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Pale Blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground, Part 2

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Check out this live performance from the VU reunion in 1993. Can clearly see Lou playing it in G but, frustratingly, there’s not a single shot of Sterling Morisson.

 
In this lesson I’m looking at Sterling Morisson’s lead guitar parts and solo from this Velvet’s classic from 1969. (For Part 1, looking at Lou Reed’s easy to play rhythm part, click here.)Nothing too challenging technically here,  just some memorable, beautiful playing. I’ve written it all out for you below. I haven’t gone to the trouble of writing out all the verses and choruses since, bar the odd minor variation, they’re all the same. Download the music/tab here.

Pale Blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground, Part 1

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In this lesson we’re looking at a wonderful song from possibly my favourite Velvets album, their 3rd self-titled record from 1969. Part 1 focusses on Lou Reed’s rhythm guitar part. In Part 2, I’ll be checking out Sterling Morrisons lead guitar parts and the solo. This is great song to learn if you’re a beginner since both the strumming and the chords are nice and simple, but really it’s just a great song to learn full stop. I’ve written out a chord/lyric chart for the song below. Download the chart here. Remember you’ll need to tune your guitar down if you want to play along with the recording.

Getting the sound

The rhythm guitar sound on this song is a little bit puzzling. It almost sounds like an organ rather than a guitar at times. I’m pretty sure it is a guitar since you can hear the strumming and occasional open strings if you listen carefully, but the tone’s certainly unusual. It could well be that Doug Yule is playing along on an organ too, and the two sounds are blended together.

I’m not sure what either Lou or Sterling would have used on this song gear-wise. For the video, I just went for a warm, full kind of sound. I’m using my Vox Virage guitar, which is strung with flat-wounds. Amp is a 1980s Fender Super Champ. And a bit of mild drive comes from a Wampler Tumnus pedal.

Gimme Danger by Iggy & The Stooges

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I’ve had a few requests for this one, and I’m very happy to be returning to The Stooges with this look at possibly my favourite track on the Raw Power album. 

 

I’ve written out some basic music/tab for all the main sections of the song below. With music like this it’s impossible and probably a bit pointless try and to transcribe everything note-for-note. So use my tab as a guide and, once you’ve got the basic idea, feel free to do things your own way. Want a high-quality PDF? Get it here.

Back To The Old House by The Smiths

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I always get tons of requests to look at more Johnny Marr, and I’m finally relenting with this look at a beautiful Smiths B-side from 1984. Fingerstyle folk is not the first thing that pops into your head when you think of Johnny Marr, but it’s fairly well-known that he’s a fan of this style of music; in particular he’s an admirer of Bert Jansch. Here’s Johnny talking about Bert’s 1974 album LA Turnaround:

“I already had a certain facility and knew what I wanted to do. But someone gave me this album – and this is after punk, so it was quite a broad-minded thing to do in those days – with the tagline, “There you go, hotshot, with your Johnny Thunders shit – let’s see if you can get your head round that.” And I must confess it was one of the few times I actually sat down and thought, “Wow, I’m either gonna have to work this out, or give up.” I told Bert that when I got to know him. And after he came and stayed at my house the first time, I saw afterwards that he’d gone through my records and signed it for me. Which was a really beautiful thing.” (from The Guardian.)

So here’s my take on the song. I’ve written out the music/tab below as accurately as I can. The original recording is double-tracked with some teeny differences between the left and right-speaker parts. The structure is simple: Intro-Verse1-B1-Verse2-B2-Outro. Verse 2 is just a bit longer than the first. Want a high-quality, totally unauthorised PDF of the music? Click here.

Check out the video for some pointers on the picking hand. No right or wrong here though as long as it sounds good, so experiment and see what works for you.

Gear

For this one I’m using my lovely Martin D28, recorded with an Audio Technica 4047 mic, into a Great River Pre-amp then Pro Tools. Bit of compression, EQ and reverb added in the computer.

More Marr?

Check out my lesson on Smiths classic This Charming Man.

Transmission by Joy Division

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Here’s another great, pretty easy to play Joy Division song.

 

 

I’ve written out the music/tab below:

 

 

 

She’s Lost Control by Joy Division

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Quite why I’ve never looked at a Joy Division song before I don’t know. Anyway, here’s a lesson on the classic She’s Lost Control. A great and easy to play song: one barre chord shape is all you need. The bass line is awesome too and works really well played on the guitar.

This is a famous 1979 TV performance of the song:

And here’s my video:

I’ve written out the riffs below. Download a high-quality PDF here. There’s really not much to it; if you know your barre chords then it’s pretty easy. But as I’m always saying, make sure you do the easy stuff really well: pay particular attention to the rhythm.