The Alan Parsons Project

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Old And Wise

  Old And Wise is the closing cut on the Eye In The Sky album by The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1982. The track was written by Eric Woolfson, with some input from Parsons (reputedly), and they brought in Colin Blunstone, of Zombies fame for the lead vocal.

  The song is a very sophisticated composition, with different parts in the keys  of A minor and C minor. This lesson goes into how a solo guitarist could accompany a singer, incorporating a lot of the keyboard accompaniment part found in the original.

• Lesson 2: Time

  Most of the songs by The Alan Parsons Project were written by composer/vocalist Eric Woolfson, but it wasn't until their 5th album The Turn Of A Friendly Card, released in 1980, that Eric sang a lead vocal. The album had many songs based on gambling situations, but Time had beautiful, sentimental lyrics and soaring vocals, and went on to be one of their biggest hits in the US.

  This lesson is an arpeggio arrangement that tries to replicate a keyboard part. The song is in the key of Eb so the guitar accompaniment is done in the key of D with a capo at the first fret. There are some unusual chord voicings and shapes that will challenge your left hand a bit. It makes a nice instrumental for those who may not have Woolfson's pipes, or a great vocalist around, but is a lot of fun to play as is.

• Lesson 3: Don't Answer Me - Guitar Lesson

  Don’t Answer Me is a 1984 song by The Alan Parsons Project from the album ‘Ammonia Avenue’. The music video was rendered in comic book style, with art and animation by M.W. Kaluta.
  
  The song is in the key of C, using all the chords, expect for chord VII and with one out of the key, which is also the hardest one to play.
  
  Because the progression is very easy, as well as the strumming, I’ve decided to use this lesson to get more into how to dress up the strumming with a ‘bounce’ as you can also hear in songs like for example Tequila Sunrise and Things We Said Today. There is a segment in which I thoroughly break it down, slow it down and gradually speed it up in order for students to get the hang of it.
  
  The goal is to carry it over into other songs and to incorporate it into your strumming in general to give your playing a driving and rhythmic touch.

• Lesson 4: The Turn Of A Friendly Card

  In 1980 The Alan Parsons Project released The Turn Of A Friendly Card, which included a couple hits, Games People Play and Time, along with this title tune, which did not make as big a splash on the charts. Regardless, it is another hauntingly beautiful tune from the pen of Eric Woolfson.

  There is very little guitar in the piece, other than a short classical solo bridging the sections, then an electric solo in the outro, but this lesson goes into how Neil would play it accompanying a vocalist. It includes a very accurate transcription of the piano intro, which may be fairly difficult to play, then continues with some different right hand techniques and rhythmic variations from verse to verse.

• Lesson 5: Eye In The Sky - Guitar Lesson

  Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson put together some great songs and sounds in the 1980s. Eye In The Sky has always been one of my favorites but I never really thought about translating it to the guitar until recently.
  
  The song is really driven by bass and keyboards. Once I started on the path of thumbing out the bass part and sprinkling in the keyboard chords and voicings I realized a lot of students would like to tackle it as well.
  
  This lesson really just combines a few parts into an accompaniment that I might play if I was backing up a singer. It also introduces an advanced fingering technique to smooth transitions out at a very high level.

• Lesson 6: Eye In The Sky Solo Arrangement - Guitar Lesson

  A few years ago we put up a lesson on Eye In The Sky by The Alan Parsons Project which was a version designed to incorporate the accompaniment parts for the vocals. This lesson is for solo guitar, bringing in the melody lines, as well as some harmony and even background vocals.
  
  It starts with the opening bass line, adds the keyboard fill, then runs through a few verses and choruses with slight variations each time, and ends with a little improve before fading out. It will prove to be quite challenging but should be a lot of fun to tackle, even if you want to work on some of the parts.