Paul | Guitar Lessons and Performance - Paul Elwood

hands on the wheel

“Hands on the Wheel” is a celebrated country song written by Billy Callery and famously recorded by Willie Nelson for his landmark 1975 concept album, Red Headed Stranger. It is a melancholy yet grounding song about finding peace amidst life’s chaos, often noted for its themes of staying centered.

Album: Originally released on the 1975 album Red Headed Stranger.
Writer: Written by Billy Callery.
Theme: Focuses on finding tranquility and control (“hands on the wheel”) when the world feels chaotic.
Covers & Features: The song was notably covered by Jerry Jeff Walker (1979) and has appeared in films like

Paul2026-05-26T20:54:11-04:00

All that love for you!

It struck me how much his in-laws love him- really adore my kid! Typically when I’m composing I keep a picture of something in my head to focus on while I’m inventing and In this case I was thinking about his wife’s family, how lovely they are to him and to Deb and me as well. I worked this up to a built-in drum track in logic pro and the idea is to substitute a track that my son makes in Beats, and then sort of present this to his in-laws as a token of our appreciation for them. That’s the idea anyway.

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” – William Arthur Ward

Paul2026-04-29T15:38:39-04:00

pentatonic power chords

The minor pentatonic scale has 5 notes: 1, b3, 4, 5 and b7. We can find all of those on one string by understanding the intervals between them. Let’s start with the 1 note on the 2nd fret of D/4

If we want to play E minor pentatonic on the D string, our 1st note is E, and that’s on the 2nd fret of the D string. If we move back two frets to the open D string we can get our flat seventh, often written “b7” and referred to as a ‘dominant’ 7. In this case, that’s a D, a whole step below E. Moving back to 1 on the 2nd fret (E), we can find our b3 note (G) on the 5th fret one whole and one-half interval above the 1. Next up is the 4 note, a whole step up from the b3 so that’s A on the 7th fret. Now the 5, a whole step up from 4 so that’s B on the 9th fret of D. The pattern repeats with b7 (D) on the 12th fret.

Now this is the really cool part: a ‘power’ chord is a diad (two note chord) with no 3rd! It just has the 1 and 5 notes. Because the A & D strings are a 4th apart, the 5 of any note on the […]

Paul2026-03-09T18:16:12-04:00

silent night

silent night in F

“Silent Night” (German: “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011. The song was first recorded in 1905 and has remained a popular success, appearing in films and multiple successful recordings, as well as being quoted in other musical compositions. You can download the pdf notation and tab sheet here

Paul2026-05-09T12:50:34-04:00

I think Robin Williams saw it coming

I think Robin Williams saw it coming

I think Robin Williams saw it coming.
He was as sensitive a soul as you could find
A gentle true spirit with a razor sharp mind
A genuine human exclamation point
And one of a kind

I think Robin Williams saw it coming
And it must have made him awful sad to see
The day beyond the day beyond the day of his demise
And that he wouldn’t be here To brighten peoples eyes

I think Robin williams saw it coming
All the anger and the stupid, stupid shit
And it rose within his mind
And it broke his fuckin heart

It broke his fuckin heart.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Paul2026-04-30T11:59:47-04:00

Play more melodically with this simple technique

Play more melodically with this simple technique!

The sound you create with your instrument is the vehicle that the idea- that is, the music- uses to communicate itself. When you listen to an instrument playing a melody, can you hear the “words” that are being sung? We can begin to think about music as if it was language (which it is) and so consider it “syllabically”

Think about a common word… how about “kitchen”? If you were going to describe the sound of that word, you might say it has two syllables – a short, percussive one: “kit” and a longer one that starts off sharp – “ch” – and sort of trails off the “n” sound till it’s done… “chennnn”. Also when you say the word “kitchen” is the first syllable higher or lower than the second one? Higher, right? So how might you represent those two ideas on your guitar? How about playing a short, sharp note and then a slightly lower one that kind of trails off? Does that sound like the two syllables in “kitchen”?

