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♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ We'll do it all ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Everything ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ On our own ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ We don't need ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Anything ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Or anyone ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Hi guys - Drue James here.
The song I’m playing is “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol, an absolute epic of a song
And I’m about to teach you how to play it.
Now the version that I’ve got here, is my adapted version, which is perfect for beginner students.
So that’s people who have literally just bought the guitar, it’s out of the box, they’ve tuned the guitar up
And they’re ready to play something without really hurting their fingers
Or building up all the muscles you need in your fingers to play the original version.
Now the original version, you know, it’s not really difficult
But it does involve holding down two strings at the same time
And for a lot of real new beginners, in that first, sort of, maybe two days or so of playing
That would be quite difficult to do.
So I’m going to teach you how to play this version that we’ve got here
It sounds just as good I think, so we’ll give it a go.
Now first of all, we need to identify the strings on the guitar
So you may have noticed you’ve got 6 strings on your guitar
And I use this little rhyme to remember the strings
I’ve taught a lot of children, so this is kind of where this rhyme comes from
(Laughs) But you can certainly use it if you’re an adult
It’s a lot of fun (laughs)
Now, so it’s…
Eddie
Ate
Dynamite
Good
Bye
Eddie
Okay? So that’s a silly thing, but it works, so...
Eddie
Ate
Dynamite
Good
Bye
Eddie
So how that works is…
Eddie - E
Ate - A
Dynamite - D
Good - G
Bye - B
Eddie - E
Okay? So that tells you the actual notes of the strings
You're learning a little bit of theory there as well
Next, um, so you’ve got your 6 strings
And we’re now going to be working on what’s known as the fret
So, the frets are these little bits of metal
that you see here on the neck of the guitar.
Okay? So what we’re doing is, we count up the frets when we’re playing
So they’re there as markers
to tell us what notes to play or what chords to play.
So let me show you…
This would be fret number 1. Hopefully you can see that there.
This would be fret number 2
Fret number 3
And so on and so forth as you count up.
Now, to get started on the song
What we’re doing is, we’re starting with our middle finger.
Okay? So this finger here.
We’re starting with that on the 2nd fret, okay?
On the Eddie Ate Dynamite GOOD string.
Okay? So that’s the 4th string down from the top string
So we’re on the GOOD string there, okay?
So hopefully you’ve got that, alright?
Now when I say we’re on the 2nd fret
What you mustn’t do is press down the actual bit of metal
So you’re always holding down in the middle of the 2nd fret
So between fret 1 marker and fret 2 marker
You hold down in the middle
Not on the bit of metal itself.
Okay? So hopefully you’ve got that.
Great!
So that’s your first note
And it sounds like this…
So you can pick that with your thumb
Or if you’re using a plectrum, you can use a plectrum
So that’s your first note, okay?
And the next note afterwards
Quite easy
Is the OPEN Eddie string
Now let me explain what open means...
You’ll probably hear guitarists talking about that, and other teachers.
So the open string means that we’re not holding down anything on this hand, okay?
So we’re just leaving it completely open
and letting the string, that Eddie string, ring, okay?
So we've hopefully got this, and would like to try this now, along with me
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Okay? So as you can see, that sounds like the song
We're playing it a little bit slower, but that sounds like the song
Now if you're getting this sound...
We're getting muting, okay?
I'm gonna teach you how to deal with that.
Okay, so in the beginning, you'll be surprised (laughs) as a beginner
I mean, I remember when I was (laughs)
About pressing down into the string
You really do need to press down quite hard, okay?
So the first reason why you might be getting...
That sound, or a buzzing
is because you're not pressing down hard enough into the fretboard, okay?
So press nice and hard
And bring your thumb - I don't know if you can see this, I can't see what you're seeing - but bring your thumb behind, okay?
To help pinch, okay?
And then the other thing is, you need to bridge over the string, okay?
So bridge over.
So don't be like this.
Be like this. Okay?
So with those 2 things in place
Pressing down harder and bridging over...
You should get a nice sound, eventually, just a little bit of persistence
Okay, so that's did it with the music
Let's get back to the rest of the song, okay?
So that's the part at the beginning, okay?
We're then changing to our index finger onto the 1st fret
On the G string, so on the same string
So we're going from the 2nd to the 1st
Okay? So that sounds like this...
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Okay? So hopefully you've got that
So the 2nd fret...
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
And then we're changing to the 1st fret...
Okay?
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Good!
And finally, the last part.
Okay, this is what makes it really good if you're a beginner
'cause you get a break on your hands
(Laughs) and I'm sure you'll probably want that by this point.
You're then moving down to the D string
So Eddie Ate Dynamite, okay?
And you're playing that string open, so you know what that means now.
So like this.
And then still playing that open E String. Okay?
So you're playing the open E string every time
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
And then, back to where we were, okay?
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Good! So hopefully you've got the 3 changes that you're doing with that hand.
Now we're going to talk about how many times we need to play everything, okay?
So it just means a tiny little bit of music theory. I promise it won't hurt, okay? (laughs)
So to count, the rhythm theory...
We're going 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, okay?
So the open E string is on the "and", and the one we're holding down is on the number.
So let me just show that to you again...
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and...
Then it starts again.
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. So on and so forth.
Okay, so when we get to the "4 and"
And we start to get on 1
That's called, that's the end of the first bar on the "4 and", okay?
So let me just help you with that.
So it's 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. One bar.
And 2 and 3 and 4. Two bars.
And 2 and 3 and....
Three bars. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4...
Four bars.
Now that first part, where we're holding down the G string on the 2nd fret
That first part, we're playing for 4 bars, so as long as I played it there.
When we make the change to the 1st fret on your index finger, remember
We're playing that for 2 bars.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
4 and, okay?
So that's, I'll do that just quickly again
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. One bar.
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. Two bars. Okay?
And then, the same measure, the same 2 bars
For the open D string. Okay? The open Dynamite string.
So 2 measures.
Then back to where we started
Okay, so, hopefully you're fingers aren't hurting too much, pressing down.
And we're gonna just play through the song very slowly
And I'm going to sing it for you as well, just so you've got a little guide.
Feel free to hum it as well, 'cause it sounds really good if you kind of, sort of, sing along.
I mean, maybe you're not a singer as such
but it can really sound quite nice just to thread it along
So the music and the melody sit side by side.
So let's just give that a go.
So it's (whisper) 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
1 and 2 and...
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ We'll do it all ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Change.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Everything ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Change.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ On our own ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Change.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ We don't need ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Change.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Anything ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Change.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Or anyone ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Okay! Good. Well done.
Okay, now the next part is...
It's hot in here today...
Now the next part (laughs), the next part is the chorus
Where we're going to be doing some chords.
Now I'm not going to be going through that with you in this video
This is just a little introduction video.
And if you'd like to receive the second part of the video
The ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ If I lay here ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
You know that part.
Then you need to sign up to my newsletter, on my website.
It's a monthly newsletter that contains hints, tips and tricks on playing the guitar.
And if you sign up to that newsletter, then I will send you the second video, okay?
So my website is learnguitarinlondon.com
You're probably on there already, or on the YouTube, you can just check on my channel page there.
And then I can send you the second part.
So I hope that's been good and informative for you, and see you for the second half!
Okay, bye.