The Cherry Tree Carol - Homespun

Price: $7.95

Here’s a beautiful and compelling tune that’s fairly easy to play. It’s perfect for the Christmas season but will have its place in your repertoire at any time of year. Al Petteway has arranged it for fingerstyle guitar in DADGAD tuning. Its open and parallel strings, with ringing overtones, give the piece a lovely reverb-like resonance. Al starts by stating the melody very sparely on one string. He then adds ornaments using hammer-ons and pull-offs, along with harmony drones, to give it a very traditional, dulcimer-like sound. Finally, the song gets a full arrangement with the addition of a descending bass line and full, rich chord shapes. This is where it gets a little more challenging but it’s well within the reach of most early-intermediate players.