Bob Dylan Super Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: The Times They Are A-Changin’ - Guitar Lesson

  The Times They Are A-Changin’ is an early Bob Dylan song that is great for beginning students. It is from his 1964 album of the same name and uses five basic chords and a simple 3/4 strumming pattern. Like almost all Dylan songs, there are a few variations and random chord substitutions addressed in the lesson as well.

• Lesson 2: Girl From The North Country

  Girl From The North Country is the second song on Bob Dylan's second album 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan', and features some nice fingerpicking. The song structure is based on 'Scarborough Fair', which Bob learned from English guitarist Martin Carthy. The same structure and progression was used later for 'Boots Of Spanish Leather' and once you can play this, you should be able to figure it out as well.

  The lesson also takes a short look at how Dylan did this later on 'Nashville Skyline' which was done as a duet with Johnny Cash. The version is much simpler, just strumming through the repetitive 4-chord progression.

• Lesson 3: Simple Twist Of Fate - Bob Dylan - Guitar Lesson

  Simple Twist Of Fate is a very easy Dylan song from his 1975 album Blood On The Tracks. He plays it in Open E Tuning and most of the chords just use 2 or 3 fingers.
  
  The strumming consists of light bass notes hit on beats 1 and 3, with steady downs and ups on the higher strings on the other beats. We look at the way Bob played it, as well as a slightly more difficult way in Standard Tuning.

• Lesson 4: Just Like A Woman - Bob Dylan - Guitar Lesson

  In 1966 Bob Dylan’s seventh studio album was released, Blonde On Blonde, which included some elaborate arrangements and featured some great studio musicians. Just Like A Woman was released as a single from the album and showcased some nice arpeggio picking using small chord shapes in the key of E.
  
  This lesson covers what was done on the studio version even though it is one of the songs Bob has performed most frequently in concert over the years. Usually those versions are just strummed campfire style and maybe, if there is interest, we will expand this lesson to look at those.

• Lesson 5: Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan - Guitar Lesson

  This iconic tune, from Bob’s early days, fits in really well the the recent set of lessons on ear training. The way to get started with this is to listen to the version from Bob’s 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited, as well as the later, live version from Self-Portrait, and see what you can hear going on.
  
  In the “Listen” segment I play through the progression in a couple keys, including one time with only bass notes. If you know what chords to look for in a major key, you should be able to figure most of this out without any of the “Clues & Answers” that follow.
  
  There is also a short bit on strumming at the speed of sixteenth notes and tips on the intro.

• Lesson 6: Buckets Of Rain - Bob Dylan - Guitar Lesson

  In 1975 Bob Dylan came out with a spectacular album, Blood On The Tracks. It included a bunch of great songs and in this lesson we look at Buckets Of Rain. It is an alternating bass fingerstyle song done in Open D Tuning, capoed to the second fret to put it in the key of E. Most of the picking and chord shapes are very basic but there are a few very tricky slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs, mostly as far as coordinating them with hitting other notes at the same time.

• Lesson 7: A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall - Guitar Lesson

  A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall is one of Bob Dylan's earliest examples of some of his interesting chord shapes and rambling lyrics. The song first appeared on his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and is played in Dropped D Tuning with a capo at the second fret. This short lesson goes over strumming in 3/4 time and understanding some of Bob's musical phrasing techniques.

• Lesson 8: Forever Young - Guitar Lesson

  Forever Young is from Bob Dylan’s 1974 album Planet Waves, recorded with The Band. The album featured two versions of the song, one in a quiet ballad style, the second with a funkier sound, more like The Band would have done it. This lesson looks at both of those arrangements, as well as the way Bob played it later in concert. All three are in different keys and use different rhythm patterns.

• Lesson 9: Percy’s Song Dylan - Guitar Lesson

  Percy’s Song is from Bob Dylan’s early days, recorded in 1963 for The Times They Are A-Changin’ album but not released until 1985 on Biograph. His fingerpicking arrangement is quite different from other versions released earlier by artists like Arlo Guthrie and Fairport Convention. This lesson looks at Dylan’s original, as well as how it works in multiple keys.

• Lesson 10: Ballad Of A Thin Man - Guitar Lesson

  Ballad Of A Thin Man is one of Bob Dylan’s rambling commentaries on people asking too many questions, presumably to him. The original is more piano-based but the chords and riffs translate nicely to acoustic guitar. It is in 12/8 time and much of the lesson goes into accompaniment techniques and variations.

