Female Artists 15-Pack Volume 2

Lessons

• Lesson 1: One Of Us - Guitar Lesson

  One Of Us was a hit from Joan Osborne’s 1995 album Relish. It was written by Eric Bazilian, who also played the guitar parts on the album.
  
  The progression is about as easy as it gets, as is the melodic riff that opens the song. This lesson covers those, although without any attachments as most students should be able to hear and find the notes, but also includes segments on incorporating the two parts into a simple strumming pattern, as well as a fingerstyle arpeggio.

• Lesson 2: The Rose - Bette Midler - Guitar Lesson

  The Rose is a beautiful song written by Amanda McBroom and made famous by Bette Midler who recorded it for the soundtrack of the 1979 film with the same name.
  
  The song features three verses in the key of C, using the three major chords and two minor chords.
  
  The original recording was done on a piano and this lesson shows how to easily transcribe it to the guitar.
  
  It covers the arrangement primarily in the key of G, where the guitar is capoed on the 5th fret, but also shows how to play in the key of C.
  
  Besides the vocal harmonies, the most important aspect of performing and playing the song is how to build it up and take it down dynamically with one single guitar. For that we take a look at how to make each verse a little stronger than the previous one.
  
  Since the vocal harmonies are so important, there is also a segment which breaks down a few other parts.

• Lesson 3: I Can’t Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt - Guitar Lesson

  I Can’t Make You Love Me is a beautiful, heartbreaking ballad written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin, and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt for her eleventh 1991 studio album ‘Luck Of The Draw’. It became one of her most successful singles.
  
  The original recording was primarily done with Bruce Hornsby on the piano and this lesson shows a relatively easy way of playing it on the guitar.
  
  The arrangement is done in the key of G, where the guitar is capoed on the third fret and uses mainly five basic open chords.
  
  One could easily fingerpick the song or strum it as can be heard in parts of George Michael’s version. A few ideas of both ways are presented.
  
  We also take a thorough look at several ways of playing and fingering the chords. Deciding which one to use is often determined by context, as in which chord you are coming from and to which you are going.
  
  No matter how you play the song, the most important aspect to pay attention to is to play it with feeling. For that, what one does with the right hand, either fingerpicking or strumming, is crucial.

• Lesson 4: Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler - Guitar Lesson

  Total Eclipse Of The Heart is a power ballad recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It appears on Tyler’s fifth studio album ‘Faster Than The Speed Of Night’, released in 1983, and became her biggest career hit.
  
  This lesson shows an arrangement which features both fingerpicking as well as strumming.
  
  We cover the progression, which starts out in the key of Am, followed by a few sudden twists and turns, and into the key of G for the chorus.
  
  We also take a look at how to copy a few of the piano fills, in particular for the intro, the instrumental verse and outro.

• Lesson 5: Jolene - Dolly Parton - Guitar Lesson

  This Dolly Parton hit is a perfect way to get comfortable with finger picking.
  
  Using relatively simple and repetitive patterns in the right hand with very little chord movement in the fretting hand allows this to be a very user-friendly song for players to learn.
  
  By building up speed slowly you can go from simply outlining the chords to the full blazing fast album version in just a day.
  
  Get those finger picking chops up with this easy but incredibly fun lesson on Jolene.

• Lesson 6: Just When I Needed You Most by Dolly Parton - Guitar Lesson

  Just When I Needed You Most is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Randy VanWarner. It was released in 1979 and became his biggest success.
  
  It was covered or performed by numerous artists, including Dolly Parton, who recorded it for her 1996 album 'Treasures'. She was vocally joined by Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski of Union Station.
  
  This lesson teaches that particular version, which features a fingerstyle arrangement in the key of G (Capo III).
  
  It takes a look at the chords, the picking, the progression and of course the signature intro.

• Lesson 7: I Love Rock N’ Roll - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  This iconic hit by Joan Jett was a powerful force in launching women into the forefront of hard rock.
  
  With pounding riffs and a solo that blends together various techniques and melodic ideas, this is one song that virtually any rock guitarist can learn from.

• Lesson 8: Ode To Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry - Guitar Lesson

  Ode To Billie Joe, by Bobbie Gentry, was released in 1967 and went on to be number one hit for her that year. It is a bit unusual in that it takes the form of a narrative about a rural family in Mississippi, as told through the eyes of the teen age daughter. The guitar accompaniment is really just a sparse fingerpicking pattern, repeated over just a few chords and the song is just a set of five verses with more of a refrain than a chorus (…the Tallahatchee Bridge).
  
