Introduction, Chords, and Picking

Perfect - Introduction

Welcome to the guitar lesson on a song that needs no introduction. Perfect by Ed Sheeran topped all the charts in 2017 and became a super duper hit worldwide. This song has now become part of mainstream pop youth culture. All lovers, depending on their heartbroken status, either love or hate this song. It has collected more than 4.9 billion views (almost half of humanity) on YouTube since its release and has been in all the romance playlists on every streaming service platform.

The song is a ballad celebrating the traditional marriage relationship between two lovers, written about Sheeran’s wife-to-be, Cherry Seaborn, whom he had known since he was in school and then reconnected with her when she was working in New York. Sheeran has said the song captures the feeling of finding "the one" - that magical moment when you realise you've met your soulmate.

Perfect Guitar Lesson

The guitar lesson on Perfect is an easy one. Nevertheless, the lesson has many sections that talk about the chords and rhythm of the song, and a section on improvisation where the instructor is demonstrating how to solo over the track.

The song only has four chords, namely – G - Em7 - Cadd9 - D, which the tutor explains is meant to be played with the capo on the 1st fret, as does Sheeran himself in live performances. The strumming of the song goes in triplets of 4, covering four bars of music.

The thing about minor 7th chords and augmented chords used in the song is that in the open position, they share some of the notes, and when chords share notes, the phenomenon of voice leading occurs. Voice leading is when the notes of one chord lead to another, creating an interesting movement between anticipation and resolution in the music.

Although the studio recording version of the song uses a capo on the first fret, the lesson here demonstrates both ways, with and without a capo, of playing the song in its entirety. The song follows a 12/8 time signature, and the rhythm sounds like that of a waltz, which makes it an easy song to dance to, especially with one’s lover.

The lesson makes available Perfect lyrics and chords along with the video lesson, which the advanced players can refer to when learning the song.

FAQs

Q. What is the story behind Ed Sheeran's song Perfect?

Perfect was written by Ed Sheeran as a love song for his then-girlfriend (now wife) Cherry Seaborn. The lyrics describe their real-life romance, from meeting as teenagers to falling in love as adults.

Q. What key is Perfect?

Perfect is written in the key of Ab major (G major for live performances), though most guitarists use a capo on the 1st fret to make the chords easier to play. This transposition means you'll be playing standard shapes like G, Em, C and D but hearing them in Ab major.

Introduction

AC/DC is a hard rock band from Australia. The band recorded the song "You Shook Me All Night Long," which appeared in their album Back In Black. Ozzest 100 considers it one of the most Australian songs of all time. 

According to rock critic Robert Christgau, this song was the only great work of art from the band. If you ever get to witness AC/DC live, you will surely hear this song, which has become a staple of the band's live performances. 

In this video lesson Mike Walker teaches how to play the song You Shook Me All Night Long as part of our guitar series on English songs. The song is broken down into multiple lessons for easy learning - Introduction, Song Arrangement, Song Demo and Solo Lesson. Don't forget to make use of the chords and tabs provided with the song lesson!

Chords Used in Song Guitar Lesson

Arpeggios Verse & Chorus Chords: The song is in the key of G major and uses lots of open chords. 

Song Structure 

Introduction: In the introduction, Mike Walker teaches you how to tune up your guitar for this song. He also discusses the open chords you will use in this song and the G pentatonic bass chords in the solo section.  

Song Arrangement: Here, you will learn how to play the iconic guitar introduction of the song. Mike also shares tips on where to play specific chords so you can quickly transition to open chords. 

Song Demo: Here, Mike plays the guitar chords with the backing track to explain how to keep up with the song and maintain the rhythm.

Solo Lesson: This is the most interesting part of the song and of this guitar lesson. In this part, you learn how to play Angus Young's electric guitar solo and tips to make it sound exactly like him. 

B.Y.O.B. – Introduction

Welcome to the guitar lesson on one of the greatest anti-establishment rebellion songs that brings together metal, punk, and Middle Eastern melodies into a politically charged anthem. – B.Y.O.B. by System of a Down. The song has been received with love across the world and has won a Grammy for the best hard rock performance in 2006. The song has amassed more than 500 million views on YouTube since its release in 2005.

The song name is an acronym for Bring Your Own Bombs, and was made as a form of protest against the american coalition led Iraq War (2003–2011), with lyrics calling out, “Why don't presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?”. It is a song written in strong political commentary on the situation of wars and oppression around the world. The band has a reputation for speaking out for social justice and matters like drug abuse, politics, and suicide in the heavy metal genre.

B.Y.O.B. Guitar Lesson

The lesson on B.Y.O.B. is brought to you by our beloved instructor, Mike Walker, who demonstrates the song in its entirety and explains all parts of the song in great detail. Since this is a heavy metal song, there are a number of unconventional rhythmic patterns and fast melodic lines for the electric guitar, which is a signature sound for this genre of music.