This kind of thinking about music in a different way needs to be practiced for sure, but look: the tiniest change in the way you think about something can have profound effects in the way you perceive it. Thinking about musica “syllabically” might be the change that drives […]

Paul2026-03-09T18:16:33-04:00

How to play Box of Rain

Box Of Rain – Grateful Dead

chord and lyric sheet

“Box of Rain” is a song by the Grateful Dead, from their 1970 album American Beauty. The song was composed by bassist Phil Lesh and lyricist Robert Hunter, and sung by Lesh.

The song

Key: G
Time signature: 4/4 (with an occasional 2/4 measure)
Chords used: A, Bm7/A, A4, D, Am, Em, C, G, Bm

“Box of Rain” is drawn from American folk and country musical roots. This is true of many Grateful Dead tunes, including most of the songs on American Beauty and their other 1970 release, Workingman’s Dead. As the first song on American Beauty, it was also the first Grateful Dead song released on record to feature Phil Lesh as the lead vocalist.

The song also featured two musicians who are not in the band. Dave Torbert played bass, while Lesh played acoustic guitar. David Nelson (of New Riders of the Purple Sage) plays the lead guitar with a Fender Telecaster, while Jerry Garcia plays the piano. Bob Weir sings harmony with Lesh and Garcia.

“Sight-reading is like playing. It’s a question of doing.” – Johnny Smith

Paul2026-05-03T08:55:43-04:00

How to play I’ve got the world on a string

lead sheet with lyrics I’ve got the 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.

Paul2026-03-09T18:16:56-04:00

How to play over beautiful love changes

Beautiful Love chord changes. How to play beautiful love over a backing track.

“Beautiful Love” is a popular song composed by Wayne King, Victor Young and Egbert Van Alstyne with lyrics by Haven Gillespie. It was introduced by the Wayne King Orchestra in 1931. The song has been called the “second favourite number” of King, after the Orchestra’s theme song “The Waltz You Saved for Me”.

As a popular jazz standard, the song is included in the first volume of the Real Book as well as the New Real Book.

It appears as a love theme both in the 1932 film The Mummy (when it is played during the ball sequence where Helen is telepathically called to the museum), and in the film Hotel Continental, also 1932. The song is included in the film Sing a Jingle (1944) and it was also included in the 1989 film Crimes and Misdemeanors by Woody Allen.

Joe Pass performed the song at the Brecon Jazz Festival in 1991 and stated in good jest that he couldn’t remember if it was by Victor Herbert, Victor Young or Victor Mature.

Versions of this song:

Bing Crosby recorded the song on July 24, 1944 with Victor Young and His Orchestra for Decca Records.
Anita O’Day – for […]

Paul2026-05-02T09:53:00-04:00

How to play wonderful world- Sam Cooke

Play wonderful world for solo acoustic guitar, Sam Cooke version. Composed by Lou Adler/Herb Alpert

Chords and lyrics

A great song to do fingerstyle in the key of B. “Wonderful World” (occasionally referred to as “(What A) Wonderful World”) is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. Released on April 14, 1960, by Keen Records, it had been recorded during an impromptu session the previous year in March 1959, at Sam Cooke’s last recording session at Keen. He signed with RCA Victor in 1960 and “Wonderful World,” then unreleased, was issued as a single in competition. The song was mainly composed by songwriting team Lou Adler and Herb Alpert, but Cooke revised the lyrics to mention the subject of education more. “Wonderful World” ended up doing substantially better on the charts than several of his early RCA singles, becoming his biggest hit single since “You Send Me” (1957). The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number two on Billboard’s Hot R&B Sides chart. Herman’s Hermits charted with their recording of the song in 1965, reaching number one in Canada, number four in the United States, and number seven in the United Kingdom, respectively. A remake by Art Garfunkel with James Taylor and Paul Simon charted at number 17 in 1978. The Sam Cooke version was featured in the […]

Paul2026-04-15T07:51:42-04:00

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