Motown & Soul Bonus 10-Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay - Otis Redding

  Otis Redding is perhaps one of the greatest soul singers of all time, and this song practically epitomizes his style, songwriting, and incredible feel.
  
  With just a few simplistic bar chords and a couple different rhythms, this lesson will provide you with all the tools you need to tackle one of the coolest tunes of the 20th century!

• Lesson 2: Let's Stay Together by Al Green - Guitar Lesson

  This Al Green song is one that almost everyone has heard at some point in their lives. The lesson will show you the harmony and chord changes that make up the bulk of the song, but in addition to that you’ll also get the inside scoop on playing the vocal melody on guitar so that you can play every part of the song on your own!

• Lesson 3: Shining Star - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  Are you looking for a lesson in funk? Well then look no further! This tune by Earth, Wind and Fire has some excellent examples of funk guitar at its best.
  
  Released on their 1975 album That’s the Way of the World, this funk classic will get your rhythm sharper and your fingers faster.
  
  Starting with an ultra-funky single string riff and morphing into a series of chord hits that will make you groove, it comes complete with fast pentatonic licks that will challenge any player of any level.
  
  With this lesson you’ll uncover the ins and outs of this song including some hard-driving licks and some “chanky” rhythm guitar. Get your groove and feel going stronger with the rhythm parts, and you’ll find all aspects of your playing improving.

• Lesson 4: Shining Star - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Are you looking for a lesson in funk, well then look no further? This tune by Earth, Wind and Fire has some excellent examples of funk guitar at its best. With this lesson you’ll uncover the ins and outs of this song including some hard-driving shred licks and some “chanky” rhythm guitar.

• Lesson 5: Kiss and Say Goodbye by The Manhattans - Guitar Lesson

  Kiss And Say Goodbye is a song by American R&B vocal group The Manhattans. It became a worldwide success and one of the biggest hits of 1976 and the 1970s.
  
  This lesson teaches how to play the song in the key of A, where the guitar is capoed on the 1st fret.
  
  The progression uses only three chords, the I, IV and V (A, D and E), with the exception of chord ii (Bm), which appears in the outro.
  
  There are several details included, such as picking out bass notes and copying the kick of the drums when strumming, to give the accompaniment the same feel as the original.

• Lesson 6: I've Got Dreams To Remember

  I've Got Dreams To Remember is another beautiful ballad by singer-songwriter Otis Redding, which he wrote with his wife Zelma Redding and Joe Rock. It became a posthumous hit for him in 1968 and again in 1994.

  The beauty of the song lies within its simplicity and of course Redding's vocals.

  It features the three major chords in the key of A in first position, and one (barre) chord out of the key, which appears only once in the bridge. The latter is a little harder.

  This song would be a great start for anyone who wants to get into fingerstyle playing.

  It uses a very common pattern in 6/8, and you could play this with your fingers, with fingerpicks or even a single pick. When using fingerstyle you would also need to learn how to shift positions with the pickinghand. 

  This lesson breaks all of this down in great depth, indeed a perfect song for beginners, or just another great one to have in your repertoire.

• Lesson 7: Stand By Me - Ben E. King - Guitar Lesson

  This is the song that epitomizes the 50s sound and even gave name to the 50s Chord Progression. Ben E. King wrote and recorded it in 1961 and it has been covered by hundreds of artists since, including Sam Cooke and John Lennon. The progression is very simple but the bass line is a big part of what made it so distinctive. This lesson covers a Campfire Version as well as a way to incorporate the bass line into the rhythm pattern. There is also a segment on experimenting with other common keys.

• Lesson 8: I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Description coming soon

• Lesson 9: I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye – Guitar Lesson

  I Heard It Through The Grapevine is one of the quintessential songs from Berry Gordy’s Motown movement, as well as one of its biggest hits. It has been recorded by numerous artists but the Marvin Gaye version is clearly the standard by which all others are measured.
  
  In this lesson we look at how I would accompany a singer. The guitar needs to combine the bass, keyboard , and percussive parts, as well as fill in the background vocal vamp at the end of the chorus. We even throw in a short interlude, trying to imitate the string section before the third verse.

• Lesson 10: These Arms Of Mine by Otis Redding - Guitar Lesson

  These Arms Of Mine is a song written by American singer-songwriter Otis Redding. It was released in 1962 and became his first successful single. In later and recent years, it was also included on several soundtracks, such as The Boat That Rocked, Perfect Stranger, Road House and most prominently in Dirty Dancing.
  
  The song features only three chords (the I, IV and V) in the key of A, where the guitar is capoed on the first fret. It’s in 6/8 and one could easily flatpick or fingerpick and even strum through it.
  
  This lesson teaches the arrangement in both standard as well as Dropped D-Tuning, where the bottom string is tuned down a whole step to D. The latter works much better in order to dress it up a bit by including a few ascending and descending basslines.
  
  The chorus starts with a very distinctive ascending riff, which is in my opinion a must to incorporate. So even though there are only three chords in the song, it does move from an A5 to Aaug to A6 to A7.

• Lesson 11: My Girl

  My Girl, written by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White of The Miracles, was recorded by The Temptations in 1964. It became their first #1 single and went on to become their signature song. The opening bass riff and following guitar riff are very simple patterns but go to show that a great song does not have to be complex.

  This lesson goes over those parts, an easy way to add the riff to the chords, and the modulation into the key of D at the end. There is a short segment reviewing Pentatonic Scales as well.

  This is a good beginning lesson as it is easy to just strum the chords and sing the song, although playing F as a full barre chord is heavily recommended.

• Lesson 12: How ‘Bout Us - Champaign - Guitar Lesson

  How ‘Bout Us is a 1981 hit single recorded by R&B group Champaign and composed by band keyboardist Dana Walden.
  
  This lesson shows an acoustic version with a simple guitar arrangement.
  
  We take a thorough look at the chords, including several ways of playing them, the double time strumming and the progression.
  
  The song starts out relatively easy, but gets a little harder when moving into the bridge and final chorus. The latter involves a key change to C, three half steps up.