1970s Super Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner - Guitar Lesson

  Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by English musician Mick Jones, multi-instrumental musician Ian McDonald, along with American vocalist Lou Gramm.
  
  This lesson covers the unplugged/acoustic version of their biggest hit and power ballad ‘I Want To Know What Love Is.' It’s taken from their 1984 album ‘Agent Provocateur’.
  
  The song consists of five chords in the key of Em, with a few different chord shapes, and should be played with random strumming. We take a look at the progression, which has an occasional change in the time signature, and the little signature riff in the intro and interludes.
  
  The lesson is presented, as the original recording as well as the acoustic version, with all the strings tuned down a half step.

• Lesson 2: Madman Across The Water - Guitar Lesson Elton John

  Madman Across The Water was written by Elton John and his main lyricist, Bernie Taupin and was the title song from his 1971 album. It is one of his few songs that features acoustic guitar. The lesson goes over the basic riff and strumming accompaniment. Neil also improvises a chord solo arrangement of the tune which is not covered in the lesson but tab is included.

• Lesson 3: Amie - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  Amie was written by Pure Prairie League co-founder Craig Fuller and released on their 2nd album, Bustin' Out in 1972. It became a hit a few years later and is one of the top requested songs here at TG. This lesson goes over the chord progression, strumming patterns, and includes chapters on the Intro Lead, the Main Lead, and the Outro.

• Lesson 4: Dust In The Wind

  Dust In The Wind is a classic Travis-style fingerpicking song that is a ‘must learn’ lesson for all guitar students. It uses a steady alternating bass technique in a repetitive pattern. The main difficulty is getting it up to speed but it will come with practice. It appeared on Kansas’s 1978 album Point Of Know Return.

• Lesson 5: Pancho And Lefty Guitar Lesson - Townes Van Zandt

  Pancho And Lefty was written by Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt and recorded on his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. It has been covered by many artists, including Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Townes always said he didn't really write the song as much as discovered and channeled it, a frequent occurrence for talented songwriters. This Campfire lesson just goes over the chord progression and encourages the student to improvise some fingerpicking patterns as the accompaniment. Some experience with alternate bass patterns is necessary to get the most out of this basic lesson.

  The lesson also includes tab to the intro Townes played on his Live At The Old Quarter album.

• Lesson 6: Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress

  Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress was written by Hollies singer Allan Clarke and a couple of British songwriters, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. It appeared on the Hollies album Distant Light, released in 1971. It features one of the greatest opening riffs in the history of Rock And Roll, followed by a driving, power chord-based progression. Another ‘must learn’ tune for students into the classic rock era.

• Lesson 7: Alison - Guitar Lesson

  Alison is one of Elvis Costello's best known songs, it was released on his first album My Aim Is True, in 1977. Like many of his songs, the lyrics can be interpreted in multiple ways, and it is not likely that this is the love song that it might appear upon first listen. The song is in the key of E, and that means plenty of barre chords, including some 1-beat changes. The lesson uses a fingerstyle plucking technique in the intro, followed by finger strumming accompanying the verse and chorus.

• Lesson 8: The Weight - Guitar Lesson

  The Weight is one of the most popular songs by Robbie Robertson and The Band. It was released in 1969 on their 1st album, Music From Big Pink. The whimsical lyrics and instantly recognizable opening lick make it a lot of fun to play and sing, especially if you can round up some friends to sing along. This TARGET Short lesson includes playing it in the original key of A as well as transposed down to G.

• Lesson 9: My Maria - Guitar Lesson

  My Maria was a hit for B. W. Stevenson in 1973 and again in 1996 when Brooks & Dunn covered it. It features a great opening lick and some syncopated strumming patterns with quick chord changes, along with some incredible vocals, which are a bit beyond the scope of this guitar lesson.

• Lesson 10: Don't Fear The Reaper - Guitar Lesson

  Don’t Fear The Reaper was written by Blue Oyster Cult guitarist and singer Buck Dharma. It appeared on their 1976 album Agents Of Fortune and was their first big hit. This is a great song for guitar players of any level. I make just about all of my students learn the opening riff early in their guitar lives. The chords can all be played with just 2 fingers, many of which are just power chords. It is also a good way to learn the technique of placing your left fingers down one at a time, in the order you need to play them, rather than slapping the whole chord down at once.

