Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son Guitar Lesson
Carry On Wayward Son
DJ Phillips breaks down Kansas' popular classic "Carry On Wayward Son."
Taught by DJ Phillips in Songs with DJ Phillips seriesLength: 90:14Difficulty: 3.5 of 5
Supplemental Learning Material
Songs with DJ Phillips
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsDJ Phillips lends his expertise to popular music with a blend of ultra in-depth song tutorials!
Lesson 1
Free Ride
DJ Phillips breaks down the 70's hit "Free Ride" by The Edgar Winter Group.
Length: 61:33 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Melon Baller
DJ Phillips teaches his funk tune "Melon Baller."
Length: 22:20 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Stray Cat Strut
DJ Phillips demonstrates how to play the song "Stray Cat Strut" by The Stray Cats.
Length: 79:03 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Song For America
DJ Phillips breaks down the epic progressive rock tune "Song for America" by legendary artists Kansas.
Length: 117:24 Difficulty: 4.0 Members Only
Carry On Wayward Son
DJ Phillips breaks down Kansas' popular classic "Carry On Wayward Son."
Length: 90:14 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only
On the Road Again
DJ Phillips teaches both the acoustic rhythm and lead sections of Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again."
Length: 32:42 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Do You Realize??
DJ Phillips breaks down the rhythm and lead sections of The Flaming Lips' song "Do You Realize??"
Length: 37:34 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Once Bitten Twice Shy
DJ Phillips breaks down the Great White hit "Once Bitten Twice Shy." This song propelled the band to stardom, but is actually a cover from another artist.
Length: 67:03 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only
Oye Como Va
Originally written in 1963 by Latin Jazz musician Tito Puente, "Oye Como Va" was made famous by Santana's 1970 cover. In this lesson, DJ breaks down the rhythm and lead sections to this influential song.
Length: 55:14 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
On Top of the World
DJ Phillips breaks down the rhythm and lead sections to the Cheap Trick song "On Top of the World."
Length: 64:01 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
So Good to See You
DJ Phillips demonstrates how to play the song "So Good to See You" by Cheap Trick.
Length: 28:20 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Slide
DJ Phillips breaks down the electric rhythm, acoustic, and lead portions of "Slide" by Goo Goo Dolls.
Length: 42:23 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Walk Away (Maybe)
DJ teaches and demonstrates the punk song "Walk Away (Maybe)" from Good Charlotte.
Length: 33:13 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Back Where You Belong
DJ Phillips breaks down and demonstrates the rhythm, lead and harmony guitar sections for the .38 Special song "Back Where You Belong."
Length: 84:37 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Jenny
DJ demonstrates and teaches the guitar sections to his former band Brother Big Bad's song "Jenny."
Length: 70:29 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Name
DJ Phillips demonstrates and breaks down the parts to the song "Name" by Goo Goo Dolls.
Length: 63:15 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Ain't That Unusual
DJ Phillips provides a thorough lesson on the Goo Goo Dolls single "Ain't That Unusual". This song was a hit off of their album A Boy Named Goo prior to their adult contemporary sound taking hold.
Length: 46:07 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Only One
DJ Phillips provides a lesson on a punk-inspired tune from Goo Goo Dolls entitled "Only One". One of their early hits from "A Boy Named Goo," this song was popular before Goo Goo Dolls hit it big with...
Length: 69:35 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
What You See In Me
For his "Style of Keith Urban" series, DJ wrote and composed a song that takes a nod towards this guitarist. Incorporating classic country, rock, chicken pickin', and melodic elements, this song is a study...
Length: 97:06 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Long Train Runnin'
DJ is back with another epic song lesson! This time, he teaches The Doobie Brothers' song "Long Train Runnin'". Initially created as a jam track used for live performances, "Long Train Runnin'" went on...
Length: 35:48 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Amie
DJ Phillips returns with another song lesson in his Phase 3 lesson set. This time around, DJ is teaching the classic rock hit "Amie" from Pure Prairie League. He breaks down the three different acoustic...
Length: 73:21 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Uptempo Love Song
DJ is back with a mouthful of a lesson! This time he teaches Alan Jackson's snub to the industry, "Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Uptempo Love Song." In this lesson, DJ breaks down the main acoustic...
Length: 66:19 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy
DJ returns to his phase 3 series with yet another classic rock song. In this lesson, DJ teaches the main electric guitar parts for "Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy" by Bad Company.
Length: 20:04 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Angel from Montgomery
DJ Phillips is back with another classic country tune. In this lesson, DJ teaches the acoustic and electric guitar sections for "Angels from Montgomery" by John Prine.
Length: 21:32 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Amarillo by Morning
In his 25th song lesson with JamPlay, DJ Phillips breaks down the acoustic and electric guitar parts for the classic country western tune "Amarillo by Morning." Originally written by Terry Stafford and...
Length: 29:07 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Super Bad Super Slick
In this Phase 3 song lesson, DJ breaks down the funk classic "Super Bad Super Slick" by James Brown. In addition to the guitar on the original recording, DJ has also transcribed several other instruments...
Length: 42:06 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Jingle Bell Rock
DJ is back with another holiday classic for his Phase 3 series. In this lesson, DJ teaches the electric guitar parts to "Jingle Bell Rock" as performed by Brian Setzer.
Length: 26:34 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Peaceful Easy Feeling
DJ is back with another lesson in his Phase 3 series! In this lesson, he teaches both the acoustic and electric parts to the iconic song "Peaceful Easy Feeling" by The Eagles.
