Scarborough Fair (Anonymous)

Scarborough Fair is often cited as being a 16th-century ballad, but I cannot find any evidence the song goes back that far. That may be because it was known by other titles. The title Scarborough Fair does not appear until the 19th century. Before that, the lyrics referenced different place names and it's not even clear that the various lyrics to the song were even set to the same melody.

Whatever its provenance, Scarborough Fair is a recognizable song that audiences enjoy. Although this arrangement is in A minor, it does not rely exclusively on the first position. It employs some left-hand legato and barres, ascending and descending along the neck. Therefore, it's not an arrangement suitable for the novice guitarist. You should have developed a facility with barres and be comfortable alternating between all of the right hand fingers before playing this piece. Even if you haven't developed the requisite left and right hand dexterity, the piece is probably appropriate practice material to develop the skills. Before trying to play the song at full tempo, play it slowly at half tempo until you feel comfortable with all of the position changes.