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Deal

This is a great Grateful Dead tune with some interesting changes and not too hard to play. The above video breaks down how to play the chord changes and below is an example of how you might play over the top of those changes. The distinctive part of this tune- the thing that says “Jerry” to me is the D following the B7. Playing this tune in A, normally I’d think to resolve to the 5 there, which in this case would be E7. I’m no expert at this stuff but I’d say the D makes an interesting, almost a “signature” tension here. Jerry Garcia fan? I bet you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Typically when I want to work out a tune like this, I’ll get the chord changes under my hand well enough to play them rhymically in time, then put them on a loop (if you don’t have a looper and you’re interested in playing extemporaneously or just practicing lead lines, I highly recommend you get one).

Once the loop is set up, you can get as granular as you want with your playing. I generally stop working hard at it once I understand the way the song moves and I can anticipate the next change pretty much all the way through. I start to be able to play it through completely […]

2026-05-03T08:56:17-04:00
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Distance guitar coaching FAQs

Wouldn’t it be great if you could stop a guitar video at certain points and asks the guitarist “what exactly exactly are you doing there” or “what did you mean when you said that?”

Well now you can. Here are some FAQs that might be helpful:

  • How do we get started?
    First is a video chat, just to get acquainted. Based on our conversation, I produce a video lesson specifically tailored to you!
  • How does it work exactly?
    If you said you were interested in playing a particular song, I make a custom video lesson just for that! I break it down into manageable sections you can play as often as you want at various speeds. During the actual lesson I’ll help you figure out any parts you’re having trouble with. Split screen video show both hands and my face, so you can hear and see just what I’m doing.
  • How much does it cost?
    Distance lessons are $25 per session and the first session is free. Pay for the next session any time before it is scheduled.
  • Do I need to own a guitar?
    Before we start, yes.If you want to use the initial video chat to talk about what kind of instrument you should get, that’s fine! I can show you any of the guitars or ukes in my studio; you can hear them played, and we can […]
2022-04-27T09:27:13-04:00
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How to play “Tango Till They’re Sore”

How to play Tango Till They’re Sore
This is a great Tom Waits tune, and not too hard to play on guitar

chord and lyric sheet here

The song has some profoundly cool lyrics, and listening to Tom Waits sing it with his trademark gravelly voice is pretty thrilling:

Well, you play that tarantella, all the hounds will start to roar
The boys all go to hell and then the Cubans hit the floor
They drive along the pipeline, they tango ’til they’re sore
They take apart their nightmares and they leave them by the door
Let me fall out of the window with confetti in my hair
Deal out Jacks or better on a blanket by the stairs
I’ll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past
And send me off to bed for evermore

Make sure they play my theme song, I guess daisies will have to do
Just get me to New Orleans and paint shadows on the pews
Turn the spit on that pig and kick the drum and let me down
Put my clarinet beneath your bed till I get back in town
Let me fall out of the window with confetti in my hair
Deal out Jacks or better on a blanket by the stairs
I’ll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past
So send me off to bed […]

2026-04-30T12:15:15-04:00
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How to play Love Potion Number 9


How to play Love potion Number 9

love_potion_no9

“Love Potion No. 9” is a song written in 1959 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally performed by the Clovers, who took it to number 23 on the US as well as R&B charts that year. The song was recorded by the Searchers in 1964. Their version reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two on Cash Box during the winter of 1965. The Coasters released a version in December 1971 with “D. W. Washburn” on the B-side. It reached No. 76 on the Billboard Pop chart.

The song describes a man seeking help to find love. He enlists the help of a gypsy who determines, by means of palmistry, that he needs “love potion number 9”. The potion, an aphrodisiac, causes him to fall in love with everything he sees, kissing whatever is in front of him, eventually kissing a policeman on the street corner, who breaks his bottle of love potion. In one recorded version of the ending of the song, the Clovers used the alternative lyrics:

I had so much fun that I’m going back again,
I wonder what’ll happen with Love Potion Number Ten?

