http://rstrum.com
On July 6, 1957, Paul McCartney met the frontman of The Quarrymen, John Lennon, by playing a few songs and tuning John’s guitar. This led to Paul joining the band that became The Beatles, and to one of the most successful songwriting partnerships ever. Most Lennon-McCartney tunes were written mainly by one or the other, usually the one who sang lead. Such is the case with “And I Love Her,” performed only once on July 14, 1964, and released on July 20th of that year.
Although it sounds a bit exotic, “And I Love Her” uses a basic 4/4 rhythm and a handful of easy chords. The trickiest part is the strum pattern, patiently demoed in our song lesson by David Keenan, who plays the tune in C. For more advanced players, there’s a version played in the original key of E that also contains the modulated solo part.
http://rstrum.com
On June 27, 1968, Elvis took the stage for the first time in over 7 years to tape what is now known as his “Comeback Special, ” which aired late that year. Clad in black leather, he performed many of his early hits, including “Hound Dog,” which had been recorded almost exactly 12 years earlier (on July 2, 1956). Today we’ve posted a video of the comeback King performing “Hound Dog” as part of a medley.
Written by Leiber and Stoller and first recorded by Big Mama Thornton, “Hound Dog” is based on the 12-bar blues, done with a “swung” feel. In our song lesson, David Keenan demos the chords, the strum pattern, and even a bonus boogie-woogie bass part, which together give the song its catchy groove.
http://rstrum.com June 21 marked the 10th anniversary of the death of John Lee Hooker, who was born in Mississippi in 1917. Although he moved north in 1948, Hooker retained his Delta Blues roots, albeit with his own unique twist. He recorded over 100 albums, filled with many songs later covered by big-name rock bands. One of Hooker’s most famous tunes, “Boom Boom,” appeared in the movie The Blues Brothers.
Like “Boom Boom,” many of Hooker’s songs rely on a driving boogie-woogie beat. He was also great at playing short lead riffs. For those of you who haven’t yet learned this crucial blues skill, we have a series of lessons on blues leads in our Technique Library, in which Julian Smedley demonstrates different leads for each of the chords in a 12-bar blues sequence.
http://rstrum.com June 16 falls right between two important and related anniversaries: the recording of the most-covered song ever, and the birthday of the most successful songwriter ever. On June 14, 1965, four days before his 23rd birthday, Paul McCartney recorded “Yesterday,” which had come to him in a dream. Today we’ve posted two videos of the song, performed about 45 years apart!
For comparison, here’s a 2010 performance:
Given that “Yesterday” was voted the best pop song in history by MTV and Rolling Stone, it’s not surprising that its song lesson is one of the most popular on RhythmStrummer. The song has lots of chords, but none of them are too challenging, and the strum pattern is also pretty simple. So why not learn “Yesterday” today?
http://rstrum.com
This week marks the birthdays of two American guitar heros, Steve Vai (June 6, 1960) and Les Paul (June 9, 1915). Vai studied with Joe Satriani and played with Frank Zappa before his successful solo career, while Paul is known as an “architect” of rock ‘n’ roll who innovated multitrack recording, delay effects, and the solid-body electric guitar. He was also a superb guitarist, as you’ll see from this clip from the documentary “Chasing Sound.”
For good measure, we’ve also posted a video of Steve Vai playing “Die to Live.”
Both Paul and Vai play fast-fingered licks that look impossible until one learns about hammer-ons and pull-offs, which create multiple notes with one pluck of the string. To learn these two indispensable skills, check out the lessons in our Technique Library taught by the versatile Steve Baughman.
On June 1, 1967, The Beatles released their eighth album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It spent 27 weeks atop the UK album charts, won a bunch of Grammys, and has since become one of the most highly-acclaimed and best-selling records of all time. Today we’re posting the title track in the form of an animated clip from the film Yellow Submarine.
On Sgt. Pepper’s anniversary, why not learn a song from this groundbreaking album? “When I’m Sixty Four” was written by Paul McCartney, who’ll be turning 69 this month. The song is a real crowd-pleaser, played in 4/4 time using lots of downstrokes and some fairly easy chords. There are a few tricky bits, which Peter Langston will help you master.
http://rstrum.com
This week is full of musical birthdays, including those of Robert Zimmerman and the late Mick Ronson. The former is better known as Bob Dylan, and the latter as a guitarist who played with David Bowie (as one of the “Spiders from Mars”), Elton John, John Mellencamp, and…Bob Dylan! Oddly enough, we can commemorate the birthdays of both Dylan and Ronson with a single video, in which Bowie and his 1972 band perform “Song for Bob Dylan.” The sound’s not great, but the footage is choice.
Dylan and Ronson were both versatile guitarists, comfortable with folk, rock, blues, or country. In fact, the ability to switch between genres is crucial for all guitar players. The first step in that direction is to know the difference between straight and swing strumming – a skill so crucial as to warrant its own lesson, taught by me, in our Technique Library.
http://rstrum.com Back in 1956, Elvis appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show to perform an unreleased song that had been written for an upcoming movie. The performance inspired over a million advance orders of the single and a name change of the film to “Love Me Tender.” The song later spent 5 weeks atop the Billboard charts, finishing off a record-breaking 16-week run for the young Mr. Presley.
The lyrics for “Love Me Tender” were written by Ken Darby, while the tune is based on an old Civil War ballad called “Aura Lee.” It’s a must-know song with some sweet chords that can be played using either a 2-4 strum pattern or simple fingerpicking. In our new song lesson, David Keenan makes it all seem effortless.
http://rstrum.com
On May 9 of 1964, Chuck Berry began his first UK tour. By this point in his career, Berry had already had some big hits like “Maybelline,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” and “Rock and Roll Music,” and had inspired the likes of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. In fact, John Lennon would join Berry in 1972 for a rendition of “Johnny B. Goode.” Though not the best performance, it’s a great rock moment!
This and many of Berry’s songs use the driving “boogie woogie” rhythm that all but defined early rock ‘n’ roll. If you haven’t yet mastered this all-important style, then you should stroll (or duck-walk) right over to our Technique Library, where you’ll find a handful of boogie woogie lessons taught by me.
http://rstrum.com
This week we honor Delta blues legend Robert Johnson, born May 8, 1911. During his brief career (which began, some say, after he sold his soul to the devil), Johnson wandered from town to town, playing for tips. Before dying in obscurity at age 27, Johnson wrote a handful of blues classics like “Sweet Home Chicago” and “Cross Road Blues,” the latter of which was reworked by Eric Clapton.
Many of Johnson’s songs rely on the basic 12-bar blues structure, and often employ the classic blues “turnaround.” For those of you who haven’t yet mastered this essential bit of artistry, our Technique Library features a short and sweet lesson taught Julian Smedley.