• Lesson 11: It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Guitar Lesson

  It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me is one of the few Billy Joel songs that features the guitar rather than the piano. The song appeared on his 1980 album, Glass Houses and is written from the point-of-view of an aging artist who is pressured by his label or manager to get with the times. Typical of a Billy Joel song, It’s Still Rock And Roll uses a wide range of chords, including some bar chords and some power chords. The power chords can be played using the common shuffle pattern that moves from the 5th of the chord to the 6th of the chord on beats 2 and 4 in each measure. The song opens with single bass notes played using the palm mute technique. Half way through the verse it starts strumming, then continues with a combination of the two techniques.

• Lesson 12: Rock & Roll All Night - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Rock and Roll All Nite is one of the most popular rock songs of all time, released on Kiss's 1975 album Dressed to Kill. This is a cool song because it uses a lot of inner string chord shapes to a great effect. Generally speaking, you play chords with the root note on the 5th or 6th string and the rest of the chord above it. In this case, the root is pretty much exclusively played on the 2nd or 3rd string which gives a larger interval between what the bass guitar and guitar is playing, creating a more dynamic harmony between the parts since the notes are farther apart. There's a lot of sliding used between these chord shapes as well that has a really cool sound once you get it down. You'll need to be able to switch between double and triple stops, and it's important that you can play barre chords comfortably as well, since there's a couple of trickier riffs that switch from a power chord to add the major 6 and back.

• Lesson 13: Sunshine - Guitar Lesson

  In 1971, Jonathon Edwards released Sunshine on his self-titled debut album. The song featured some quick, percussive strumming with very catchy lyrics and rhythms.
  
  This lesson includes a little ear training puzzle, then breaks down the progression and strumming technique. It also includes left hand muting to create the percussive effect.
  
  There is a slowed down metronome section as well as a short look at the little tag that ends the song.

• Lesson 14: Werewolves Of London - Mini-Lesson

  Warren Zevon’s 1978 album Excitable Boy included Werewolves Of London, a very simple but fun song. It is just a four measure phrase, using three chords, with a little hook as the riff.
  
  It was originally done on the piano but the riff can be played easily on the guitar. The lesson starts with a Campfire Version, but includes a few other ways of approaching the tune from a guitar point of view.

• Lesson 15: My Sharona - Guitar Lesson

  My Sharona is an epic rock tune that’s so easy to sing along with and incredibly fun to jam on.
  
  Based on some simple octave riffs, most of the guitar parts are fairly easy. The solo is where things begin to heat up, and you’ll learn some of the most famous and challenging licks from this iconic song!

• Lesson 16: Coming Into Los Angeles - Arlo Guthrie - Guitar Lesson

  Coming Into Los Angeles was one of a handful of radio hits Arlo Guthrie had as his career was getting off the ground in the late 1960s. His performance at Woodstock showed his youthful exuberance, but probably not his best musicianship. This lesson is done as an ear training exercise, so don’t look at the chart until you watch the first couple segments. There is also a segment with thoughts about playing lead in a minor key.

• Lesson 17: City Of New Orleans (Campfire Lesson)

  A classic Campfire Song, City Of New Orleans was a big hit for Arlo Guthrie in 1972 when it was released on his album Hobo’s Lullaby. The song was written by Steve Goodman, who managed to get Arlo to listen to it in a bar in Chicago, and Arlo agreed to record it. It is a pretty standard chord progression that can be played in many keys. This lesson looks at it in the key of C, using a country strumming pattern.

• Lesson 18: Ain't No Sunshine - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  This lesson on Ain't No Sunshine goes into the way Bill really played it, using simple, 3-string reductions of chords from our standard 'E' and 'A' barre families. These reductions mean no barre is necessary. The right hand picks out a simple pattern that alternates a bass note hit with the thumb and a pair of strings plucked with two fingers. There is also a brief look at a background lead part.

• Lesson 19: Grandma’s Hands - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  I had a student ask about this cool Bill Withers’ piece recently and I thought it would make a good addition to the TG library, in spite of the fact that it is pretty basic and simple.

  This very short lesson goes over the chords, which are really just 3-string reductions shapes from the ‘E’ family, as well as the fingerpicking, mostly just a plucking technique using the thumb and two fingers.
   

