Paul | Guitar Lessons and Performance - Paul Elwood

Last Dance with Mary Jane

“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was recorded while Petty was recording his Wildflowers album and was produced by Rick Rubin, guitarist Mike Campbell, and Petty. The sessions would prove to be the last to include drummer Stan Lynch before his eventual departure in 1994. This song was first released as part of the Greatest Hits album in 1993. It rose to No. 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Petty’s first Billboard top-20 hit of the 1990s, and also topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart for two weeks. Internationally, the song reached No. 2 in Portugal, No. 5 in Canada and No. 7 in Iceland.

Asked if the song was about drugs, Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell said, “In the verse there is still the thing about an Indiana girl on an Indiana night, just when it gets to the chorus he had the presence of mind to give it a deeper meaning. My take on it is it can be whatever you want it to be. A lot of people think it’s a drug reference, and if that’s what you want to think, it very well could be, but it could also just be a goodbye love song.” In the rest of the interview, Campbell said that the song was originally titled “Indiana Girl” and the first chorus began, “Hey, Indiana Girl, go out and […]

Paul2026-04-20T16:04:40-04:00

wildflowers

“Wildflowers” is a song written by Tom Petty and the opening track from the album of the same name. The song became quite popular in concerts, and though it was not initially released as a commercial single until 2020, it charted at #16 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, at #11 on the Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales and at #3 on the Billboard Lyric Find. AllMusic describes it as having a simple but effective folk-based chord progression, with a sprightly, almost country-oriented rhythm.

The song has gone on to become one of the most beloved in Petty’s catalog. Petty also stated “Wildflowers” was easy to write and compose. It was one of the non-singles which were included on the compilation The Best of Everything (others were “Southern Accents“, “Square One“, “Angel Dream” and “Dreamville”).

On August 20, 2020, a posthumous release of the home recorded demo version of the song was released as a digital single alongside a music video. The video contains never-before-seen footage shot by Martyn Atkins during the recording of “Wildflowers”. On the same day, it was officially announced that on October 16, a posthumous album titled Wildflowers & All the Rest would be released. It is a comprehensive […]

Paul2026-04-20T16:21:34-04:00

Crazy

Crazy chords, lyrics and notation

“Crazy” is a song written by Willie Nelson and popularized by Patsy Cline in 1961. Nelson wrote the song while living in Houston, working for Pappy Daily’s label D Records. He was also a radio DJ and performed in clubs. Nelson then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, working as a writer for Pamper Music. Through Hank Cochran, the song reached Patsy Cline. After her original recording and release, Cline’s version reached number two on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles, also crossing to the pop chart as a top 10 single.

Cline’s version is considered a country music standard and, in 1996, became the all-time most played song in jukeboxes in the United States. “Crazy” was covered by many artists; different versions reached the charts in a variety of genres. The song was featured in television shows, while many publications have included it in their all-time best songs lists. The Library of Congress inducted Cline’s version into the National Recording Registry in 2003.

Whether or not you’ve had the start you would have liked, the ending is up to you

Paul2026-04-19T17:57:26-04:00

Panama Red

“The guitar is your first wings. It’s assigned and designed to unfold your vision and imagination.” – Carlos Santana

The Adventures of Panama Red is the fourth country rock album by the New Riders of the Purple Sage, released in 1973. It is widely regarded as one of the group’s best efforts, and reached number 55 on the Billboard charts.

The album includes two songs written by Peter Rowan — “Panama Red”, which became a radio hit, and “Lonesome L.A. Cowboy”. Another song, “Kick in the Head”, was written by Robert Hunter. Donna Jean Godchaux and Buffy Sainte-Marie contribute background vocals on several tracks.

Paul2026-05-03T08:54:20-04:00

Franklin’s Tower

“Franklin’s Tower” is a song by the American rock band the Grateful Dead, written by Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, released as the second from the band’s eighth studio album Blues for Allah (1975) in January 1976.

Background and composition

Taking inspiration from Lou Reed‘s hit “Walk on the WIld Side“, Robert Hunter and intended the song to be a lullabye birthday wish for his son. The track is shrouded in unusual, yet symbolic imagery, as Grateful Dead biographer David Gans wrote in his book The American Book of the Dead: “The song paints landscapes and offers timescapes where the four winds blow around a structure that contains a bell with magical properties so powerful that an unnamed brand of salvation may be obtained by its ringing.” According to Hunter, the lyrics contain references to Benjamin Franklin and the Liberty Bell.

“Playing scales is like a boxer skipping rope or punching a bag. It’s not the thing in itself; it’s preparatory to the activity.” – Barney Kessel

Paul2026-05-03T08:55:08-04:00

Cumberland Blues

It’s not about how long you’ve been playing, it’s about how often you play

Paul2026-05-03T08:33:12-04:00

Casey Jones

“The Ballad of Casey Jones“, also known as “Casey Jones, the Brave Engineer” or simply “Casey Jones“, is a traditional American folk song about railroad engineer Casey Jones and his death at the controls of the train he was driving. It tells of how Jones and his fireman Sim Webb raced their locomotive to make up for lost time, but discovered another train ahead of them on the line, and how Jones remained on board to try to stop the train as Webb jumped to safety. It is song number 3247 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

The song helped preserve the memory of Jones’ feat down through the years in its 40 plus versions and enhanced Casey’s legendary status to the extent that he has even become something of a mythological figure like Pecos Bill or Paul Bunyan to the uninformed. Books and pulp magazines about the railroad and its heroes helped to perpetuate his memory as well.

“Fast is only cool if it’s melodic and has substance.” – Yngwie J. Malmsteen

Paul2026-05-03T08:24:42-04:00

Natural Minor Scale

Download the natural_minor_scale PDF. This scale is known as Aeolian or 6th mode. It’s is commonly used in rock, jazz and popular music. The intervals are from the root: W H W W H W W.

In C, the Aeolian mode notes are A B C D E F G A

The PDF illustrates the scale from the 5 string and the 6 string.

“Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

Paul2026-04-16T14:16:33-04:00

Grownin’ Up

Download tabs for Growing Up part 1

“Growin’ Up” is a song by American musician Bruce Springsteen from his 1973 album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J..

It is a moderately paced tune, concerning an adolescence as a rebellious New Jersey teen, with lyrics written in the first-person. The lyrics feature a chorus that is progressively modified as the song continues, with the first chorus being “I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said ‘Sit down,’ I stood up,” while the second chorus switches to “clouded warmth…’come down,’ I threw up” and the third finishes the song with “mother breast…’pull down,’ I pulled up.”

An acoustic version of the song, part of Springsteen’s 1972 audition for CBS Records, appears on Tracks, 18 Tracks, and Chapter and Verse.

During the Born to Run tours and following Darkness Tour, Springsteen often performed an extended version of this song, extending it with a long, sometimes exaggerated and/or fictional biographical narration of his youth and his passion for guitar playing.

The song was featured on the soundtracks of the films Big Daddy (1999) and Gracie (2007).

David Bowie recorded a version of this song in the early stages of the

Paul2026-04-16T14:17:05-04:00

A Chord

The A Chord

The notes of the A major chord in the first position can be played as the diagram shows. A major triad needs the 1/3/5 of the scale and we can get these with three open strings and fingers on the the second fret of the 4,3 and 2 strings.

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours…If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau

Paul2026-04-16T14:17:41-04:00

About Paul

Background and composition

Natural Minor Scale

The A Chord