Paul | Guitar Lessons and Performance - Paul Elwood

Smile

Chaplin, who composed the song with the help of composer David Raksin, was inspired by a sequence in the first act love duet from Puccini’s opera Tosca, beginning with Cavaradossi singing “Quale occhio al mondo può star di paro”. John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons added the lyrics and title in 1954. In the lyrics, based on lines and themes from the film, the singer is telling the listener to cheer up and that there is always a bright tomorrow, just as long as they smile.

“Smile” has become a popular standard since its original use in Chaplin’s film and has been recorded by numerous artists.

Nat King Cole recorded the first version with lyrics. It charted in 1954, reaching number 10 on the Billboard charts and number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. This version was also used at the beginning of the 1975 movie Smile.

“Music is indivisible. The dualism of feeling and thinking must be resolved to a state of unity in which one thinks with the heart and feels with the brain.”

Paul2026-05-09T12:54:19-04:00

You Belong to Me

you Belong to Me

You Belong to Me” is a popular music ballad from the 1950s. It is well known for its opening line, “See the pyramids along the Nile”. The song was published in Hollywood on April 21, 1952, and the most popular version was by Jo Stafford, reaching No. 1 on both the UK and US singles charts.

Conception and composition

“You Belong to Me” is credited to Chilton Price, Pee Wee King, and Redd Stewart.

Price, a songwriting librarian at WAVE Radio Louisville, had written the song in its virtual entirety as “Hurry Home to Me”, envisioning the song as an American woman’s plea to a sweetheart serving overseas in World War II. Afforded songwriting credit on the song mostly in exchange for their work in promoting it, King and Stewart did slightly adjust Price’s composition musically and lyrically, shifting the focus from a wartime background “into a kind of universal song about separated lovers” (World War II having ended some years previously) and changing the title to “You Belong to Me”. Price had previously had success with another hit she had written, “Slow Poke“, under a similar arrangement with the two men.

The first recording of the song, in February 1952, was by Joni James. She had seen the sheet music in the Woods Building in Chicago, and […]

Paul2026-03-29T18:49:22-04:00

White Room

“White Room” is a song by British rock band Cream, composed by bassist Jack Bruce with lyrics by poet Pete Brown. They recorded it for the studio half of the 1968 double album Wheels of Fire. In September, a shorter US single edit (without the third verse) was released for AM radio stations, although album-oriented FM radio stations played the full album version. The subsequent UK single release in January 1969 used the full-length album version of the track.

“Music is the universal language of mankind.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Paul2026-04-16T14:29:31-04:00

Teach your Children

“Teach Your Children” is a song written by Graham Nash in 1968 when he was a member of the Hollies. Although it was never recorded by that group in a studio, the Hollies did record it live in 1983. After the song was initially recorded for the album Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969, a much more enhanced version of the song was recorded for the album Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, released in 1970. As a single, the song peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts that year. On the Easy Listening chart, it peaked at No. 28. In Canada, “Teach Your Children” reached No. 8. Reviewing the song, Cash Box commented on the “incredible soft harmony luster” and “delicately composed material.” Billboard called it “a smooth country-flavored ballad that should prove an even bigger hit on the charts [than ‘Woodstock’].” Stephen Stills gave the song its “country swing”, replacing the “Henry VIII” style of Nash’s original demo.

“Music is the tool to express life – and all that makes a difference.” – Herbie Hancock

Paul2026-04-16T15:01:52-04:00

Wagon Wheel

“Wagon Wheel” is a song co-written by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. Dylan recorded the chorus in 1973 while Secor added verses 25 years later. Old Crow Medicine Show’s final version was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in April 2013. The song has been covered numerous times, including charting versions by Nathan Carter in 2012, Darius Rucker in 2013 and Nathan Evans in 2022.

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The song describes a hitchhiking journey south along the eastern coast of the United States from New England in the northeast through Roanoke, Virginia, with the intended destination of Raleigh, North Carolina, where the narrator hopes to see his lover. As the narrator is walking south of Roanoke, he meets a trucker who is traveling from Philadelphia through Virginia westward toward the Cumberland Gap and Johnson City, Tennessee.

Old Crow Medicine Show’s version of the song is in swing 2/4 time signature, with an approximate tempo of 76 half notes per minute. It uses the I–V–vi–IV pattern in the key of A major, with the main chord pattern of A–E–F♯m–D. On the music video, the guitar is played with capo on the second fret and (open chord equivalents) G-D-Em-C-G-D-C.

“Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” – Emory Austin

Paul2026-04-16T16:12:32-04:00

Help

Help! is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to the film Help!. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles “Help!” and “Ticket to Ride“, appeared in the film and take up the first side of the vinyl album. The second side includes “Yesterday“, the most-covered song ever written. The album was met with favourable critical reviews and topped the Australian, German, British and American charts.