The song is in the key of F major, but the tuning is half a step down; all the strings are tuned down a semitone. This, firstly, widens or brightens the tone, which makes it feel ‘heavy’ and secondly, loosens the strings, which makes it easier to play at a high tempo.

The lesson is easier to master as it only requires rhythmic proficiency to play in its entirety. The song is very drums and lyrics forward, as is with most heavy metal songs. The song is fun to play because of the distorted tone of the guitar. It’s a saturated machine-like sound that has low-frequency notes, which give it a slightly percussive vibe, usually called ‘djent’.

This is also a short lesson, taught easily by Mike, comfortably suited for beginners and advanced players alike.

FAQs

Q. Can I play BYOB in standard tuning?

Yes, you can play BYOB in standard tuning, but then you’ll have to play the song in E major instead of F major, and you’ll also lose the ‘crunch’ in the strumming.

Q. How to sound like Daron Malakian?

If you want to sound like Malakian, you need an Ibanez Iceman DMM1 guitar, going into a Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal distortion pedal, into a Marshall MF350 amp.

Q. Can I play this on an acoustic guitar?

Yes, you can, but it will not have the rage that is needed to lead a rebellion against the war profiteering world leaders.

Introduction

I Will Wait is a song by Mumford & Sons. It was released in the United States in 2012 as a lead single for their second studio album, Babel (2012). Rolling Stones Magazine named this song as the 13th-best song that came out that year. 

Chords Used in Song Guitar Lesson

Arpeggios Verse & Chorus Chords: In the key of D flat, you have to put on a capo on the first fret of your guitar to play this song. 

Strumming Pattern 

The basic strumming pattern which you need to follow for this song is: D - D - U - U D U. 

• D = Down strum
• U = Up strum

This strumming pattern results in a rolling, percussive feel, which resonates with the song’s energetic drive. 

Song Structure 

• Introduction: In this part of the guitar lesson, your guitar instructor talks about the song and the band Mumford & Sons. He will also teach you how to tune the guitar in order to play this song. 
• Chords and Rhythm: In this section, you will learn how to play both the rhythm and the vocal sections of the song. Furthermore, J.J. Pattishall will show you how to keep up with the underlying rhythm of the song. 
• Song Arrangement: This part of the guitar lesson is divided into five different sections: intro, verse, pre-chorus, bridge, and chorus to make it easier for you to learn chord progressions that you need to play at a certain point in the song. 
• Sing and Play: Here, you will learn how to sing along as you play chords on the guitar. Your guitar instructor will show you how you can mark certain downbeats to steer your vocal in the right direction as you sing along. 
• Song Demo: At this point, J.J is going to give a demo of the song where he plays the song on guitar and sings along with the backing track. 
• Non-Capo Version: This is the alternative version of the song, which does not require capo at all. 

Hotel California - Introduction

Welcome to the guitar lesson on the acoustic version of one of the greatest songs of all time, Hotel California by The Eagles. This specific arrangement replaces the original electric instruments with nylon-string guitars, creating a different interpretation of the song. The track keeps the same chord progression and structure as the studio version but uses fingerpicking patterns and multiple guitar harmonies.

Hotel California, as writer Henley put it, is more of a symbolic piece about America in general, and added, “Lyrically, the song deals with traditional or classical themes of conflict: darkness and light, good and evil, youth and age, the spiritual versus the secular. I guess you could say it's a song about the loss of innocence”.

The song follows a narrative about a traveller staying at a mysterious hotel, with lyrics that some interpret as commentary on American culture, for instance, the most iconic line of the song being “you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave”.

Hotel California Guitar Lesson

Hotel California guitar lesson is taught by our beloved expert, Mike Walker, who explains all the different sections of the song in a section-by-section manner, starting from the intro that talks about the chords and different voicings of those chords, through the acoustic overdubs and the guitar solo section.

The song features a number of minor 7ths, dominants, suspended and augmented chords. The intro alone covers all these variations of these chords. The tutor, nevertheless, goes into detail explaining how to play them using a fingerpicking pattern.

The song is written in B minor; the live acoustic version uses a capo on the 7th fret, making it an E minor. The intro follows a repeating progression of Em-B7-Dsus-A7-C-G-Am7-B7, which establishes the harmonic foundation.

Since this is an acoustic version of the song, played by multiple guitarists. There are a number of artistic motifs and embellishments using techniques like double stops, arpeggios, and most importantly, the individual guitarists harmonising with each other throughout the song.

The tutor explains all the solos of the song in great detail, the last of which features some of the notes from the harmonic minor scale, which carry a signature sound of the desert, or the Middle East. This lends itself literally to the theme of the narrative of the song.

FAQs

Q. Do I need a nylon-string guitar to play this version?

While the original recording uses nylon strings, you can play it on a steel-string acoustic. The tone will sound brighter, but the chords and techniques remain the same.

Q. Why is the capo on the 7th fret? Can I play it without one?

The capo transposes the chords to match the original key (B minor) and allows easier open-position shapes. Without a capo, you’ll need to play full barre chords in B minor.