The narrator describes himself as being “a flop with chicks … since 1956”; later recordings of the […]

2026-04-23T20:34:44-04:00
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Saturday Night

How to play “Saturday Night” by the Misfits on guitar. A simple 1/6/4/5 tune in 3/4 time with… well, you might say “cultural significance”. “Horror punk” was a genre I hadn’t heard of until a student asked for some help with this tune. It certainly fits a cultural niche, music-wise! “Saturday Night” is fun, and not too difficult to get under your hand if you are just starting out on guitar. It will be easier to play it in the key of C than C# though- the video demonstrates a version in C# and offers instruction in the friendly key of C.

The song  “Saturday Night,” also released on Famous Monsters and written by Michale Graves, is commonly taken literally to be about killing due to lyrics in the song such as “There’s 52 ways to murder anyone, one and two are the same and they both work as well.” However, the true meaning of the song as explained by Michale Graves is the representation of the metaphorical death of a relationship.

“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” — Earl Nightingale, author, speaker

Download the […]

2026-03-16T19:06:59-04:00
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radio garden

Ever wonder what kind of tunes radio stations all over the world are playing? Check out Radio Garden. This app is fascinating! Each of the dots on the globe represent a radio station and you can click on that and listen to what’s on the air. Got a yen to find out what on the radio in Reykjavík, Iceland? Travel the planet, one radio station at a time. Here’s a link to QUAY FM, 107.1, a station in Alderney, in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.  Enjoy!

2026-03-10T15:48:49-04:00
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Find the name of a chord?

How do I find the name of any chord? Chord namer!

The chord namer will automatically name a chord shape (if a valid chord shape is supplied.) Simply select the circles on the fret board that correspond to where your fingers go and hit “Go”. A few things to watch out for:

Strings that aren’t strummed should be set to “Mute” and open strings should be set to zero.
Don’t enter your chord upside-down! The fretboard is shown with the lowest pitch string at the bottom and the highest pitch string at the top (unless you’ve tuned your instrument differently.)
If there is more than 1 way to name the chord you supplied, the chord namer will give you multiple results. They are all correct but which one you choose may depend on the context it is used in.  Visit chord namer here!

2026-03-30T08:04:02-04:00
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Blues for ukulele

Muddy Waters meets Tiny Tim… Ukulele Am Blues.

“Muddy Waters meets Tiny Tim”, as my friend and teacher John LaGreca said. This blues will be in Am. Using a 1/4/5 pattern, that gives us Am for the 1, D, for the 4 and E for the 5.

 

We can play a typical 12 bar blues pattern
like this:

1 | % | % | %
4 | % | 1 | %
5 | 4 | 1 | (5)

The 12th measure with the 5 chord is the “turnaround”.

We can use our pentatonic minor scale to play over the chords! The minor pentatonic scale uses the 1, b3, 4, 5 and b7 notes. for Am that would be A, C, D, E and G and that works great for the 1 and 4 chords. We can also use the “blue” note (b5) to make it sound cooler.


For the 5 chord, we’ll use the pentatonic for E. Again, 1, b3, 4, 5 and b7, o that will be E, G, A, B and D. The b5 in this scale is a Bb.

You can use any note as a “passing” note though, as long […]

Looking for online ukulele lessons? First one is free!

Muddy Waters meets Tiny Tim… Ukulele Am Blues.

“Muddy Waters meets Tiny Tim”, as my friend and teacher John LaGreca said. This blues will be in Am. Using a 1/4/5 pattern, that gives us Am for the 1, D, for the 4 and E for the 5.

 

We can play a typical 12 bar blues pattern
like this:

1 | % | % | %
4 | % | 1 | %
5 | 4 | 1 | (5)

The 12th measure with the 5 chord is the “turnaround”.

We can use our pentatonic minor scale to play over the chords! The minor pentatonic scale uses the 1, b3, 4, 5 and b7 notes. for Am that would be A, C, D, E and G and that works great for the 1 and 4 chords. We can also use the “blue” note (b5) to make it sound cooler.


For the 5 chord, we’ll use the pentatonic for E. Again, 1, b3, 4, 5 and b7, o that will be E, G, A, B and D. The b5 in this scale is a Bb.

You can use any note as a “passing” note though, as long […]

2026-04-25T19:22:53-04:00
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