• Lesson 11: Positively 4th Street - Bob Dylan - Guitar Lesson

  In 1965 Positively 4th Street was released as a single, not appearing on either album from the time, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde. It is a very simple chords progression, just 8 measures, but provides a perfect backdrop for Bob’s biting story. This lesson starts as an ear training exercise then goes a little into picking out the melody. I would suggest only looking at the attachments as a last resort and see how much of it you can put together on your own.

• Lesson 12: Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right - Guitar Lesson

  Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right is a song from Bob Dylan’s second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, his first to feature his own compositions. The song is famous for it’s rapid fingerpicking, which probably was not done by Bob. This lesson treats it a bit generically and focuses on the important embellishments that are incorporated into fairly basic patterns.

• Lesson 13: Hurricane - Guitar Lesson

  Hurricane is from Bob Dylan’s 1975 album Desire and is a throwback to his narrative, ballad songs of the 60s. Like many of those, this song featured a one-section chord progression that continued through numerous verses. A couple of important techniques are emphasized; muting the strings with the left hand on certain beats of the measure to add a noticeable percussive effect, and adding a sixteenth note rolling strum at the end of measures as the chords transition.

• Lesson 14: My Back Pages - Guitar Lesson

  My Back Pages is one of Bob Dylan’s early songs that was definitely popularized by The Byrds reworking of it in 1967 on their album Younger Than Yesterday (a paraphrased line in the song). This lesson looks at Bob’s somewhat random chord progression and strumming pattern, as well as the refined and rockier version that McGuinn, Crosby, and Chris Hillman put together.

• Lesson 15: My Back Pages - Solo Arrangement

  My Back Pages is a Dylan song that was covered beautifully by The Byrds, and countless others since then. Roger McGuinn took Dylan's original version, originally in 3/4 time, changed it to 4/4, standardized the progression (each of Dylan's verses used different chord sequences), trimmed out a couple verses, and fine tuned the melody.

  This lesson walks through how Neil puts together solo arrangements, first by having a clear idea of the progression and the melody, then looking at things you need to consider when combining them. It really encourages the student to create their own but also includes tab and a complete look at his fingerpicking arrangement.

• Lesson 16: Mr. Tambourine Man - Guitar Lesson

  Mr. Tambourine Man is one of Bob Dylan’s quintessential songs, most recognized, popular, and just one of maybe hundreds of his that have helped shape American music and culture. It originally appeared on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home and subsequently covered by uncountable artists, most notably the Byrds. It is really just a three chord Campfire Song and this short lesson provides a very simple start into the world of playing in Dropped D Tuning.

• Lesson 17: Lay Lady Lay

  Many Bob Dylan songs have fairly simple chord progression and strumming patterns. *Lay Lady Lay*is a great example of this as it uses just a few barre chords in a repetitive fashion. This Campfire Lesson goes a bit into barre chord theory and the basic way to strum through the song.

• Lesson 18: Tangled Up In Blue Guitar Lesson - Bob Dylan

  Tangled Up In Blue is one of Bob Dylan's most popular songs from his early 1970s period, released on Blood On The Tracks in 1974. This Campfire lesson goes over the way it was done on that album in the key of A as well as a little info on other versions Dylan released on the Bootleg Series in other keys.

• Lesson 19: Knockin' On Heaven's Door

  This lesson on Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan is part of the series of complete lessons we call The Campfire Versions. Learn the chords, learn the strumming pattern (or make up your own), and get some friends to sing along!

• Lesson 20: Blowin' In The Wind Campfire Guitar Lesson

  Blowin' In The Wind is a basic folk strum that uses only 3 or 4 chords, depending on the progression you prefer. This lesson goes over the way Bob Dylan originally did it, as well as some other popular arrangements by artists of the era.

• Lesson 21: Tweeter And The Monkeyman (Bob Dylan)

  Tweeter And The Monkeyman is a Bob Dylan song from the first album by The Traveling Wilburys. It is typical of his rambling ballad approach to songwriting and features a basic chord progression and strumming pattern as a background for a fascinating story. This lesson is done as an ear-training exercise and goes so far as to not include any attachments, just demonstrations and descriptions. It also includes a bit about using triad shapes to create a second guitar part.