Sebastopol is a guitar tune from the 1880s by Henry Worrall. It would have been well known during the popularity of Parlour guitars. As fashions changed, it is quite easy to imagine that the guitars and music sheets would have found their way to servants. Vestapol, as played here is much altered but still, recognisably the same tune. Interestingly, Henry Worrall, also wrote Spanish Fandango which lends its name to "Spanish" tuning - or open G... Excellent lesson too. I'm getting closer to being able to play it!

I have seen quite a few guitar instructional videos and this is the clearest and best presented yet. congratulations.

I've never come across this one, it's a beautiful melodic piece, thankyou for bringing it to my attention. Excellent tutorial as always, looking forward to the next one.

This is one of the first tunes I learned, from a Stefan Grossman book. Lovely tune.

This one is a lot of fun. I was able to pick this one up mostly by listening! Great video.

Another GREAT LESSON Adrian thank you!!

Good morning, Adrian! I always enjoy Friday a.m. with you. I didn't know this piece but have slowly been working on your Stag-o-Lee lesson and some John Prine (whom I just saw again last night!) so this one was welcome.

Great lesson. I always wondered how that was done. Thanks from Oklahoma!

Awsome video. Super clear explenation, it took me some time but im so happy to be able to play this.

Yet another great lesson Adrian. When I get the notifications I'm straight on to it gleefully anticipating what it is. If I may be bold and pass on my limited experience on learning this travis picking classic. I'm not a finger picker (nor a finger pickers son) and have been plodding away at this for probably 6 months. I'm pretty much there now, just some 'finessing' to do (he says). The thumb thing took me ages and I mean weeks. Then the melody notes. I spent more weeks just trying to get one note going along with the thumb. One day all of a sudden I got it. Absolutely delighted, top of the world. Here I go..... Then more weeks with another finger and more notes with the thumb thing interspersed with frustration, anger, tears (almost), joy and despair. It was/is a long slog and to be honest hard work. But good god its great when it comes together. My thumb gets going and yahoo, off I go down the rabbit hole for hours. It's really really satisfying. My point is it takes ages and ages but if you just stick at it, bits will click together at each stage and all of a sudden you've opened up a whole new world of possibilities both on acoustic and electric. And it's really good fun! Apart from keeping the guitar in tune all the time that is.......Oh, and go slow and use a metronome from the beginning and you'll save a heap of hassle later on. Cheers!

Thanx ACPG ..you are the master and i am the pupil! Much thanx for this post!

Your lessons are great Adrian! I also play a Martin 00-15 so our sound matches up well......great job!

I hear a little Sunflower River Blues in there as well.

Wonderful lesson. Thank you so much, love this tune

Thank you !!! I Love this lesson ☺

great lessons and always the best songs

Stefan Grossman got me interested you got me the rest of the way there.

Thank you again had a good afternoon doing this one :)

Such a calming piece to listen. Can't wait to learn this style. Thank you!

Gonna take a while but I’m definitely giving this one a go. Great tune thanks

20 mins on the net would tell you the tune itself had no Russian origin. Henry Worrall composed a piece called The Siege of Sebastopol depicting an incident from the Crimean War of the 1850s. To make it easier for beginners he used open D tuning. Perhaps because he also used open D in his influential guitar tutor which I believe was shipped with mail order guitars and so became widely used. Country blues players called it Vestapol tuning (a corruption of Sebastopol) and someone made up the tune you’re playing. The same story goes for open G which was often called Spanish tuning after Worrall’s Spanish Fandango which he put in that tuning for beginners.

Oh another great lesson, thannnnnnks!

I learned freight train from your tab and now i’m learning this one. thanks for these i love playing ragtime bluesy songs like these

I actually wasn’t gonna grab my guitar for this because it sounded really hard, but I read the description and you gave me some confidence. You sound very competent, and turns out not to hard to play, but I’m far from it sounding like a finished piece.

Great Adrian, just great! More exercise for the little grey cells. Thanks! Dave in the Adirondacks 🤠

Man oh Manacheviz this was great!

Superb tutorial 👌

lovely the golden cat waving in time 😁

As they used to say on 'Ready, steady, go' - the weekend starts here...except in California it's Friday morning - still, first thing I do is check out your lesson of the week. Work is overrated anyway, so it's time to get the Martin out!

Adrian. I just figured out the cat buddha thang on the amp is the metronome. He's well in the pocket! Brilliant.

Excellent!

Thank you Again 😊

Thank you

Finger pickin good

Super..will give ya few bob on patron...keep up the fingerstyle accustic tunes please

That guitar looks like a ooo15 . If it is i mustve made a good choice, i bought the same one last year....im gonna take a shot at this piece.. looks challenging for sure.....nice

You are the best

I heard it was first written down during the time straight after the Crimean war battle in the city of Svestapol. I learnt it from the Max Milligan KZfaq channel.

Awesome

Great lesson, lovely sound ! Thankyou. Finding it bloody difficult to get melody and bass in sync, but i won't give up. Do i need to become a member to access the tabs ? Thanks, Martin from sutton coldfield 👌🇬🇧

“Poor Boy Long Way From Home” (Fahey) and “Stag-o-lee”

I've been looking at learning sister rosetta & vestapol comes up. Could u do one of her songs?!

dude that was a wonderful video and i am going to work on it alot developing that picking style but what caught my eye was that cat. MAN I WANT THAT CAT !!!!! where did you get it ?

Steffan Grossman likes this video.

Sounds like John Fahey’s ‘Poor boy long way from home’.

I think you might find the 19th century sheet music which was written down is far more complicated and was given with mail order guitar.

I love your acoustic lessons. Did you manage to give 'Live At Oberlin College' by Mississippi John Hurt, a listen?

This reminds me of the Stones' "Prodigal Son".

Elizabeth Cottens rendition is the best one

Is it just me or is the bit at 16:49 missing from the instructions? Brilliant tune and lesson as ever though

john fahey but in rhythm

Sorry I can't read the headstock, which guitar is this? I play a sweet 1985 Takamine lawsuit copy of D-18.

Very good ...video...The word is that Russian Sailors took this tune and tuning from the port of Sevastopol Ukraine to New Orleans...in 1800s....

Merci. Didn't Elizabeth Cotton play a right handed guitar turned over since she was left handed?

I hear some Bert Jansch too

Am I loopy or is the picking pattern for the V chord not shown in video. I keep looking for it but can’t seem to find it. Great selection for tutorial!

sounds like John Fahey...

The cat keeps pretty good time. I could use a visual metronome like that one.

yeahhhhhhh

Well I Wonder by the Smiths!

The Japanese lucky cat was moving its paw in time with the music. 😅

Isn"t this the basis for the Rolling Stones' Factory Girl?

The cat in the background is in sync with the music

Elizabeth Cotten is where vestapol is from

👍

fIREHOSE's "In Memory of Elizabeth Cotton" uses this tune.

0:30 : The secret chord is hidden behind the mic :-)

Poor boy took all he had, started down the road

Hahaha. Coming off of Stefan Grossmans video. Turns out this is the only song anyone can play on open D

Is the Cat a metronome? OH nevermind lol

That wavy cat has to go. Are you trying to woo the Asian market?