If you’re old enough, you may recognize “The Three Ravens” from the Peter, Paul, and Mary version of this folk song. Playing "The Three Ravens" on guitar gives you a chance to practice your harmonic minor scale. The key signature in the music tells you that this song is in F minor, but because you’re using the harmonic minor scale, every instance of the note E will be E natural, not Eb as indicated by the key signature.
Because the harmonic scale here is in 1st position and you have some out-of-position notes to play, you have a pretty serious case of finger stretching ahead of you! So, first play bars 1 through 3 in isolation. This bit of practice allows you to execute the stretch in both an ascending and descending context. Practicing these stretching parts ensures that they don’t take you by surprise when you try to play the whole piece.
