Chicago 5-Pack
What's included
- All tab
- Chords
- Chart
- Guitar pro files
$19.98
Full Lifetime Access to this package
Chicago was one of the groundbreaking musical stars of the early 1970s. Their jazz-rock-horn combo blazed new paths for popular music. They later became one of the biggest selling ballad bands over the next couple decades. Their songs generally don't make good solo guitar lessons but we have assembled a dazzling set of tunes that will challenge and engage most guitar players.
This set includes a couple of their acoustic pieces, along with a guitar transcription of one of their most popular piano pieces, as well as a couple rockers from their second album.
Lessons
Lesson 1: 25 Or 6 To 4
25 Or 6 To 4 is a song from Chicago’s second album which was released in 1970. Writer Robert Lamm describes it as a song about writer’s block, and about trying to write a song in the middle of the night when the time is 25 or 26 minutes to 4 a.m.
This lesson is designed for guitar players of all levels – beginners may just want to learn the iconic intro riff and rhythm parts, while more advanced players can use the included backing track to work on their lead playing as well. The first 8 bars of the original guitar solo by Terry Kath are presented, and room is also left for players to work on their own improvising ideas.
Teaching segments of the lesson are done on acoustic guitar, while performance sections are done on electric with effects pedals. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, advanced, acoustic or electric guitar player, this lesson will help you understand and enjoy the classic guitar parts of 25 Or 6 To 4.
Lesson 2: Flight 602 - Chicago - Guitar Lesson
Flight 602 is a bouncy little tune written by Chicago’s keyboard player, Robert Lamm, and was included on Chicago III in 1971. It is basically a simple strumming song with a few barre chords, some descending bass lines, and a few chord voicings that may be new to many students.
It includes a very catchy introduction with some sliding into small chord shapes, as well as an attempt to imitate a pedal steel guitar lick that Terry Kath threw in to the intro.Lesson 3: Make Me Smile
Make Me Smile is an edited version of two parts of James Pankow's Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon, which was a seven part suite that took up most of side two of Chicago's second album, released in 1970. The song featured the horn section, along with Terry Kath's vocals and dazzling guitar parts.
This lesson goes over the accompaniment parts that Terry played, including the driving, 16th note patterns, his short melody in the intro, and the rhythmically complex outro (a common thing among early Chicago tunes). Aside from the powerful strumming, the entire piece is played with many different barre chords.
Lesson 4: Color My World - Chicago - Guitar Lesson
Color My World is a piano song that uses simple arpeggios, simple on the piano that is. It is from the second album by Chicago and was written by trombonist James Pankow, as part of the suite Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon, which also included their hit Make Me Smile.
This lesson presents the song in a few different arrangements. The first transcribes the piano part into a nearly impossible-to-play guitar piece. The second lowers the bass notes one octave, making it much easier. And the third adds the original bass part to the piano part creating a really nice, stand alone piece.
There are some complex fingerings and changes that will really help add some new ideas about finger movement.Lesson 5: Beginnings - Guitar Lesson
Beginnings is one of a handful of tunes by Chicago that features an acoustic guitar being strummed. It was written by keyboardist Robert Lamm and released in 1969 on their debut album, Chicago Transit Authority. The song uses one main chord shape, AMaj7 that moves through various barre positions on the neck. The main focus of the lesson is to work on different sixteenth-note strumming groups and patterns.