Hitting #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, this Bayou-influenced rock song features clean rhythms and smooth, vocal-like lead lines. Resident instructor Mark Brennan masterfully teaches this song, and his wife, Marla Brennan, sings on the demonstration.
Taught by Mark Brennan in Rock Songs with Mark seriesLength: 36:25Difficulty: 1.5 of 5

Take a step back in time with Mark and learn to shred some rock n' roll classics.
Lesson 10
"Big Yellow Taxi" appears on Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon, released in 1970.
Length: 23:13 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 11
Mark teaches you the ins and outs of a Stevie Nicks' / Fleetwood Mac fan favorite. After Mark plays the full song demo, Marla (Mark's lovely wife) joins him and sings this beautiful song.
Length: 34:23 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 14
Mark Brennan teaches this classic rock song by Jethro Tull.
Length: 69:09 Difficulty: 2.0 FREELesson 15
Mark Brennan teaches this classic rock staple.
Length: 35:05 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 16
Mark Brennan teaches this Creedence Clearwater Revival classic.
Length: 31:14 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 17
Mark Brennan teaches this Creedence Clearwater Revival classic.
Length: 36:25 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
About Mark Brennan
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Mark Brennan, born August 12th, 1954 in Cleveland, Ohio, began playing guitar at the age of 10. His first influences were from the Ventures and the British Invasion, especially the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Shortly afterwards he was playing in rock bands with his brother on drums, developing his ear by learning songs straight from records. Playing in a band became a passion.
In high school, he grew to love acoustic and classical guitar. He spent time playing acoustic music, influenced by The Eagles, CSN, Dan Folgelberg, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, etc. In the 70's, he headed a very popular Cleveland band, The Brennan-Cosma Band, which played a variety of acoustic and rock music, along with originals. He also took up classicalguitar, and began developing his fingerstyle technique.
Mark is a graduate of Cleveland State University (1980), with a Bachelor of Music in Classical guitar performance. He also studied Music Composition, and took many Music Education classes. After graduation, he began his private teaching career, teaching electric, acoustic, and classical guitar, along with music theory. He taught in various studios and guitar shops throughout his career, and currently has a private practice at his home in
Fairview Park, Ohio.
In the 80's Mark took an affection to Progressive rock. With his band Polyphony, he was influenced by the music of Yes, Genesis, Kansas, ELP, Styx, along with a set of prog rock originals.
Currently, Mark is in the regionally successful Pink Floyd tribute band Wish You Were Here. The band performs faithful renderings of the Floyd classics spanning their entire catalog, along with a strong visual stage show. Here, Mark displays his command of the David Gilmour style.
Mark is excited to be part of JamPlay.com's fine roster of teachers. He's looking forward to extending his 35 years of performing and teaching experience to the JamPlay members. His philosophy is about developing a passion for guitar and being the best musician you can be; being true to yourself and developing a personal style, and truly expressing your heart through your music.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.loved the lesson, fantastic demo. great teacher. thanks so much
loved the lesson, fantastic demo. great teacher. thanks so much
Strumming patterns on supplemental content. what does the flag-pole withe two poles indicate? is this the strumming pattern? there is a V also i thought this was indicating a downstroke. i can't make the strumming pattern out from the sup. content. is it even indicated?
Loved the lesson. We play this song in my hobby band. I'm the rhythm guitarist and your lesson showed me the many subtleties in the song. Thank you.
is it me, or did this dude just turn purple?
There are not 154 songs that are better than Proud Mary. Ask Ike and Tina.
I wanted to use (E shape) bar chords instead of the other fingerings on the G and F chords. Just didnt know if I still hold the D note down to get the F6 chord or do I hold another note when Im playing a basic F major chord (E shape)
Hi, Can only play introduction, Then video stops and wont continue to next part :(
Seems OK now so please remove this post.
This is just simply the best. Thanks!
great lesson. love your style and your wife is great. thanks!!!!
Thank you for an excellent lesson og give my regards to your wife: very, very nice voice
Thank you very much for your efforts to make our musician life side very easy.
You are a wonderful teacher. thank you so very much
Mark That is great. Thank you. Please do some Q & A's? Bob
Great job Mark, as usual. I would love to learn the solo on "I Put A Spell On You". Thanks.
I love the old classics, and I enjoy your teaching style. As for filming from the guitarist's view, I think that's just fine. i'd be happy with either that or the more traditional view. Thanks again Mark. You always put your all into these lessons.
This new view from the perspective of the player is really awful. When any other time your learning off of someone facing you and you get used to that way of looking at it it just messes you up to pretend your looking over their shoulder.
For me this works fine. It's exactly the same way you'll watch your own fingers. If yoy're used to follow an instructor not on video another angle may be more preferable.
I understand where you're coming from with this, but I still think this is a very useful perspective. It's as if you were looking at the fretboard while playing it yourself. When you watch another player from the front, it's like a mirror image of how to play it.
I know what the perspective is, just putting in my 2 cents. Love your lessons. Wish you were on the chat. Just prefer the view like your in the room. When trying to learn from someone in person the practice helps. Granted it may be easier to see in that perspective. It 's just that the recorded video's are the only time you'd get to see it that way. The other way just forces your to learn to follow someone in more of a live setting. Again really like the caliber of your song lessons. great stuff. Keep em coming.
I can understand the differing views. I like the perspective though as it is actual and my brain does not have to turn it back to front so that frees up the little grey matter I have to concentrate on the song. BTW, your wife's vocal rendition was excellent. Sounded much like the original.
I dont mind what view it is as long as its CCR and i am learning it. Great work Mark. Keep them coming.
Thanks so much for this. Working on the intro and you pivot finger tip really helps, I am still sloppier on the G than on the F, just that whole step position change must move my wrist out of ideal position but it is coming. Could not of imagined trying this a month ago. Thanks to your lessons I have made a quantum leap in technique.