• Lesson 20: Gypsy Woman

  Brian Hyland is a singer and guitarist who found a bit of fame with Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and Sealed With A Kiss in the early 1960s. He hit gold gain in 1971 with Gypsy Woman, a song written by Curtis Mayfield for his group The Impressions, which did not make much of a splash at the time.

  This lesson includes looks at the progression and addresses some strumming techniques that are really useful everywhere. We look at things like focusing on zones of strings, palm muting, varying patterns, and a pretty cool intro as well.

• Lesson 21: Sealed With A Kiss

  Sealed With A kiss, written by Gary Geld and Peter Udell, has been recorded by dozens of artists but it was Brian Hyland's 1962 version that hit the charts the biggest. The song has a sophisticated chord progression in the key of E Minor, which includes a few chords outside the key. It also includes a half-step modulation at the end, which is really optional if you are not comfortable with barre chords.

  The lesson also includes a solo section, picking out the melody while keeping the strumming going.

• Lesson 22: Sailing by Christopher Cross

  In 1980 Christopher ruled the airwaves with his soft, smooth sound, with Sailing and Ride Like The Wind leading the charge. Sailing is played in Open D Tuning (D-A-D-F#-A-D), with an arpeggio accompaniment featuring a few hybrid chords, common chords with unusual bass notes as well as other colorful chords like add 9 or Major 7.

  This lesson shows how to add the bass notes to the arpeggio, which makes it a bit more challenging than what Christopher plays as part of a big ensemble, but makes the accompaniment complete for a solo guitarist.

• Lesson 23: Mr. Bojangles

  Mr. Bojangles, written by Jerry Jeff Walker is a classic American folk- country tune, even though the subject matter and time signature are a bit unusual. It is in 3/4 time and features a descending bass line similar to These Days by Jackson Browne and America by Paul Simon. This is a great lesson for improving the accuracy of hitting individual bass notes as part of a strumming pattern. It has been covered by hundreds of artists, most notably the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Sammy Davis Jr., and even Bob Dylan.

• Lesson 24: Waiting For A Girl Like You - Foreigner - Guitar Lesson

  Waiting For A Girl Like You is a Platinum-certified 1981 power ballad by the British-American band Foreigner. It was the second single from their album ‘4’ and has become one of the band’s most famous songs worldwide.
  
  This lesson takes a look at an acoustic version as occasionally performed by Foreigner in more recent years.
  
  It covers the progression, the strumming and a possible way to copy the distinctive synthesizer theme as acoustically done on a mandolin by guitar player Bruce Watson.
  
  A tab for how to play it as performed on the original recording by the then-little-known Thomas Dolby is included.

• Lesson 25: Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend - Lobo - Guitar Lesson

  This 1971 hit by Lobo is very similar to some of this others that we have recently looked at, and I am taking a similar, ear training approach.
  
  Listen to the original and see if you can figure out the key and main chords.
  
  This one is fingerpicking, with a slightly unusual twist, which we get to later in the lesson.

• Lesson 26: The Air That I Breathe - Guitar Lesson

  The Air That I Breathe is a ballad written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood. It was initially recorded by Hammond and appears on his 1972 album ‘It Never Rains In Southern California’.
  
  It was a major hit for the Hollies, who recorded it two years later after hearing a beautiful cover version done by Phil Everly the year before.
  
  This lesson is mostly based on the Hollies’ version, but shows some insight on how Hammond plays it in concerts as well.
  
  We take a look at the chords in the key of C and A, the double time strumming and the progression. The latter is a little unusual with a few chords out of the key, by changing a few from major to minor or vice versa. It also features a couple of barre chords.

• Lesson 27: Me And You And A Dog Named Boo - Lobo - Guitar Lesson

  Kent Lavoie, known professionally as Lobo, had a handful of hits in the US in the early 1970s, although he continued with a successful career around the world for much longer.
  
  His songs are reminiscent of David Gates, among others, featuring nice chord progressions and melodies that highlight his voice.
  
  Like most of his songs, Me And You And A Dog Named Boo is played in a standard key but capoed up a bit.
  
  This lesson is done as an ear-training exercise where the student should start by listening to and analyzing the original recording.
  
  I also strum through it in a segment designed for listening and hope the student can figure out what is going on.
  
