six string chord, five string chord and a four string chord. And as we all know, James has his own special and unique way of playing the guitar. He plays his chords in slightly different ways, but we're going to keep things simple here. This is still going to sound absolutely beautiful. And you'll be able to sing and play along with sweet baby James. So let's get into our intro. So the intro is just four chords and I think this is the only time in the song you're going to see that D with the F sharp in the bass. Because we're trying to have a nice little walk down. We're going G, F sharp E. And then we're ending on A.

So we add the finger picking pattern. It's going to be a six string pattern. A six string pattern. A six string Pattern. It's E minor 7 and then A. Now on this G chord you'll notice I'm keeping it bright. So I'm using my third and fourth fingers on this G here. And it makes it nice for the walk down because you can just leave those two fingers in place even for the E minor 7. And then the only time you would shift out is when we get to the A. So we have G.

The D F sharp here, E minor 7, A. So I guess I lied to you when I said we're going to play the D. D, F sharp this way. This way is easier. Let's do it the easier way. Okay. So it'll sound like this.

And you would just strum that A chord. So it's G.

Then the D, F sharp, E minor 7.

And then.

So.

And then we get into our verse. So the verse we have a lot more variation here. And you can always follow along with the notes on my website@laurenvateman.com so we're starting D, A, G double F sharp minor. And then it's B minor, G, D double F sharp minor. Okay, let's start there. So we have a D chord. So we're going to start on a four string chord.

Okay. And then we're going to go to a five string chord which would be the A.

Then to a G6 string chord.

Okay. And then F sharp minor.

Okay. So that whole thing together is going to be.

Okay.

We hang up on the F sharp minor twice. Same thing on the next one. We're starting at a five string chord.

Six string chord.

Four string chord.

And then six string chord.

So you see there's a lot of movement here. So we are jumping around between five strings, six string, four string. You know, it's not a song like Landslide that I teach where you know, the whole verse is five string chords. Okay. And you don't have to bounce around too much. We're moving our hand a bit in this song. Let's take it from the D again. So we got 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3.

Starts sounding nice. Now if I pick up the speed just a little bit more, it'll sound like this.

He works in the saddle and sleeps in the canyon.

Waiting for summer his past just A chain.

And you can, you can add in those little embellishment things that James does if you want. He even places a chord differently. But you can simply just strum your A chord. We're kind of doing a block picking here. Lift up the third finger, you got a suspended chord. You can put your pinky down.

Kind of how James adds in. Know these hammer ons and pull offs that are. Are unique to him. You don't have to do that. But if you wanted to experiment with that, you could. So that's our intro, that's our verse. Let's check out what we're doing on the chorus. Now the chorus again has a lot of movement. D chord, G chord, A chord, D chord, B minor, G, D, D. Okay, but we're not doing anything different here. I see the introduction of an E7 chord, the introduction of the A7 chord here. So there is a lot of chord variation. So if you're not used to playing this many different types of chords, you just might want to sit here and just work. Before you work the picking pattern, you might just want to work the chord progression.

Get your hand used to changing between all of these different chord shapes. Okay. We got B minor G. And you might be like, oh, I haven't done B minor to E7 that often. That's kind of a tricky. That's kind of a tricky chord change. And you might want to just sit on that and work on getting in and out of that chord change. You probably heard I just didn't play that chord right. I totally put that pinky on the wrong spot. But if you. It's this chord change you're not familiar with. Sit with the chords first and then throw the picking pattern back in. So again we're going between four string, five string and six string chords. This is what it's going to sound like starting on the D.

Rock by Sweet Baby James.

With deep greens and blues are the colors I choose Won't you let me go down in my dreams and rock Goodbye sweet baby Jane.

Now something I want to make a note of that I noticed when I played through this. When I went to the E7 chord, you may have noticed my pinky was not down right away. Okay. I actually put my pinky down as I was finger picking. Because the great thing about finger picking is you sometimes have a split extra moment to get your fingers in place. So I really just need the base notes in the beginning for the pattern. And then I had enough time to get that pinky down in place. So I didn't have to have this fully in place. My pinky is a bit slow compared to my other fingers, so I had that extra second to get the pinky in place. What I would like to do is do a playthrough, do an intro, the first couple verses and a chorus. So you kind of hit all the different sections of the song and we'll take it nice and slow, or maybe not super slow, but it's a ballad, so we're not going to be. We're not going to be speeding through this. But let's take it from the top. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3.

The area is a young cowboy who lives on the range his horse and his cattle his only companion he works in the saddle and sleeps in the canyons Waiting for summer his past is to change.

And and as the moon rises he sits by the fire Thinking bout women in glasses of beer Closing his eyes as the doggies retire he sings out a song which is soft but it's clear as if maybe someone could hear.

Well, good night your moonlight ladies Rockaby sweet baby James.

Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose Won't you let me go down in my dreams And Rockaby sweet baby James.

Now if you're a huge James Taylor fan, I highly recommend that you go check out my fire and rain lesson right over there where I show you a slightly easier way to perform this song.