Open Chords

I Walk The Line by Johnny Cash

11th January 2017 by adambradford

by Johnny Cash

In this lesson I show you how to play the Johnny Cash classic, mainly from the perspective of Luther Perkins great electric guitar part. There’s so much you can learn from this song: how to play rhythm guitar in the classic bass note/strum country style; how to connect chords with walk-ups and downs; the names of the I IV and V chords in 3 of the most common keys; how key changes work.

The lesson is based on the original and probably best-known 1956 recording of the song. Cash went on to re-record the song on a number of occasions and it’s interesting to check-out the differences between the various versions. The 1964 version is faster and there are some definite changes to the guitar part, particularly in the way Perkins walks up and down between chords. Also great is the live at San Quentin recording, but guitar on this is played by Carl Perkins (no relation) in a quite different more twangy style.

I’ve written out the intro below. I think it’s worth learning this intro note-for-note as Perkins plays it, since it’s such an iconic part. If you’d like a PDF of the entire song you can download it here. I suggest that for the verses you use the written part as a guide, and make it your own by varying the movement of the bass line and the right-hand strumming. As I explain in the video, it’s actually quite easy to make sense of the key changes if you think in terms of the movement of the I IV and V chords. Each verse has the same progression: V, I, V, I, IV, I, V, I. We start in E, walk up to A, walk up again to D, then walk back down to A, and finally back home to E again.

Rumble by Link Wray

11th January 2017 by adambradford

The original recording sounds like this:

This is great too, Jimmy Page playing air guitar!:

A rock ‘n’ roll classic. And a great one to try if you’re a beginner, though I can’t imagine any player who wouldn’t have fun playing this. Mostly it’s quite straightforward, just take care with the timing, which is a bit quirky in places. Listen closely to the original to get a feel for what’s going on. I’ve written it out below. Download a high-quality PDF here. (Theory nerds, I’ve chosen to write it out in 4/4, though there’s an argument for notating it in 12/8. 4/4 just makes a bit more sense to me and is less cluttered and easier to read.)

Backing track

I put together this quick backing track which I play over at the start of the video. Have a go playing along. It’s a really good test of how well you know the piece, and will really help you to nail the timing. The count at the start is 1 2 3 4 1 2 (then play the opening Dsus2 chord on beats 3 and 4 before the band kicks in.

Gear

For the video I used my Jazzmaster (an American Vintage 65) through an 80s Fender Super Champ. The amp was set fairly quiet and clean; overdrive was from a J Rockett Archer pedal. The tremolo effect is a Fulltone Supa-Trem.

I couldn’t find much definite info on exactly what Link used for the original recording. Some suggest he used a Les Paul (which in 1958 would have had P90s) into a Multivox Premier amp. Overdrive was apparently a result of his slashing the speakers in the amp!

Purple Rain by Prince

11th January 2017 by adambradford

I’ve always wanted to do a lesson or two on Prince, but up until now it’s been next to impossible since Prince – backed up by a team of hard-assed lawyers – was always super-protective of his music, and refused to allow any unauthorised videos up on YouTube. It’s sad that this situation only seems to be changing after his death, with a large number of Prince-related videos springing up over recent weeks. So I thought I’d go ahead and join them with this look at one of his most famous songs. Fingers-crossed this video will be allowed to remain live.

The original version of Purple Rain apparently started out as a live recording which Prince then took into the studio to work on further. (Some interesting background information on the song here.) How much of the final version is taken from the live gig is hard to say, but it certainly has the energy of a live show. If you hunt around on the internet it’s possible to see footage of the original live performance, with some great close- ups of Wendy Melvoin’s intro and an extended Prince solo at the end.

I’ve written out the music below. For the intro I’ve transcribed – as close as I can get to – note-for-note what Wendy Melvoin plays. It looks a bit terrifying when notated like this, but I recommend using this as a guide, concentrating on getting the correct overall feel rather than exactly emulating the recording. Download a high-quality PDF of the music here if you like.

Backing Tracks

For the video I put together a couple of rough and ready backing tracks – one for the intro/verse/chorus, and one for the solo – which I thought I’d share with you here. I’ve looped the solo one a few times so you can really stretch and indulge yourselves to the max. The count-in for the intro is 1 bar (1& 2& 3& 4&) then a hi-hat keeps time during the unaccompanied guitar intro.

Intro/Verse/Chorus Backing:

Solo Backing:

Get The Sound

Going from the live footage, Wendy Melvoin used a Rickenbacker (360?) and Prince his MadCat/Hohner Telecaster. I’ve no idea what they would have been using amp-wise. The intro guitar sound is very dry (possibly recorded direct?) with lots of great 80’s style stereo chorus. For my video, I’m using my Jazzmaster into an 80s Fender Super Champ. For effects I’m using a Boss CE-2 Chorus, and I’m stomping on a 90s Rat distortion for the solo.

Kid by The Pretenders

11th January 2017 by adambradford

How To Play Kid by The Pretenders/James Honeyman-Scott

Here we have some more amazing playing from James Honeyman-Scott. As I say in the video, this song arguably contains one of the all-time great guitar solos: inventive, melodic and concise. For me, this kind of playing beats the bluesy-noodling approach to soloing nearly every time. And on top of the guitar genius of Honeyman-Scott, we also have a fantastic song with a great lyric (apparently written from the point of view of a prostitute addressing her child). There’s a lot happening on the original recording: layers of electric and acoustic guitar, alternate tunings, half-speed overdubs. I do my best to get to the bottom of how it’s all played in the video, but there are some things that are impossible to be 100% certain about. I decided to write the more complex intro and solo parts out in full, and then give you a basic chord/lyric chart for the rest of the song.

Intro and Solo

I’ve written out these two signature Honeyman-Scott parts out in full. The intro riff is a great, twangy melody based on the notes in the C major scale. The solo is in the key of E and you could think of it as being based around the E major and E major pentatonic scales. If you want to execute these parts as flawlessly as JH-S himself you’ll need to be super accurate with both your left and right hands. I’ve marked in how I would probably pick these parts, though there are other options you could try too.

Chord/Lyric Chart

This song works really well in a simple acoustic and vocal setting too (which is often said to be the test of a great song). Check out Chrissie Hynde’s unplugged performance below for a great example of how to approach this. [Update: sorry, looks like YouTube have taken down this video, will try and find another one soon.] If you just want to sing the song and strum along this is the way to go. The chord chart below outlines what’s going on. Here and on the original recording Chrissie keeps her part very simple, that way she can leave it to another guitarist or bass player to outline any more complex textures and harmonies.

Kid-Intro-Solo

Kid-Chord-Chart