Tag Archives: Taro Patch

SLACK 405 • Coffee Bean Slack Key (Fast, with some improv)

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Coffee Bean Slack Key played at a fast tempo, with some improvisation. This song was written as a study piece, however it works as a fun, simple song in its own right.

The song can be played at a variety of tempos: beginners can play it slow and more advanced players might have fun improvising around it. To that end, I’ve recorded several other versions of the song for you to check out (links below). Feel free to play along to these recordings, though I didn’t use a click track or metronome so tempo varies a little. Also note, most of the example versions are just played with an A-B-A format, however you can play longer versions of the song (i.e. A-B-A-B-A). I hope you have fun with this song.

Please see the related lesson for this song (link below), as well as other lessons on my channel.

All rights reserved to the song “Coffee Bean Slack Key,” however students are allowed to perform the song in public.

SLACK 401 • Coffee Bean Slack Key – Lesson on How to Play

SLACK 402 • Coffee Bean Slack Key (Slow)

SLACK 403 • Coffee Bean Slack Key (Med-Slow)

SLACK 404 • Coffee Bean Slack Key (Med-Fast)

SLACK 405 • Coffee Bean Slack Key (Fast, with some improv)

OPEN 101 • How to Tune Your Guitar to Open G Tuning

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This lesson shows you how to tune your guitar to Open G tuning, which from low to high (in pitch) is D-G-D-G-B-D. When playing a G chord using the open strings (or the related ‘one finger’ bar chords), you generally want to leave the 6th string out of the voicing as it sounds muddy. Keith Richards went so far as to take the 6th string off his guitar when playing in Open G, though when playing slack key or fingerstyle you will use the 6th string (i.e. for a D or D7 chord) and thus want to keep it on the guitar. Open G is often called “Taro Patch” tuning by slack key guitar players, and most slack key songs – especially traditional ones – are in Taro Patch or a close variant.

SLACK 230 • Descending Slack Key Turnaround #1

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This lesson shows you how to play a descending turnaround in Taro Patch (Open G) tuning. This is a very common type of turnaround in Hawaiian slack key music and also makes a good exercise for those looking to move from beginner to intermediate territory. The tip to keep your left hand stationary (or even just using open strings) while focusing on your right hand picking pattern for 5 to 10 minutes is a good thing to keep in mind if you find yourself having trouble with the run.