2000s Songs Volume 1

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Hey, Soul Sister - Train

  With the lesson on Hey, Soul Sister, we step pretty far into the recent past, maybe even into the current music scene. Lead singer Pat Monahan said they were trying to write something in the style of INXS but as it evolved he was not happy with the sound. Maybe it was because it followed the classic 'Pachelbel Progression', I-V-vi-IV, also found in songs like Let It Be, With Or Without You, and Jason Mraz's I'm Yours, to mention a few of the thousands in this category. In any case, once band mate Espen Lind strummed it on the ukulele, he was convinced that they had found the right recipe. In this lesson we look at chord voicings that sound more like the ukulele.

• Lesson 2: Same Mistake

  Description coming soon

• Lesson 3: Why Georgia

  After our flurry of intermediate level songs, we end this week with John Mayer's Why Georgia. This song uses very elaborate, percussive picking, as well as a somewhat difficult filler lick over a relatively uncomfortable and unusual chord, and that's just the first 2 measures. The rest of the song gets easier, a little, but don't let that scare you off!

• Lesson 4: Where Are You Going - Guitar Lesson

  Another great strumming song from Dave Matthews, *Where Are You Going* appeared on the Dave Matthews Band album Busted Stuff in 2002. It uses some of his typical extended chords, ones with notes outside the normal major, minor and seventh combinations, is strummed with a basic pattern hitting bass notes on beat one. The lesson presents the chords in tab and generally addresses the strumming without getting too specific.

• Lesson 5: Just Breathe Guitar Lesson - Pearl Jam

  Really a solo guitar song by Eddie Vedder, Just Breathe is a fingerpicking tune much like Dust In The Wind or Blackbird. One of the similarities is that the picking is easy but very fast. This was released in October 2009 on the Pearl Jam album Backspacer.

• Lesson 6: Beg Steal Or Borrow Guitar Lesson - Ray LaMontagne

  As we enter 2011 we are bringing you a song that is just a few months old- Beg Steal Or Borrow by Ray LaMontagne. Ray recently hit the scene with a throwback sound and look, along with some great songs. Beg Steal Or Borrow is pretty much a folky Campfire song that just uses a steady strumming pattern over mostly open chords. The song has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the US for last year.

• Lesson 7: 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 8: I'm Yours - Jason Mraz

  In this lesson Neil goes over the strumming patterns and chords to this catchy song by Jason Mraz. This version is based on early recordings in the key of A, before Jason started using a capo, raising it to the key of B.

• Lesson 9: Drive

  Description coming soon

• Lesson 10: Do You Love Me

  Guster has been putting out some catchy tunes over the last decade, most of which could be considered Campfire Songs and feature acoustic guitars using simple strumming patterns. Their 2010 album Easy Wonderful included *Do You Love Me*, a great example of their up-beat pop sound. This lesson is done in a ‘Work It Out’ format, where the first few video segments focus on ear training and figuring out the chord progression yourself. If you decide to try this approach, I recommend not looking at the chart until you have gone through ear training segments. The entire song is taught completely and in the usual manner in the last segment.

• Lesson 11: Gravedigger - Guitar Lesson

  When Dave Matthews decided to ‘go solo’, he put out his first non-band album in 2003, Some Devil. It was still full of a lot of friends and they released *Gravedigger *as the first single. It has become one of Dave’s best-known songs, in spite of its dark overtones and mysterious mood. It uses some unusual, but relatively easy chords but the strumming is somewhat free form. The lesson mostly focuses on strumming with a light muting technique, counting eighth notes carefully, and hammer-ons to help color the overall sound.

• Lesson 12: My Immortal - Evanescence - Guitar Lesson

  My Immortal is a beautiful and haunting song by American rock band Evanescence from their 2003 debut studio album ‘Fallen’.
  
  This lesson takes a look at how guitarist Ben Moody and vocalist Amy Lee perform the song together. In this version the accompaniment is simply done on the guitar instead of the piano.
  
  The song features a straightforward progression, relatively easy strumming, several barre chords from both the E and A families and syncopated chord changes.

• Lesson 13: Mykonos - Guitar Lesson

  Mykonos is a catchy song from Fleet Foxes, a band from the Seattle area. Most of their songs have compelling lyrics and are done with great vocal harmonies. This song opens with a fingerpicked guitar part that outlines the main progression. It is capoed at the second fret then uses chords in the key of Bm. The lesson goes over all the main accompaniment parts, including a tempo change with syncopated strumming in the last part.

• Lesson 14: Your Rocky Spine - Guitar Lesson

  Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian band built around the melodic folk rock songs of singer-songwriter Tony Dekker. In this lesson we take a look at their hit, Your Rocky Spine, which appeared on their third studio album ‘Ongiara’. The arrangement is mostly based on Tony Dekker’s performance at ‘The Capital Bar’, although a few details of the original recording are incorporated as well. It features only five chords in the keys of Dm and F major, a simple strumming pattern, all rounded up with a lot of hammer-ons. The hammer-ons make this song a bit challenging and very fun to play

• Lesson 15: Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol - Guitar Lesson

  Chasing Cars is a song from the British alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It is taken from their fourth album, Eyes Open, and was released in 2006. The song gained significant popularity in the US after being featured in the second season finale of the popular medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy. It was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 2007 Grammy Awards.
  
  The lesson takes a look at the acoustic version which involves two guitar parts. It features an easy 8-measure progression in the key of A, using the I, IV and V.
  
  It contains mostly two-note chord shapes, a few possible challenging left hand stretches, flatpicking, focused strumming and full on strumming for the right hand. The latter needs to be done driving and consistently.