  By the end, I give you the chords and talk a bit about the arrangement but hopefully you are able to get that far on your own.

• Lesson 28: Dance With Me - Guitar Lesson

  Dance With Me has one of the greatest accompanying guitar parts of all time, in my opinion. It was a hit for Orleans in 1975, written by guitarist John Hall and his wife Johanna. It features a melodic riff, harmonized using thirds, as the backing part to vocals done in three-part harmony. This lesson includes a basic chord version as well as the somewhat difficult guitar part exactly the way John played it. It also includes a great outro vamp and flashy ending.

• Lesson 29: Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts - Guitar Lesson

  Jim Seals and Dash Crofts had a string of hits and great songs during the 70s. They had been together for quite a while when they hit it big with Summer Breeze, their fourth album, released in 1972. The song featured an unusual chord progression, a distinctive opening instrumental theme, and great harmonies with a little Texas twist. This lesson shows a couple of different ways of incorporating some of Dash’s mandolin parts into the guitar accompaniment.

• Lesson 30: Moondance Guitar Lesson - Van Morrison

  Moondance is a jazzy tune of Van Morrison's that was mostly piano, bass, and drums. This lesson captures the feel of that rhythm section all on one acoustic guitar. It starts using fingerpicking technique combining the piano comping with a steady bass pattern, continues with a strumming pattern when the progression moves to the iv chord, and finishes with the bass riff that wraps up the chorus.

  
  Neil introduces the technique he calls the 'hidden pick trick', where the pick is held in the right hand while fingerpicking, making the transition from fingerstyle to strumming immediate and seamless.

• Lesson 31: Use Me - Electric Guitar Lesson

  This is one song that all guitar players should know (it’s only one riff!). This iconic song by Bill Withers, from his album Still Bill, gets its pulse and drive from that famous guitar riff that is present throughout the tune. Coupled with a simple chord change and rhythmically sophisticated hits, this is one tune that is easy to learn and even more fun to play!

• Lesson 32: Burnin’ For You - Blue Oyster Cult - Guitar Lesson

  This is probably not a song that jumps out as an acoustic guitar piece but it is really fun to play. It is from Blue Oyster Cult’s 1981 album Fire Of Unknown Origin and the lesson covers the rhythm guitar parts as well as the opening leads played in the intro. There is also a bit on playing both parts of the main double lead riff together. Otherwise it is power chords and barre chords with some muted, percussive strumming.

• Lesson 33: I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats - Guitar Lesson

  I Don’t Like Mondays, is a song by Irish band The Boomtown Rats about the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego/California. It was written by their lead singer and Band Aid co-founder Bob Geldof.
  
  The title is based on the explanation that 16-year-old shooter Brenda Ann Spencer gave when being asked why she had done it. She responded: ‘I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.’
  
  The song is heavily piano driven and this lesson teaches how to play a similar sounding arrangement on the guitar.
  
  It’s done in standard tuning, but in order to match the original recording one would need to tune down all six strings a half step.
  
  We take a look at the progression in the key of C, the signature intro and several little melodic piano fills, which appear throughout the song. This creates quite a few challenges for both the fretting and strumming hand.

• Lesson 34: More Than A Feeling - Guitar Lesson

  More Than A Feeling is the first hit from Boston, released in 1976 on their debut album. It features a memorable guitar arpeggio opening then a driving chorus with syncopated strumming. This lesson goes over all the rhythm parts, as well as strumming it in single time and double time.

• Lesson 35: All Right Now - Free - Guitar Lesson

  All Right Now opens up with an iconic rock riff that can be played many different ways, most of which either miss an essential element or are unnecessarily difficult. This lesson shows the relatively simple way that Paul Kossoff played it on Free’s 1970 album Fire And Water.
  
  This lesson somewhat revives our earlier series of Intros, Riffs & Licks and just goes over the guitar riffs as played in the verse and chorus. There is some double-time strumming involved but it can be optional.

• Lesson 36: Sweet Jane - Guitar Lesson

  Sweet Jane is a song long associated with Lou Reed, originally appearing on The Velvet Underground’s 1970 album Loaded. This lesson takes the ‘Work It Out’ approach and encourages you to listen to the first segment and figure out the chords. The next segments go over the chords and strumming, ending with a short look at other versions including Lou’s from Rock ‘N’ Roll Animal and another by The Cowboy Junkies.

