2 New Songs Guitar Lesson

Chapter 1: (0:55) Introduction Now that you have mastered the basics of playing power chords, Lesson 10 features two power chord masterpieces: “Ain’t Talking About Love” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.” Brad gives a step-by-step tutorial detailing the key riffs from these songs. He opens the lesson with the rocking intro to “Ain’t Talking About Love.”

Note: Open the “Supplemental Content” tab for tablature to both these songs. Chapter 2: (13:10) “Ain’t Talking About Love” – Van Halen Originally appearing on Van Halen’s self-titled debut album, “Ain’t Talking About Love” is a rock guitar masterpiece. Every riff is an instant classic. This song incorporates techniques discussed thus far in the Classic Rock lesson series. It combines, open chords, power chords, and barre chords into a simple, effective guitar line. Remember that this isn’t rocket science, it’s rock and roll!

Intro Riff

The intro kicks off with an arpeggiation of the open Am chord. Brad gives a quick review of the left-hand fingering for this chord. An arpeggiation occurs when the notes of a chord are picked individually rather than strummed.

Note: Open the “Supplemental Content” tab for fretboard diagrams of all the chords discussed in this lesson.

Pay careful attention to the picking of this arpeggio. It may help to print the tablature to the riff and indicate the pick direction of each note on the page.

As soon as you have successfully fretted the Am chord, access the tablature to this song under the “Supplemental Content” tab. Notice how the arpeggio pattern initially skips the G string. Arpeggio patterns frequently skip strings one or more times. To ensure accuracy and maximum comfortability while playing string-skipping patterns, certain right hand adjustments must be made.

Right Hand Technique

A. Right Hand Fingers

When playing any arpeggio pattern, it is best not to rest the right hand fingers on the pickguard. Rather, they should loosely curl into the palm of the hand. Resting your fingers on the pickguard limits your range of movement. As a result, arpeggio patterns are difficult to play with this technique.

B. The Wrist

Most players prefer to rest their wrist on the bridge of the guitar. Others find they play with better control if they lift the wrist from the bridge, and rest the forearm on the body. However, this riff is played with a technique known as “palm muting.” To perform this technique, lightly rest your wrist on the strings slightly off the bridge. The pitch should still be clearly audible when a string is played. The sound is now slightly muffled or muted. You may need to experiment with the position of your wrist for awhile to achieve the right sound. Let your ears serve as your guide. Listen carefully to Brad’s sound when he palm- mutes. Try to emulate this sound when practicing the intro section.

Playing the Riff

Play the first four notes of the arpeggio pattern together. Each note receives the value of an eighth note. After the Am arpeggio pattern, a few quick chord changes occur. Once again, break up the riff into the next four eighth notes. Play the open E string, then quickly roll the first finger down. Now it is barring the E and B strings. The next chord in the riff is G. This chord shape is the basic F chord moved up two frets. The riff ends with a quick lick on the A string. Notice how C (3rd fret) is played as a quarter note. Fret this note with the third finger.

Note: The intro riff is repeated four times before the remainder of the song kicks in.

Intro Riff No. 2

After the arpeggio patterns, the same progression is played. However, this time the chords are strummed. The progression begins with the same Am shape. Then the open G chord is strummed. (Brad provides a quick review of this chord if you need one.)

Rhythm of the Riff

The rhythm to this riff is kind of tricky. Some strums are palm-muted and others are not. The first and fourth strums in the pattern are not palm-muted. Rather, these notes receive a sharp accent. Also, notice how Brad plays this entire riff using only downstrokes. Downstrokes give the guitar a much heavier sound when palm-muting is applied.

This riff ends with the same lick that concludes the intro riff. However, a pick up note on the open A string is picked before the lick occurs.

Playing Octaves

Note: The following information comes from Lesson 9 of Matt’s Phase 2 rock lessons.

On the guitar, a note’s higher octave can be found two strings away. The higher of the two notes is two frets up the neck. There are two exceptions to this rule. In the case of the fourth and second string, as well as the third and first string, the higher note is three frets up. Simply play the two strings simultaneously while muting the string between them.

Playing any melody line in octaves has many great advantages. Playing octaves can fatten up the sound by giving it a simultaneous rhythmic/melodic feel. Octaves have a contrasting texture to single note lines. As a result, switching from a single note line to octaves can take a solo in a totally new, fresh direction.

This technique was originally exploited to great effect by jazz great Wes Montgomery. Listen to any of his recordings for countless examples of stellar octave use. Notice how he applies this technique when playing the melody, soloing, and occasionally while accompanying.

Instead of ending the second riff with the lick, an octave figure is often played. Begin with the C octave shape. The first finger frets the A string at the third fret. The octaves then ascend the C major scale to the notes D, E, and G.

Note: Octaves are covered in greater detail in later Phase 2 Classic Rock lesson.

Chapter 3: (13:46) “You Shook Me All Night Long” – AC/DC Intro Riff

Brad begins teaching you the song by walking you through all the chord shapes involved.

The intro riff begins with an inversion of the G5 power chord. Here’s a quick breakdown of this chord

4th string: open
3rd string: 1st finger frets the 7th fret.
2nd string: 2nd finger frets the 8th fret.

The next chord is a D5 power chord. Keep the same shape from the previous chord. Now, fret the 10th fret of the B string with your pinky. The D string is still played open. By changing the highest note in the power chord, an interesting melody line is created on the second string. This melody line ends with a big strum of the open D chord. A lick from the D minor pentatonic scale functions as a transition back to the beginning of the riff.

Verse Riff

The verse riff to “You Shook Me...” consists of a basic I IV V progression in the key of G. This riff consists of four measures. It is easiest to learn it by separating the first two measures from the last two. The progression begins on the I chord, G. The second measure features some rapid changes between G and the IV chord Cadd9. You may remember this chord shape from “Sweet Home Alabama.” It may help you to sing the names of the chords when you are playing them. This will help cement the chord changes and where they occur in your brain.

The second half of the riff features some rapid changes between the open G and D chords. Once again, sing the chord changes out loud or in your head to memorize where they occur.

The Dsus4 chord is played with some palm-muting to transition into the chorus riff.

Note: Open the “Supplemental Content” tab for a fretboard diagram of this chord. The fourth finger is added to the first string to form the suspension.

Chorus Riff

The chorus riff consists of an open chord progression. A few passing tones are added between chords to give the riff more forward motion. Once again, the chorus consists of a basic I IV V progression in the key of G.

The second measure features a chord many of you may be unfamiliar with. Lift up the second and third fingers from the C chord. Then, fret the 2nd fret of the A string with the second finger. Play the D string open. This forms a G/Bsus4 chord. This means that the chord is Gsus4 with B played as the lowest note in the chord.

Member Comments about this Lesson

Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.