Paul | Guitar Lessons and Performance - Paul Elwood

People are Strange

“People Are Strange” is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It appears on the band’s second studio album, Strange Days, released in September 1967. The song was written by the Doors’ vocalist Jim Morrison and guitarist Robby Krieger, although all of the band are credited on the sleeve notes.

The track was first released with “Unhappy Girl” as the B-side. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.The song’s composition started in early 1967. According to Doors drummer John Densmore, he and guitarist Robby Krieger, who had then been roommates, were visited by Jim Morrison who appeared to be “deeply depressed”. At Krieger’s suggestion, they took a walk along Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles. Morrison returned from the walk “euphoric” with the early lyrics of “People Are Strange”. Intrigued by the lyrics, Krieger was convinced that the song was a hit upon hearing the vocal melody:

Morrison said “Yeah, I feel really good about this one. It just came to me all of a sudden … in a flash – as I was sitting up there on the ridge looking out over the city.” His eyes were wild with excitement. “I scribbled it down as fast as I could. It felt great to be writing again.” […]

Paul2026-04-13T12:08:34-04:00

Every Time We Say Goodby

ev’ry time we say goodby

“Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” is a popular jazz song with lyrics and music by Cole Porter. Part of the Great American Songbook, it was published by Chappell & Company and introduced by Nan Wynn and Jere McMahon in 1944 in Billy Rose’s musical revue Seven Lively Arts.

The lyrics celebrate how happy the singer is in the company of the beloved, but suffering equally whenever the two separate. Describing it by analogy as a musical “change from major to minor”, Porter begins with an A♭ major chord and ends with an A♭ minor chord, matching the mood of the music to the words.

The Benny Goodman Quintet (vocal by Peggy Mann) enjoyed a hit record with the song in 1945.

“The easiest way to avoid wrong notes is to never open your mouth and sing. What a mistake that would be.” – Pete Seeger

Paul2026-04-13T12:11:40-04:00

Diminished Chords

Diminished Chords for Guitar Players

Ah, diminished chords. I knew this question was going to come up eventually. Have a seat.

You see, after a major chord has flourished for a while, it begins to lose its luster. It’s just not as shiny as it was when it was new! And it starts to get a little soft, particularly around the 3 and 5. Eventually of course, the 3 and 5 each slip completely down a half step, and we shake our heads and say the chord is half diminished.

It is still strong though, never doubt it! Its character has just changed. It moves with more nuance, has greater gravitas and I believe, a greater appreciation for the chords and notes around it, generally speaking.

Eventually it’s 7 also flattens out, and we say that it is completely diminished. It certainly looks and sounds different than it did when it was a sprightly young major chord, but it has attained a more profound way of communicating its essence that it ever would have been able to, had it not reached this certain level of maturity.

Respect your diminished chords!
They have been around the block, and can show you a thing or two.

Diminished chords need a place to […]

Paul2026-03-17T17:34:27-04:00

Dream Dream Dream

Download the PDF: Dream Dream Dream

The best-known version was recorded by the Everly Brothers at RCA Studios Nashville and released as a single in April 1958. It was recorded by them in only two live takes on March 6, 1958, and features Chet Atkins on guitar. It was the only single ever to be at number one on all of the Billboard singles charts simultaneously. On May 12, 1958, it became number one on the “Best Sellers in Stores” chart, then it reached number one on the “Most played by Jockeys” and “Top 100” charts on May 19, 1958, and remained at the top on each chart for four, five, and three weeks, respectively. With the August 1958 introduction of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song ended the year at number two. “All I Have to Do Is Dream” also hit number one on the rhythm and blues chart, and became the Everly Brothers’ third chart topper on the country chart. The Everly Brothers briefly returned to the Hot 100 in 1961 with this song.

Outside the United States, “All I Have to Do Is Dream” had massive success in various countries, most notably the United Kingdom, where it topped the UK’s New Musical Express chart in June 1958 and remained there for seven weeks (including one week […]

Paul2026-04-25T19:25:50-04:00

Pentatonic exercise: 1 and b3 over 1/4/5 in Gm

Pentatonic exercise. Download the attached PDf and follow along with the video exercise. This will be helpful for practicing the idea of “position”, that is having your first finger on the fret that 1 note is available on.

penta exercise

The best thing about learning guitar is that nobody can take it away from you

Paul2026-04-08T18:19:26-04:00

Turn The Page

Download the PDF

“Turn the Page” is a song by American singer Bob Seger written in 1972 and included on his Back in ’72 album in 1973. It was not released as a single until Seger’s live version of the song on the 1976 Live Bullet album got released in Germany and the UK. The song became a mainstay of album-oriented rock radio stations, and still gets significant airplay on classic rock stations.

