Hello steemians and welcome to "Song Of The Week #1" - "St. Thomas" by Sonny Rollins. This is the first of 52 songs you will learn this year, so once you have practiced the song and feel comfortable playing a solo over the changes, record a video of yourself playing "Song Of The Week" and then post the link to your blog on this page in the comments section.

Rules and Time Limits for "Song of the Week"

There are no time limits for posting your version of "Song of the Week" and there are no rules really, no upvotes required, nothing like that. I just encourage you to take the challenge and try and learn the songs and play along with the backing tracks. If the song seems too difficult at first don't worry, just keep practicing the chord progressions, the melody, and the solo using the scales suggested. The comments should be an open forum for everyone to ask questions, make suggestions, and post their videos of the "Song Of The Week".

Song Of The Week #1 - St. Thomas - by Sonny Rollins

This is an example of how I might approach this song as far as melody and a solo. I use the C major scale for most of the solo, so for now we will concentrate on using the C major scale for the solo.

St. Thomas - by Sonny Rollins

St. Thomas - Rhythm Guitar Chord Progression - Slowed Down

I played this at 148bpm down from 210bpm so you can see how I play the chords. At the bottom of this post I will show you most of the chord shapes I use. You can build the rest of the chords using the same shapes from the chord examples.

St. Thomas - Backing Track for Guitar Melody and Solo

Scales For "Song Of The Week #1" - St. Thomas

For now use the C major scale shapes for the solo. If you are a beginner then play the scale in only one position at first. Don't worry if you make some mistakes because the purpose of "Song Of The Week" is for you to try and learn the song and build up your chops for the solos. Here is a chart for the C major scales for your solo.