Watch the How Great Thou Art 6 online guitar lesson by Tim Sparks from Post-Modern Fingerstyle Blues

Small chords - just three-voices on the lower strings, most of the time - provide a rich bottom and set the changes further apart from the melody. Remember that your lowest note does not have to be the root; it can be any note within the chord you're playing. The chord technique used here, which often places the 3rd or 7th of a chord in the bass, borrows from jazz great Lenny Breau (1941–1984).

Pedal tones on the turnarounds contribute some interesting motion between the changes and the melody, where the higher melody note remains static as the chords shift underneath. We're also dressing things up with the use of harmonics. If you're unfamiliar with the technique of arpeggiating chords with harmonics, start by placing the first finger of your picking hand one octave above each fretted note, and plucking with your thumb behind that first finger.

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