“Turn the Page” is about the emotional and social ups and downs of a rock musician’s life on the road. Seger wrote it in 1972 while touring with Teegarden & Van Winkle. Drummer David Teegarden (of Teegarden & Van Winkle and later the Silver Bullet Band) recalls:

We had been playing somewhere in the Midwest, or the northern reaches, on our way to North or South Dakota. [Guitarist] Mike Bruce was with us. We’d been traveling all night from the Detroit area to make this gig, driving in this blinding snowstorm. It was probably 3 in the morning. Mike decided it was time to get gas. He was slowing down to exit the interstate and spied a truck stop. We all had very long hair back then – it was the hippie era – but Skip, Mike […]

Paul2026-04-13T14:15:34-04:00

Can’t help falling (in love)

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Can’t Help Falling in Love” is a song written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and published by Gladys Music, Inc. The melody is based on “Plaisir d’amour“, a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini. The song was initially written from the perspective of a woman as “Can’t Help Falling in Love with Him”, which explains the first and third line ending on “in” rather than words rhyming with “you”.

Recorded by singer and actor Elvis Presley, it was part of the album Blue Hawaii (1961), the soundtrack to the movie Blue Hawaii. The song was recorded subsequently in the 1960s by Perry Como, the Lennon Sisters, Doris Day, Patti Page, Andy Williams, Al Martino and Keely Smith. In the 1970s, the song was recorded by Marty Robbins, Bob Dylan, the Stylistics, Shirley Bassey, and Engelbert Humperdinck.

“I don’t think about what other people expect or anything. I mean, I sit and worrying so much about what […]

Paul2026-04-13T14:16:49-04:00

Dead Flowers

Dead Flowers

“Dead Flowers” is a song recorded by the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it appears on their 1971 album Sticky Fingers as the fourth track of side two.

Recording of “Dead Flowers” took place in April 1970 at the Olympic Studios in London. The lyrics to the song are notably dark, and feature the line, “I’ll be in my basement room, with a needle and a spoon”, a reference to injecting heroin.

“Dead Flowers” was written during the period when the Stones were stepping into country music territory, when Richards’s friendship with Gram Parsons was influencing his songwriting. Jagger commented in 2003:

The ‘Country’ songs we recorded later, like “Dead Flowers” on Sticky Fingers or “Far Away Eyes” on Some Girls, are slightly different (than our earlier ones). The actual music is played completely straight, but it’s me who’s not going legit with the whole thing, because I think I’m a blues singer not a country singer – I think it’s more suited to Keith’s voice than mine.

Both Richards and Mick Taylor contribute the ‘honky-tonk’ style lead guitar lines throughout the album version. Richards’s choppier fills act primarily as a response to Jagger’s vocal lines during the verses, while […]

Paul2026-04-30T07:46:40-04:00

Dream a Little Dream

Music producer Thom Donovan has described Dream a Little Dream of Me as both a lullaby and a love song, noting its “comforting, childlike quality.” The lyrics by Gus Kahn portray two lovers parting reluctantly, with one asking the other to remember them through dreams while asleep.

In 1930, a handwritten manuscript titled Dream a Little Dream of Me, dated January 6, 1930, and written in the hand of composer Milton Adolphus, documents the melody of the song prior to its commercial publication. Contemporary newspaper accounts report that Adolphus sold the song outright that year for $12.50, receiving no royalty interest.

Handwritten musical manuscript titled Dream a Little Dream of Me, dated January 6, 1930, in the hand of Milton Adolphus.

The melody preserved in the manuscript corresponds to the later published version of the song. Adolphus did not receive formal songwriting credit when the song was subsequently registered and published, and he did not pursue ownership or attribution in later years. The song was later credited to Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt as composers, with lyrics by Kahn, and went on to become a widely recorded popular standard.

“There is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.” – Edward Elgar

[…]

Paul2026-04-13T14:23:39-04:00

Stormy Monday

“Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)” (commonly referred to as “Stormy Monday“) is a song written and recorded by American blues electric guitar pioneer T-Bone Walker. It is a slow twelve-bar blues performed in the West Coast blues-style that features Walker’s smooth, plaintive vocal and distinctive guitar work. As well as becoming a record chart hit in 1948, it inspired B.B. King and others to take up the electric guitar. “Stormy Monday” became Walker’s best-known and most-recorded song.

In 1961, Bobby “Blue” Bland further popularized the song with an appearance in the pop record charts. Bland introduced a new arrangement with chord substitutions, which was later used in many subsequent renditions. His version also incorrectly used the title “Stormy Monday Blues”, which was copied and resulted in royalties being paid to songwriters other than Walker. The Allman Brothers Band recorded an extended version for their first live album in 1971, with additional changes to the arrangement. Through the album’s popularity and the group’s concert performances, they brought “Stormy Monday” to the attention of rock audiences. Similarly, Latimore’s 1973 recording made it popular with a later R&B audience.

“Stormy Monday” is one of the most popular blues standards, with numerous renditions. As well as being necessary for blues musicians, it is also found in the repertoires of many jazz, soul, pop, and […]

Paul2026-04-15T08:07:17-04:00

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Diminished Chords for Guitar Players