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September Gurls by Big Star

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Learn to play Big Star’s 70s classic, which also happens to be one of my favourite songs…ever.

Despite a sizeable cult fanbase, Big Star are still quite an obscure band to many people. So if you don’t know this song, check out the original first:

Here’s the video lesson:

Music/tabs

The rhythm guitar part is fairly basic, so I’ve written that out in a chord/lyric sheet format. You wanna PDF?

The lead (mando-) guitar part is a bit more involved so I’ve written that out in full music and tab, including a few details which I skimmed over during the video. Get the PDF here.

4 Happy Mondays Riffs

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Here are 4 of my favourite riffs from the mighty Manchester band Happy Mondays. All played, I believe, by a chap called Mark Day. All inventive, catchy and pretty easy to play. Let’s get baggy… 

 
I’ve written the riffs out below. Download here if you want. Have fun!

 

Another Girl, Another Planet

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This 1978 track from the Only Ones has to be one of the greatest rock songs of the ’70s. It contains plenty of memorable guitar playing, from Peter Perrett and lead guitarist John Perry.

 

 
I’ve written out the first bit of the intro rhythm guitar and the intro guitar solo below. On the original recording the solo is double tracked with each guitar playing slightly differently. So my transcription is kind of an average of both parts. It’s all based on the E major pentatonic and E major scales.

If there’s overwhelming demand for it I’ll write out the main guitar solo too. Let me know if you’d find that helpful.

Purple Rain by Prince

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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

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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

Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders

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by The Pretenders

I’ve always loved the playing of James Honeyman-Scott, the guitarist in the first incarnation of the Pretenders. One important lesson I took from him was how it was possible to combine the attitude and values of punk with some really skilled and beautiful playing. Brass in Pocket was The Pretenders first big hit, reaching number 1 in January 1980, and it’s as good a place as any to start if you want to get into JH-S’s style. Unless you’re a complete beginner, there’s nothing here that’s too tricky to play. It’s just a brilliantly constructed and executed pop guitar part, which perfectly supports and adds to the song.

Below is my transcription of the tune; I’ve tried to be as faithful to the original recording as possible, though there are definitely a few places where it’s quite hard to hear exactly what’s going on. Occasionally you can hear one or two extra notes creeping into the main riff, which are shown in brackets. The chorus is a kind of composite of the two guitars you hear on the recording, but you have the option of sticking to either one of the main parts if you want to, as I explain in the video. I’ve also included the funky single-note line (this kind of thing is sometimes referred to as a bubble lick) and the overdriven overdub which you can hear most prominently during the second half of the 2nd pre-chorus. The picking indications show you the way I would probably approach playing this, but feel free go with whatever works best for you. You can download a PDF of the music here, if you like.

Backing Track

I wouldn’t usually go to the trouble of recording a backing track to play along to but in the case of this song I felt I needed to as the guitar doesn’t make much sense without the bass notes. Here’s what I put together: it’s fairly basic sequenced drums and a bass guitar but it should be enough to give the guitar part some kind of context and to allow you to work on your feel and timing. You should be able to piece all the bits of the song together yourself – the structure is straightforward: verse, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, chorus, main riff to end.

 Getting the Sound

There seems to be little definite info about exactly what gear was used to record this track. According to interviews, a lot of the first album was done with a Gibson Les Paul or 335, but JH-S also seems to have occasionally used a Tele in the studio. As far as amps go, he favoured Marshall amps when playing live, but whether this is what he used in the studio is anybody’s guess. The chorus effect seems to have come from an original Electro Harmonix The Clone Theory pedal. Here’s some more detailed gear info I’ve just copied and pasted from The Gear Page:

“Honeyman-Scott used a number of guitars during his professional career, including the following:

Gibson ES-335 used for Pretenders debut and songs on the Robert John Godfrey album
Gibson Les Paul Jr. (1957 – borrowed from Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople)
Gibson Les Paul (used to record the debut album)
Gibson Firebird (1963)
Gibson Firebird (Pink)
Hamer Custom-built guitars(3, one red known as “Red One”, one white with Honeyman in mother of pearl up the neck known as “Honeyman”, and one Explorer prototype [currently known as the Hamer Standard])
MusicMan Stingray
Rickenbacker 360/12 used during Extended Play / Pretenders II sessions
Zemaitis (1980) Metal Front Guitar (2)
Zemaitis (1980) Pearl Front Guitar
Zemaitis (1981) Dragon (Wedding Axe)
Zemaitis (1981) Scorpion Disc Front Guitar

Just before joining the Pretenders, Honeyman-Scott used an Ibanez Gibson-Explorer style with a Electro-Harmonix Clone Theory pedal and Marshall amplifier in an attempt to emulate the Rickenbacker 12-string sound on songs by Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe (Guitar Player, 1981). Honeyman-Scott recorded most of his guitar parts for the Pretenders debut album using a Gibson ES-335 or Gibson Les Paul.
Honeyman-Scott owned several acoustic guitars including a Gibson Dove, Martin D-28, and a Guild 12-string. Jimmy used Marshall 100-watt amplifiers and BOSS chorus, overdrive, and compressor effects pedals.”

I’ve also seen pictures of him with Strats, Teles and his original Ibanez Explorer copy.

To get close to the Brass in Pocket sound you’ll want a bright, clean amp sound and some kind of chorus effect. For this video I used my ’52 reissue Tele into my 80s Fender Super Champ. The chorus effect is from an Electro Harmonix Small Clone.

For more detailed JH-S info check out this brilliant interview by Jas Obrecht taken, I think, from an 1981 edition of Guitar Player Magazine.