Tom Petty Package

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Free Fallin - Tom Petty - Guitar Lesson

  In 1989 Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne put together Free Fallin’, a very easy song with only a few chords, in just a couple days. It was the leading track off the album Full Moon Fever. It is a great example of taking a very basic progression, dressing it up with some syncopated changes, and adding a few simple guitar parts to create quite a variety of textures and sounds. This lesson looks at three different guitar parts, as well as going over the syncopated strumming in great detail. There is no tab included as the explanations and demonstrations should make everything clear.

• Lesson 2: I Should Have Known It Guitar Lesson - Tom Petty

  Today's Lesson has an interesting history. Neil was very surprised and impressed with this recent Tom Petty song, I Should Have Known It, and also ran across a teaching competition going on at Ovation Guitars. He put together a short lesson on the song and entered the contest with it. For some unknown reason Ovation chose not to publish the entry so we are bringing it out for our members. Neil's lesson combines a couple of guitar parts into one that is done in a G6 tuning, lowering the 5th and 6th strings 1 step. It is a great example of a solid riff-based tune framed in a modified 12-bar blues format.

• Lesson 3: Into The Great Wide Open - Tom Petty - Guitar Lesson

  This 1991 Tom Petty song from the album with the same title is typical of many of his songs, in that it has an interesting chord progression with a couple of syncopated changes that make it fun to play. He uses his left thumb to fret a few chords but there are ways around that. The lesson includes a short segment on playing leads in E minor using a couple Pentatonic Patterns as well.

• Lesson 4: Tom Petty – Something In The Air

  In 1969, Pete Townsend put a band together for his talented chauffeur Speedy Keen. Keen had written a song that appeared on The Who Sell Out album and Pete felt Speedy’s song Something In The Air was worthy of being recorded and released. The band was christened Thunderclap Newman, after piano player Andy Newman, and went on to be a classic example of a one- hit wonder. In 1993, Tom Petty came out with a cover of it and this lesson is based mostly on his version, which is almost campfire in comparison. Tom's version includes a 16th note strumming pattern and a little arpeggio picking. The original included a slightly abstract piano solo. This lesson does take a short look at the original as well, which was done in Open E Tuning and modulated through three keys.

• Lesson 5: I Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty - Guitar Lesson

  Tom Petty is an icon in the rock world and this song is one of his classic hits. Based around a three-chord progression, this lesson takes you through the tune note for note.
  
  By learning the chords and the lead melodies you can get a great understanding of how simplicity makes for great songwriting, and by the end of it all you’ll have an awesome song to play from beginning to end!

• Lesson 6: Free Fallin' - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Tom Petty’s hit song from his album Full Moon Fever, Free Fallin’ is a “must-know” song for almost all guitar players out there. Built around a few simple chords this song is a prime example of strong melody and solid chordal foundation.

• Lesson 7: Wildflowers

  Many of Tom Petty's songs feature just a few basic chords but then include some subtle embellishments that make them really interesting and catchy... and fun to play for guitar students. Wildflowers is a great example of one of these. There are just a few easy chords (no barre chords!) that can be strummed simply and sound great. Then the embellishments, hammer-ons and pull-offs, add a bit of a challenge and good opportunity to work on more intermediate skills.
  This lesson breaks down all the nuances but also shows a great way for beginners to approach this great tune.

• Lesson 8: End Of The Line

  In this lesson we look at the last song on the first album by the Traveling Wilburys, End Of the Line. The Wilburys consisted of George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne (ELO and producer of most of George's albums), Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. Many of the songs were true collaborations with parts written and sung by all members of the band. End Of The Line is a very basic strumming song but includes an intro that uses 3-string chords up the neck. These are from the D, A and E families and played on just the top 3 strings.

• Lesson 9: Handle With Care

  Here we have a great example of the collaborative effort the Traveling Wilburys put together on Volume 1, the opening song, Handle With Care. It features an opening segment by George, followed by a section featuring Roy, and a 3rd part done by Tom, Bob and Jeff. The chords are very basic and the strumming can be simple as well, although we look at a pattern that includes double bass notes played on consecutive eighths, which adds a bit to the level of difficulty.

• Lesson 10: Mary Jane's Last Dance

  Like many Tom Petty songs, Mary Jane's Last Dance uses just a few easy chords. But he gets great mileage out of catchy melodies and important guitar techniques. Mary Jane's Last Dance features palm muting, syncopated changes and double hammer-ons on a couple chords. This lesson goes over all those and will really help you hone those vital guitar skills.