
Learning songs is a great way to put your guitar knowledge to use and expand your horizons.
Lesson 1
Jim teaches the first part of a beautiful Christmas medley. This installment features "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."
Length: 31:00 Difficulty: 4.0 Members OnlyLesson 2
In this second part of the Christmas medley, Jim Deeming adds the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Length: 15:30 Difficulty: 4.0 Members OnlyLesson 3
In the 3rd part of the Christmas medley, Jim Deeming adds "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."
Length: 28:00 Difficulty: 4.0 Members OnlyLesson 4
Jim Deeming covers the classic song "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie.
Length: 18:00 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 5
Jim Deeming teaches "On Jordan's Stormy Banks", a gospel tune from his CD First Fruits.
Length: 30:00 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 6
In this lesson Jim Deeming teaches a beautiful fingerstyle version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Length: 22:29 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 7
In this lesson Jim covers his version of "Windy and Warm," a song written by John Loudermilk and performed by Chet Atkins.
Length: 23:43 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 8
Jim teaches an arrangement of "Waltzing Matilda," a popular Australian folk song. He teaches the song in the style of Tommy Emmanuel.
Length: 38:28 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 9
In this lesson Jim Deeming teaches a performance version of "Yankee Doodle Dixie." This version features both the verse and chorus of "Dixie" on top of "Yankee Doodle."
Length: 30:21 Difficulty: 3.5 Members OnlyLesson 10
Jim Deeming teaches a fingerstyle version of the classic folk song "Red Wing."
Length: 15:34 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 11
Jim teaches "Wildwood Flower," a well-known bluegrass folk song. While it was made popular by the Carter Family, this song originated in the 1860s. Jim teaches you his own version which blends the familiar...
Length: 30:04 Difficulty: 3.5 Members OnlyLesson 12
Jim teaches Chet Atkins' arrangement of the "Stephen Foster Medley." He adds his personal touch to this three song medley.
Length: 40:17 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 13
Jim Deeming teaches the song "Last Steam Engine Train" by John Fahey.
Length: 15:47 Difficulty: 3.5 Members OnlyLesson 14
Jim Deeming teaches "The Claw" by Jerry Reed.
Length: 39:51 Difficulty: 4.0 Members OnlyLesson 16
Jim Deeming teaches a simple version and an advanced fingerstyle version of "Away In A Manger."
Length: 19:38 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 17
Jim Deeming teaches a beginner version and a more advanced fingerstyle version of "Silent Night."
Length: 20:05 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 18
Jim Deeming teaches a warmed over arrangement of "The Little Drummer Boy."
Length: 36:19 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 19
Jim Deeming teaches "Freight Train" by Elizabeth Cotten.
Length: 13:02 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 20
Jim Deeming teaches a fingerstyle arrangement of "Amazing Grace."
Length: 12:27 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 21
Jim Deeming teaches a fingerstyle interpretation of the classic "Auld Lang Syne."
Length: 28:18 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 22
Jim Deeming teaches a fingerstyle arrangement of the traditional folk song "Red River Valley."
Length: 11:09 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 23
Jim Deeming teaches a medley of songs from the five main branches of the United States Armed Forces.
Length: 40:37 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 24
Jim Deeming teaches the Christmas song "Good King Wenceslas."
Length: 27:05 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 25
Jim Deeming teaches both a fingerstyle and flatpicking version of the classic tune "The Water Is Wide."
Length: 31:59 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 26
Jim Deeming teaches his original fingerstyle masterpiece, "A Pick in My Pocket."
Length: 51:07 Difficulty: 4.0 Members OnlyLesson 26
Jim Deeming teaches a fingerstyle arrangement of the classic tune "Farewell My Bluebell." Originally written by Edward Madden and Theodore F. Morse, the tune has been popularized by artists such as Merle...
Length: 20:44 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
About Jim Deeming
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Jim Deeming got his first guitar when he was only six years old. His Dad was taking fingerpicking lessons, and Jim wanted to be just like him. The Mel Bay books didn't last very long before he strapped on a thumb pick and added the Chet part to Red River Valley so it sounded better.
Most of Jim's early learning was by ear. With unlimited access to his Dad's collection of Chet Atkins albums, he spent countless hours decoding his favorite songs. They were never "right" until they sounded just like Chet. Around the age of 12, Jim heard Jerry Reed for the first time and just knew he had to be able to make that "Alabama Wild Man" sound. The styles of Chet & Jerry always have been a big influence on his playing.
More recently he has pursued arrangements by Tommy Emmanuel and Doyle Dykes, in addition to creating some of his own and writing originals.
Jim has performed in front of a variety of audiences, including concerts, competitions, weddings and the like, but playing at church has always been a mainstay. Whether playing in worship bands or guitar solos, gospel music is deep in his roots and is also the driving theme behind his debut CD release, titled "First Fruits".
Jim has been playing for about 38 years. He also has taught private lessons in the past but believes JamPlay.com is an exciting and better venue with many advantages over the traditional method of weekly 30 minute sessions.
Jim lives in Berthoud, Colorado with his wife, Linda, and their four children. Although he still has a "day job", he is actively performing and is already back in the studio working on the next CD. If you wonder how he finds time, look no further than the back seat of his truck where he keeps a "travel guitar" to take advantage of any practice or song-writing opportunities he can get.