  The lyrics are notable in that you are never really told what happened or what was thrown off the bridge. Bobbie Gentry said the song was more about indifference that the family shows over the news that Billie Joe jumped off the bridge.

• Lesson 9: Great Love Of My Life

  Kate Wolf was a great singer-songwriter from Northern California who, unfortunately barely made it into her 40s.She left us with a handful of albums and dozens of songs that were covered by artists such as Emmylou Harris and Nancy Griffith. Great Love Of My Life was one she originally did with piano accompaniment but generally performed live on the guitar. This lesson is based on her version from a 2018 compilation album featuring recordings from various shows in Mendocino County, most of which were done with longtime collaborator Nina Gerber.

  The progression is very basic, in the key of G major, and the accompaniment is a common arpeggio pattern with syncopated bass notes and some passing runs. This is a great song for beginning fingerpickers which can lead to more elaborate songs by Jim Croce and Gordon Lightfoot, to name just a couple.

• Lesson 10: This Shirt - Mary Chapin Carpenter - Guitar Lesson

  This Shirt is a song by American singer-songwriter and multiple Grammy Award winner Mary Chapin Carpenter. It’s taken from her 1999 first compilation album ‘Party Doll And Other Favorites’.
  
  It features a lovely Travis style picking arrangement and a moving story. It’s in the key of C, using the I, III, IV, V and VI, with a few different chord shapes for several chords. The guitar is capoed on the 5th fret, which puts it in the absolute key of F.

• Lesson 11: Don’t Know Why - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  This Norah Jones classic is a great song for anybody who wants to give their fingerpicking skills a workout. Using a capo on the 6th fret and blending open strings with fretted notes, this lesson will not only teach you how to play this great tune note for note, but also show you some awesome songwriting ideas and guitar specific musical tricks that will get your creativity flowing!

• Lesson 12: Come Away With Me - Norah Jones - Guitar Lesson

  Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She launched her solo music career with the release of her 2002 debut album ‘Come Away With Me’.
  
  It’s a mellow, acoustic pop album with soul, country, blues, folk and jazz influences. It became highly successful and won eight Grammy Awards in 2003, including Album of the Year, as well as Record of the Year.
  
  In this lesson we take a look at the title track of the album. While often performing it on the piano, she occasionally plays it on the guitar as well. Interestingly enough, she has done so both in 3/4 time, as recorded on the original, but also in 4/4 time.
  
  The song is in the key of C, with only five open chords in first position. Both versions require some palm muting and picking out individual strings by the right hand. The 4/4 version includes a few hammer-ons as well.

• Lesson 13: Poetry Man - Phoebe Snow - Guitar Lesson

  In 1974 Phoebe Snow came onto the music scene with her platinum selling debut album. Poetry Man went into the Billboard Top 100 in 1975 and earned her a Grammy nomination. The song is done in Dropped D Tuning, using standard alternating bass fingerpicking, but featuring some unusual chord changes, almost minimalist with a single note moving chromatically to alter the chord.
  
  She plays the guitar part with a lot of flexibility so a note-for note arrangement is not a good way to approach this song. The tab does show some exact ways to get her sound but improvising and changing around the picking and embellishments is encouraged.
  
  The same can be said of the vocals as she would generally improvise freely in a jazzy manner.

• Lesson 14: Killing Me Softly

  Killing Me Softly was a huge hit for Roberta Flack in 1973, but hers was a cover of the original done by Lori Lieberman in 1971. It was Lori's notes on thoughts she had while watching Don MacLean perform, which were then passed on to lyricist Norman Gimbel, then further to Charles Fox, who wrote the music, that really was the genesis of the tune. Roberta's arrangement and vocal improvising took the basic folk song to a completely different level.

  This lesson starts with the chord progression and presents a 'Campfire' version using a simple strumming pattern, but then also goes into the intro vamp (played by guitarist Eric Gale) and a more advanced fingerstyle accompaniment version.

  We also have a Solo Arrangement available.

• Lesson 15: Forever

  American artist and multi Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow has recently (May 2022) released a documentary ‘Sheryl’. ‘Forever’ is one of three new tracks recorded for the 2CD ‘Sheryl: Music From The Feature Documentary’. 

  It’s a lovely song with some cool rhythm guitar playing and will be doable for most guitar players.

  The lesson teaches the chords, the strumming and the progression. The latter has a few twists and turns. It starts and finishes in the key of E, but there are several chords out of the key, and an occasional one changes from major to minor. 

  There is a little bit of hybrid picking in there too, and the tablature shows a few examples. This of course requires a bit of right hand skills.