Petite Waltz - Teaching
With
Chet Atkins
What's in the course
19 lessons (1h 24m) · 1 free
01. Maybelle - Performance
Free lesson2:37
02. Bye Bye Blackbird - Performance
2:31
03. Londonderry Aire - Teaching
6:25
04. Petite Waltz - Teaching
You are here4:14
05. Young Thing - Teaching
6:17
06. Young Thing - Performance
3:14
07. Chet talks
10:26
08. When You Wish Upon A Star - Performance
2:35
09. Londonderry Aire - Performance
3:12
10. Mr. Bojangles - Teaching
6:45
11. Mr. Bojangles - Performance
3:11
12. Lover Come Back - Performance
2:19
13. Maybelle - Teaching
3:02
14. Petite Waltz - Performance
2:24
15. When You Wish Upon A Star - Teaching
5:23
16. Lover Come Back - Teaching
5:51
17. Bye Bye Blackbrid - Teaching
6:33
18. Happy Again - Teaching
4:41
19. Happy Again - Performance
2:24
Lesson transcript
Music Lesson: Petite Waltz
Okay. That was a tune titled Petite Waltz. And that came out right after the Third Man Theme. You young people won't remember that, but I think probably it was played originally on the zither, which is a great German instrument that I love.
Love to hear it but can't play.
Importance of Technique
It's fun to play, of course, and I guess you should. It's important to:
- Keep a finger anchored when you can.
- Ensure that the first finger is ready to grab that A chord from a six to an A in the first position with an alternate bass there.
Techniques to Practice
I do a half bar with my little finger, comes in handy. Just grab an A minor and slide it up to an A major with the first finger.
- Then proceed to:
- F sharp seventh
- A flat nine
- B minor
- Another B minor
You got a high melody there to a D minor. That's an A with a third in the bass, it's an important chord there to a C diminished.
The Bridge
And then the bridge is:
- I sometimes play that diminished there, F diminished.
- Then you play triplets.
I'll do that again slowly to an open D.
Progression to the Ending
And then you're ready to go back here to:
- B seventh
- E minor
- G minor
Where is it? That's a D with a third in the bass. It's an E minor.
Final Thoughts
The ending:
This has been so long since I recorded this; I don't remember making the arrangement or anything. But the ending is very simple. Just, and the melody goes in.
Yeah, so it's simple. Just takes a little practice.
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Known as "Mr. Guitar", Chet Atkins is the most recorded solo instrumentalist in music history. His signature picking style was inspired by Merle Travis, with other major influences including Django Reinhardt, George Barnes, Les Paul and, later, Jerry Reed. That trademark picking style and musicianship won him admirers within and well beyond the country scene, both in the United States and internationally.
As a studio musician, his playing graced records by Elvis Presley, Kitty Wells, The Everly Brothers, Hank Williams and dozens of other Nashville legends. His style went on to influence pop greats such as Mark Knopfler, Duane Eddy, George Harrison, The Ventures, George Benson and Eddie Cochran, as well as thousands of country pickers. He won nine CMA Awards as Musician of the Year, four Playboy jazz poll honours and thirteen Grammys.
With more than 35 million copies of his 75-plus original releases sold, Atkins was also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
He helped create the Nashville sound, a style of country music that owed nearly as much to pop as it did to honky tonks - and without him, country may never have crossed over into the pop charts in the '50s and '60s.
Learn from the master - just click on one of the courses on this page!