Length: 41:38 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
About DJ Phillips
View Full Biography
Like many guitar players who began playing around the same time, DJ began plunking out Nirvana and Soundgarden tunes when he first picked up the guitar in the mid-nineties. While these grunge-y roots certainly have their merit, it wasn't until DJ's eldest sister took him to a Led Zeppelin laser light show that the full potential of the guitar began to come into focus.
With Jimmy Page's Les Paul pyrotechnics as his inspiration, DJ began fervently practicing for hours on end in the suburban jungle of Southwestern Ohio. This newfound passion (combined with his complete lack of athletic prowess and physical coordination thus completely ruling out all sports) led him to form rock bands in junior high and high school. He grew to love the performance aspect of music and soon decided on it as a career path.
College led him to Nashville, Tennessee where he began to pursue a degree in Commercial Music at Belmont University. He also started another band and got his first professional theater gig the following summer. Since that summer, DJ has spent nearly every waking hour finding ways to play music and avoiding a real contribution to society in any other way.
He moved to Minneapolis after college, rocking out between theater gigs with his current rock band Brother Big Bad. He has now convinced the band to move to Nashville where music flows like water.
DJ is elated to be a part of JamPlay and is thankful for everyone's warm welcome and says "Now, let's ROCK, people."
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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.Nice lesson, great job. In the "Lead Section" after the hammer ons and pull offs (4:30), I think, it's better to pick 17 fret in the G string instead of 13 in the B string - Just for ease. :)
excellent what an awesome band especially when John Elefonte joined them! Thanks for this DJ!
Think i got the tabs .. :) But there are multiple tabs for everything like keyboard n stuff .. gotta really look n check properly ..!
Sorry for the multiple comments web problem . :|
Hey ive learnt the E minor riff and the main riff findin difficulty with the verse ..! How to play the chords.. DJs gone too fast with em .. Should i follow the tabs? Coz they are sounding different to what Djs playin in the vid.!
Hey ive learnt the E minor riff and the main riff findin difficulty with the verse ..! How to play the chords.. DJs gone too fast with em .. Should i follow the tabs? Coz they are sounding different to what Djs playin in the vid.!
Hey ive learnt the E minor riff and the main riff findin difficulty with the verse ..! How to play the chords.. DJs gone too fast with em .. Should i follow the tabs? Coz they are sounding different to what Djs playin in the vid.!
A fav song with my Favorite teacher! Thanks!
Dude, not only can you play, you can teach. Nice.
Excellent work DJ! Heart and soul.
this song is so damn awesome! reminds me of south park:) epiiic
i just realised that i was paying 80 euros/95 dollars a month to my teacher and i learnt nothing , and now this awsome dude learn me this song in 90 mins with just .... 1 dollar? Oh boy im stupid. Nice job and i like your advices .
Thanks, tnt! Finding the right teacher can be a difficult process. Sometimes, you just aren't a good match for each other. I'm glad you're getting something out of the lessons here on the site though!
Awesome lesson (notably slow), one of my favorite songs! As my name implies I'm a huge Led Zeppelin fan and the Heartbreaker part was awesome. :) Anyways I was wondering, would you be willing to do any Zeppelin lessons?
Led Zeppelin is one of my favorite bands of all time and I would LOVE to teach some, but currently they are off the table for licensing reasons. When/if that ever changes, I'll be chomping at the bit to teach anything I can from Zepp!
I use the 5th string C on the third fret instead of the 8th fret c on the low E in the intro, it sets you up to jump from d to e a little easier
Yes, you can totally do that and make the jump a little more manageable. I wanted to show how Livgren does the part in the lesson, but you're absolutely right, there are different valid ways to play it! Rock on!
DJ, in my opinion, sets the standard as to how these lessons should be taught. Both the demos and tabs are absolutely first rate.
Thanks!
I enjoyed learning how to play some missing pieces to this song. Only criticism I have about teaching styles is that many of these teachers like DJ dumb down so much and so slow that it takes hours to learn what is for most intermediate guitarists a fairly simple song to learn in ten minutes. If someone is a beginning guitarist, which is where DJ aims his teaching imho, they have no business learning this song. Trying to aim at both beginners and intermediates is a losing proposition.
Thanks for the honesty and the feedback, dmkheil. We really do appreciate it. I do understand where you're coming from but each person's learning level and preferences are different, so I can't agree that what you say is true across the board. If an intermediate guitarist is sick of listening to me speak slowly and explain things in detail, they can certainly skip forward a little bit (I do that all the time when watching/transcribing lessons on JamPlay) and also use the transcription on their own without listening to me yammer on and wipe food stains on my shirt. As for this particular song, I actually taught the main riff to an 8-year-old beginner a few years ago, so it can be done! Thanks again for the feedback though, I will keep it in mind for future lessons.
this is marked as acoustic on the selection list...
you made this song so simple to learn amazing teaching skills
Can you please tell me how to get the tone for the song? Thanks
That was great!!!
hahahaha epic!
This is absolutely sweet! love that song.
Dude, you make me want to learn this songs. Great work!
Thanks, guys. Tabs are up!
One of my favorite songs of all time! Dude. Love this.
I think I better stay seated for a while.
epic.
no tabs are you serious?
Soon, they'll be up as soon as they have them. :o)
comment by Hubby... "F-er's good." "F-er" ha! You impressed him DJ. Good job.
Whey hey, that's the easter holiday's sorted :-)
but really, thanks for the lesson great job.
Love all this classic Rock!!!!! Tabs should be coming soon.
Yeah!!!! DJ and JP...GREAT JOB!
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!