Paul | Guitar Lessons and Performance

The Christmas Song (song lesson)

The PDF available on Patreon has notation, tabs, chord diagrams and lyrics for this song. Download the PDF and follow along with the video to play this as a ‘finger-style’ solo guitar piece. https://www.patreon.com/posts/114637555

You will notice that some of the chords that appear more than once have different diagrams in different parts of the song.Thats because the melody of the song- typically the notes that you’d hear a vocalist sing- are available on a different position on the neck.

The tabs indicate what these notes are and the chord shapes shows you one way to get the melody notes and the chord (harmony) notes at the same time.

In my opinion, finger style guitar playing is perhaps the most satisfying way to play guitar. You don’t need to sing and you don’t need a rhythm or lead instrument because you manage both of those jobs yourself!

If you’re interested in an online lesson for this song you can reserve a session at https://paulelwood.com/booking-calendar. I offer the initial online lesson for free, to see if we are a good fit.

The video song lesson for this song and printable pdf with notation, lyrics, tabs and chord diagrams are available to subscribers to my patreon channel at https://patreon.com/guitarcat at the “free” tier.

There’s no charge to join my Patreon channel […]

Paul2024-10-24T17:28:08-04:00

Ten Years Gone

“Ten Years Gone” is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti. Record producer Rick Rubin has described the song as, “A deep, reflective piece with hypnotic, interweaving riffs. Light and dark, shadow and glare. It sounds like nature coming through the speakers.”

Jimmy Page had originally intended the song to be an instrumental piece; he recorded around 14 guitar tracks to overdub the harmony section. Robert Plant later added lyrics, which are dedicated to an old girlfriend who, ten years earlier, had made him choose either her or his music. Plant explained this in an interview in 1975:

Let me tell you a little story behind the song “Ten Years Gone” on our new album. I was working my ass off before joining Zeppelin. A lady I really dearly loved said, “Right. It’s me or your fans.” Not that I had fans, but I said, “I can’t stop, I’ve got to keep going.” She’s quite content these days, I imagine. She’s got a washing machine that works by itself and a little sports car. We wouldn’t have anything to say anymore. I could probably relate to her, but she couldn’t relate to me. I’d be smiling too much. Ten years gone, I’m afraid. Anyway, there’s a gamble for you.

Paul2024-09-27T10:32:35-04:00

Let It Be Me

“Let It Be Me” is a 1960 single by The Everly Brothers. The song is an English-language cover of “Je t’appartiens”, which had been released as a single in France by Gilbert Bécaud in 1955. The song was a top ten hit for The Everly Brothers in the United States and spawned many additional cover versions.

“Let It Be Me” is based on “Je t’appartiens”, which was written by Gilbert Bécaud and his frequent collaborator, lyricist Pierre Delanoë. Delanoë reportedly wrote the lyrics for Bécaud as an apology for missing one of the singer’s performances at the Olympia in Paris. The song, sung by Bécaud, was released as a single by His Master’s Voice in 1955.

The Everley Brothers recorded their version of “Let It Be Me” after the song was recommended to them by producer Archie Bleyer. They recorded the song in December 1959 in New York with guitarists Howard Collins, Barry Galbraith, and Mundell Lowe; bassist Lloyd Trotman, pianist Hank Rowland, and drummer Jerry Allison. The song was released by Cadence Records as a single in 1960, with “Since You Broke My Heart” as the B-side.

guitar chords, lyrics and notation

audio recording from notation

Paul2024-08-21T19:52:23-04:00

Dream Lover

“Dream Lover” is a song written by American musician Bobby Darin. Darin recorded his composition on March 5, 1959 and released it as a single the following month. It was produced by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler and engineered by Tom Dowd.

In addition to Darin’s vocal, the song features Neil Sedaka on piano. While recording it Darin decided to stretch out some chord changes he found on the piano and add strings and voices. A picture sleeve, featuring a portrait of Darin, was also issued for this record in the U.S.

Paul2024-05-01T10:40:18-04:00

America the Beautiful

“America the Beautiful” is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two never met.

Bates wrote the words as a poem, originally entitled “Pikes Peak”. It was first published in the Fourth of July 1895 edition of the church periodical, The Congregationalist. At that time, the poem was entitled “America”.

Ward had initially composed the song’s melody in 1882 to accompany lyrics to “Materna”, basis of the hymn, “O Mother dear, Jerusalem”, though the hymn was not first published until 1892. The combination of Ward’s melody and Bates’s poem was first entitled “America the Beautiful” in 1910. The song is one of the most popular of the many American patriotic songs.

Lyrics, chords here.

Paul2024-04-13T14:15:16-04:00

Beautiful People

“Beautiful People” a lovely tune by Melanie Safka employs a really interesting chord change. Centered in A, it moves to C# as the root, which is the 3rd for A. This is probably much more common than I think, but it just caught me how perfect the chord change is as it relates to the cadence of the lyrics. Pretty Cool.

Lyrics, chords here.

Paul2024-04-13T12:26:06-04:00

Santarantula

Santarantula, Santarantula, it’s spidey tinsel-time! Here’s a, well, a sort of Christmas song you probably haven’t heard of: Santarantula!

Santarantula, Santarantula
When you crawl back to the north hole
With an empty sack slung across you back
Won’t you stop and have.. Another snack
Another year come and gone we fear
And this one was a doozy
But your gentle bite brings us joy this night
though your venom makes us woozy…
Woo-ooooo-oooo-zy!

Lyrics, chords, notation and tabs for bass here.

Paul2024-03-14T09:22:58-04:00

And I Love Her

And I Love Her, a beautiful Lennon/McCartney tune. Here are tabs, lyrics, notation and chord diagrams for this first part. You might notice that some chords you already know in one position are played in another spot, and this is so we can take advantage of moving the chord shape to get the proper voicing.

Paul2024-03-13T10:54:04-04:00

World on a String

“I’ve Got The World on a String” is a 1932 popular jazz song composed by Harold Arlen, with lyrics written by Ted Koehler. It was written for the twenty-first edition of the Cotton Club series which opened on October 23, 1932, the first of the Cotton Club Parades.

The song was recorded and popularized by Cab Calloway who had a #18 hit in 1932.

Bing Crosby recorded the song on January 26, 1933, with the Dorsey Brothers and their Orchestra.

The song was one of the first recorded by Frank Sinatra when he transferred to Capitol Records in 1953. His recording on April 30, 1953, with an orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle reached #14 on Billboard’s most played list.

Paul2024-03-03T09:14:19-05:00

that old black magic

“That Old Black Magic” is a 1942 popular song written by Harold Arlen (music), with the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. They wrote it for the 1942 film Star Spangled Rhythm, when it was sung by Johnny Johnston and danced by Vera Zorina. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1943 but lost out to “You’ll Never Know”.

The song was published in 1942 and has become an often-recorded standard, with versions that include the original single release by Glenn Miller, by the singers Margaret Whiting, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Mercer himself, and others. Mercer wrote the lyrics with Judy Garland in mind. Garland recorded the song for Decca Records in 1942. Mercer recalled wanting to write a song about magic, and while composing, asking Arlen to write more music so the song could go on longer, but that they still wrote the whole song in about three hours. Billy Daniels recorded the song in 1949 and it became his trademark recording.

Download the lead sheet PDF

Paul2024-09-03T08:44:49-04:00

About Paul

The video song lesson for this song and printable pdf with notation, lyrics, tabs and chord diagrams are available to subscribers to my patreon channel at https://patreon.com/guitarcat at the “free” tier.