The opening song you hear in Jim's introductory JamPlay video is called, "A Pick In My Pocket". It's an original tune, written in memory of Jim's father who told him early on he should always keep a pick in his pocket in case he ever met Chet Atkins and got the chance to play for him. That song is slated to be the title track for his next CD, which will feature several more originals plus some of his favorite covers of Chet and Jerry arrangements.
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Hawkeye teaches several Robert Johnson licks in this lesson. These licks are played with a slide in open G tuning.
Free LessonSeries DetailsLesson 7 is all about arpeggios. Danny provides discussion and exercises designed to build your right hand skills.
Free LessonSeries DetailsNick explains how to play some of the most commonly used chords in the bluegrass genre.
Free LessonSeries DetailsJessica kindly introduces herself, her background, and her approach to this series.
Free LessonSeries DetailsOrville Johnson introduces turnarounds and provides great ideas and techniques.
Free LessonSeries DetailsIn this lesson Randall introduces the partial capo (using a short-cut capo by Kyser) and talks about how it can make the...
Free LessonSeries DetailsMitch teaches his interpretation of the classic "Cannonball Rag." This song provides beginning and intermediate guitarists...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJim Deeming discusses how to use a metronome for practice, skill building, and speed building.
Free LessonSeries DetailsMark Nelson introduces "'Ulupalakua," a song he will be using to teach different skills and techniques. In this lesson, he...
Free LessonSeries DetailsIn lesson 6, Kaki discusses how the left and right hands can work together or independently of each other to create different...
Free LessonSeries DetailsOur electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Brendan demonstrates the tiny triad shapes derived from the form 1 barre chord.
Free LessonSeries DetailsSteve Stevens shows some of his go-to licks and ideas while improvising over a backing track he made.
Free LessonSeries DetailsKnown around the world for his inspirational approach to guitar instruction, Musician's Institute veteran Daniel Gilbert...
Free LessonSeries DetailsMark Brennan teaches this classic rock song by Jethro Tull. Released on the album of the same name in 1971, this song features...
Free LessonSeries DetailsAllen shows you the 24 rudiments crucial to developing finger dexterity. This is a short lesson but the exercises here can...
Free LessonSeries DetailsMichael "Nomad" Ripoll dives deep into the rhythm & blues, funk, and soul genres that were made popular by artists like Earth...
Free LessonSeries DetailsIn this lesson Eric talks about playing basic lead in the Memphis Blues style.
Free LessonSeries DetailsEmil takes you through some techniques that he uses frequently in his style of playing. Topics include neck bending, percussive...
Free LessonSeries DetailsKris analyzes different pick sizes and their effect on his playing. Using a slow motion camera, he is able to point out the...
Free LessonSeries DetailsThis is a crucial lesson that explains tablature, how to read it, and why it's important.
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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.I don't think the tabs are right, what your playing is different. It start off without the hammerons I can't find the bass runs etc.
Jim im having trouble with the chorus. First I'm using soug tabs 1@2. I don't know about Soug pro or tab PDF. What are they? It seem to me that your starting point on the 9th fret and a hammer on the 10th 2rd string does not match the music or the tabs or is it just an old guy who can't see thanks for the help
Hey Jim, I have a question about the first note you play. The part wher you are doing a pull off with your pink from frat 5 to 2 on the b string. Wouldn' t it be much easier to just pick the high e string right below it in stead of the big pull off?
Thomas Wiggins (1849-1908), aka "Blind Tom" Bethune, was one of the most famous performers of the mid- to late-19th century United States. A slave owned by the Bethune family of Georgia, he was considered an idiot savant and toured as a pianist and vaudeville act throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and South America. One letter from 1862 by a soldier in North Carolina described Wiggins and his performance: "He learned to play the piano from hearing others, learns airs and tunes from hearing them sung, and can play any piece on first trial as well as the most accomplished performer ... One of his most remarkable feats was the performance of three pieces of music at once. He played 'Fisher's Hornpipe' with one hand and 'Yankee Doodle' with the other and sang 'Dixie' all at once. He also played a piece with his back to the piano and his hands inverted. [...]"
Hi Jim, I am new to JamPlay and I am very pleased with what I have seen here. I have spent some time with several of the instructors here and would like to say, I like your style of play and also your teaching style the best. Your teaching style fits me better than the others. I noticed that on most of the songs you teach the first part of the lesson was you playing the song before breaking it down. On Yankee Dooddle Dixie you went right to the break down, I would like to be able to hear the piece in whole. Thanks Dave
Sorry Jim, I made a mistake. That chord is actually E9sus4 and NOT D6add9. My apology.....
Hi Jim, I refer to the chorus where you played a chord which barred 5 strings on the 7th fret. You remarked that it is propably a jazz chord but don't know what it is. I've made research on a chord encyclopedia and found out that it indeed a chord. The chord is D6add9.
Oh just found it in phase 2. Great lesson. Thanks Jim.
Are you going to put up the tab for the polly wolly doodle section?
I almost drove everyone nuts learning it, but it is a very fun piece to play. It takes folks a second to figure out what's going on and then they get an amazed look.