• Lesson 37: Walk On The Wild Side - Guitar Lesson

  Walk On The Wild Side has become one of Lou Reed’s signature songs ever since it was released on his second solo album, Transformer in 1972. It is typical of Lou’s style using just a few chords and a fairly repetitive strumming pattern. This lesson covers the way it originally appeared as well as looking at alternate ways Lou played it many years later.

• Lesson 38: Simple Man Guitar Lesson - Lynyrd Skynyrd

  Today we take a look at an electric classic, Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd, courtesy of our Skynyrd expert, Stef Beddeson. This was one of a handful of hits from their debut album in 1973. The lesson goes over the arpeggiated accompaniment to the basic 3 chord progression, as well as the backing riff and strumming to the chorus.

• Lesson 39: Can’t You See - Guitar Lesson

  Can't You See is from the first album by the Marshall Tucker Band, released in 1973. It has been high on our Recommend A Lesson list for quite sometime. It is mostly a simple, 3-chord progression but the interesting part is the distinctive picking done at the beginning, which is the main focus of the lesson. We also look at strumming the chords, and a bit on a lead pattern to improvise with.

• Lesson 40: Sweet Home Alabama - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Sweet Home Alabama is one of the most famous guitar songs of all time, released on Lynyrd Skynyrd's second album "Second Helping" in 1974. This song stands out because it has a really unique style of country playing where you typically separate the bass notes from the rest of the chords. This song plays the root note on the downbeat, and then follows up with an arpeggio instead of a single chord, giving it a more driving and unique rhythm. In order to play this song effectively, you really have to be able to break the chords down and play just two or three notes within the chord changes, which is a common technique for southern rock guitar. This song has a lot of iconic licks that are pretty simple to play but will take a bit of practice and attention to the shifting of positions, which you'll need to do seamlessly in order to play this song right.

• Lesson 41: Maggie May - Guitar Lesson

  Maggie May was the song that really launched Rod Stewart’s solo career and was released in 1971 on his third album, Every Picture Tells A Story. The original recording featured many acoustic instruments and the lesson presents a great way to recreate much of the sounds by using Dropped D Tuning. It also covers the short instrumental intro, Henry, written by one of Rod’s guitarists Martin Quittenton.

• Lesson 42: Go All The Way - Guitar Lesson

  In 1972 The Raspberries jumped into the pop/rock scene with their first album, which included Go All The Way, written by Eric Carmen.
  
  The song fused many compositional elements, including distorted electric guitar riffs, well developed chord progressions, catchy melodies with vocal hooks, blues shuffle patterns, some caveman power chords, and even a quasi-classical minor arpeggio pattern.
  
  This lesson covers all of those, as well as presenting a couple challenges where the student will need to do some homework.

• Lesson 43: Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealer's Wheel - Guitar Lesson

  This catchy song from 1972 is pretty easy and very fun to play along with. Stealer’s Wheel was basically the duo of Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan and they pretty much fall into the “one hit wonder” category.
  
  There were 2 rhythm guitar parts, played using different chord shapes and both are covered in the lesson.
  
  The lesson includes with a “work it out” segment so watch the videos before looking at the chart.

• Lesson 44: I'd Love To Change The World Guitar Lesson - Ten Years After

  An obscure English blues rock band, the Jaybirds included members who, in 1966 renamed themselves Ten Years After, in honor of front man, Alvin Lee’s idol, Elvis Presley, who had his breakout year in 1956. After a few albums and moderate success in England they came to America to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival and Woodstock in 1969. Lee’s rendition of I’m Going Home in the movie launched them to stardom. The song opens with an arpeggio pattern followed by a chromatic bass run leading to the next chord, then a similar move on the next pair of chords, before landing on the dominant chord. The chord progression then picks up in intensity with a heavily accented series of the same chords.

• Lesson 45: Into The Mystic - Van Morrison - Guitar Lesson

  In 1970 Van Morrison released his one of his landmark albums, Moondance. The album also contained the relaxing, Into The Mystic.
  
  The song only uses a few chords in the key of C, capoed at the third fret to really give us Eb, and includes some nice fills and horn parts as well.
  
  This lesson covers how to incorporate some of those into the strumming, as well as muting techniques with both hands.