Fog on the Schuylkill in open D minor
Note after Note · Level 5 (Advanced) · study · Guitar, sheet music and tablature
An original piece in open D minor (D-A-D-F-A-D), in the dark, hypnotic vein of Jack Rose’s “raga” pieces, inherited from Robbie Basho and John Fahey: a D drone hammered by the thumb, a tune in the Phrygian mode (the minor second E♭) with a grinding augmented fourth (G♯), a slow introduction, a theme climbing to the 12th fret, then a build-up in sixteenths before falling back to the open chord.
▶ Play this piece with the interactive score
How to practise it
- Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
- Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
- Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
- Open D minor: strings 6, 3, 2 and 1 down a whole step (D, F, A, D); strings 5 (A) and 4 (D) stay put. The low D never stops: it drives the trance. Let every open string ring; the clashes (E♭ against D) are intended. Build-up: first practise each bar on its own, slowly, the thumb in even eighths, then raise the tempo step by step.