During the recording sessions for the album, the Beatles continued to explore the studio’s multitracking capabilities to layer their sound. “Yesterday” features a string quartet, the band’s first use of Baroque sensibilities, and “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” includes a flute section. The North American release is a true soundtrack album, combining the first seven songs with instrumental music from the film. The omitted tracks are instead spread across the Capitol Records LPs Beatles VI, Rubber Soul and Yesterday and Today.

In the US, Help! marked the start of artistic recognition for the Beatles from mainstream critics, including comparisons to the European art music tradition. It was nominated in the category of Album of the Year at the 1966 Grammys Awards, marking the first time that a rock band had been recognised in this category. In 2000, it was voted 119th in the […]

Paul2026-05-03T18:02:31-04:00

Blackbird

Blackbird-tabs

“Blackbird” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles (also known as “the White Album”). It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, and performed as a solo piece by McCartney. When discussing the song, McCartney has said that the lyrics were inspired by hearing the call of a blackbird in Rishikesh, India, and by the civil rights movement in the Southern United States.

Widely regarded as one of the best songs by the band, it has been covered by several artists, including Agua De Annique, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Judy Collins, Neil Diamond, Billy Preston, Sia, Sarah McLachlan and Beyoncé.

“If music be the food of love, play on.” – William Shakespeare

Paul2026-05-02T10:00:54-04:00

Come Together

download the lead sheet with lyrics for “come together”

“Come Together” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the band’s 1969 studio album Abbey Road. It was also a double A-side in the United Kingdom with “Something”, reaching No. 4 in the UK charts, as well as No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100.

The song has been covered by several other artists, including Ike & Tina Turner, Aerosmith, Eurythmics, Michael Jackson, Joe Cocker, Arctic Monkeys, and Gary Clark Jr.

In early 1969, John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, held nonviolent protests against the Vietnam War, dubbed the Bed-ins for Peace. In May, during the Montreal portion of the bed-in, counterculture figures from across North America visited Lennon. Among the visitors was the American psychologist Timothy Leary, an early advocate of LSD whom Lennon admired. Leary intended to run for Governor of California in the following year’s election, and he asked Lennon to write him a campaign song based on the campaign’s slogan, “Come Together – Join the Party!” The resulting chant was only a line long: “Come together and join the party”. Lennon promised to finish and record the song, and Leary later recalled Lennon giving him […]

Paul2026-05-02T11:10:56-04:00

Ladies of the Canyon

Use the downloadable tabs and the attached mp3 file & video to understand how to play “Ladies of the Canyon” for solo guitar.

Ladies of the Canyon is the third studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on Reprise Records in 1970. It peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The title makes reference to Laurel Canyon, a center of popular music culture in Los Angeles during the 1960s, where Mitchell lived while she was writing the album. Specifically, Mitchell lived and wrote at 8217 Lookout Mountain Avenue, the house which is the subject of Graham Nash’s “Our House”. The album includes several of Mitchell’s most noted songs, such as “Big Yellow Taxi”, “Woodstock” and “The Circle Game”.

The album is notable for its expansion of Mitchell’s artistic vision and its varied song topics (ranging from the aesthetic weight of celebrity, to observation of the Woodstock generation, to the complexities of love). Ladies of the Canyon is often viewed as a transition between Mitchell’s folky earlier work and the more sophisticated, poignant albums that were to follow. In particular, “For Free” foreshadows the lyrical leitmotif of the isolation triggered by success that would be elaborated upon in For the Roses and Court and Spark. The sparse, alternative-tuning laden sound of later records comes to the forefront on […]

Paul2026-04-19T09:42:11-04:00

Our Song

“Our Song”
is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the third single from her debut studio album, Taylor Swift (2006). She wrote “Our Song” for a high school talent show during ninth grade and included it in the album after it became popular among her classmates. The lyrics are about a young couple using regular events in their lives to create their own song. Produced by Nathan Chapman, “Our Song” is an uptempo banjo-driven country track incorporating fiddles and drums. Big Machine Records released it to US country radio on September 10, 2007.

Music critics lauded Swift’s songwriting on “Our Song” for incorporating conversational lyrics and a memorable hook. It featured on Rolling Stone‘s 2019 list of the best country songs by female artists since 2000. Peaking atop Hot Country Songs for six weeks, the single made the then 17-year-old Swift the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one single on Hot Country Songs. “Our Song” peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified four times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It peaked at number 30 on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified platinum by Music Canada.

Download the “Our Song” PDF with tabs

Use the downloadable tabs and the attached mp3 file & video to understand how to play “Our Song” by Taylor Swift for solo guitar.

Paul2026-04-19T14:12:17-04:00

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Conception and composition

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