Paul | Guitar Lessons and Performance - Paul Elwood

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

“Tango Till They’re Sore” has some profoundly cool lyrics, and listening to Tom Waits sing it with his trademark gravelly voice is pretty thrilling! The chord changes are fairly simple and hand-friendly in the first position, so nothing stopping you from trying out this cool song yourself if you want.

“Tango Till They’re Sore” is a track by Tom Waits. It first appeared on his 1985 album Rain Dogs, widely known for featuring the urban dispossessed of New York City. The moody, poetic song is also highly notable for playing over the final scenes of Jim Jarmusch’s 1986 cult film Down by Law.

The song fits seamlessly into Rain Dogs‘ lyrical focus, serving as a dark, vaudevillian, and whimsical blues.

Paul2026-07-10T06:43:12-04:00

World on a String!

Download sheet music for “World on a String”

World On A String

Another great American songbook tune: “I’ve Got The World on a String”. 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.

“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” – Sergei Rachmaninoff

Paul2026-06-20T08:54:58-04:00

Crudo Manana

Crudo Manana

“Crudo Manana” is a Mexican Spanish phrase meaning “I’ll be paying for this tomorrow”. Here’s what Chat GPT has to say about it: …a highly engaging, syncopated chamber piece written by New Jersey guitarist, teacher, and composer Paul Elwood

Paul2026-07-31T11:14:16-04:00

Deep Elem Blues

How to play deep elem blues

(also spelled “Deep Elem Blues” or “Deep Ellum Blues”) on solo guitar. Deep elem blues is an American traditional song. The title of the tune refers to the historical African-American neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. Known as Deep Ellum, this was home to music legends Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, Lead Belly, and Bill Neely. This is a great tune to get started with blues.

history

The first known recording was made by the Cofer Brothers in 1923 under the band name the Georgia Crackers. The title was “The Georgia Black Bottom” on OKeh Records (OKeh 45111). The song alluded to the dance craze called Black Bottom of the 1920s which in part referenced the community of Black Bottom, Detroit. The change from Black Bottom to Deep Elm occurred sometime between 1926 and 1933.

The Shelton Brothers recorded various versions of this song, the first being cut in 1933 with Leon Chappelear under the pseudonym of Lone Star Cowboys for Bluebird Records. They recorded it again in 1935 for Decca Records followed by “Deep Elm No.2” and “Deep Elm No.3”. Les Paul (as Rhubarb Red) recorded “Deep Elem Blues” and “Deep Elem Blues #2” on Decca in 1936. The Sheltons also recorded it in the 1940s as “Deep Elm Boogie” for King Records.

other versions

Other versions of the song were made between […]

Paul2026-06-18T16:47:43-04:00

Wonderful Tonight

Wonderful tonight

“Wonderful Tonight” is a song written and performed by English singer Eric Clapton. The ballad was included on Clapton’s 1977 album Slowhand. Clapton wrote the song on his 1974 Martin D-28 guitar about Pattie Boyd. The female vocal harmonies on the song are provided by Marcella Detroit (then Marcy Levy) and Yvonne Elliman. It peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 15 July 1978, spending seven weeks in the top 40. In Canada it was in the top 40 for nine weeks.

On 7 September 1976, Eric Clapton wrote “Wonderful Tonight” for then-girlfriend Pattie Boyd while waiting for her to get ready to attend Paul and Linda McCartney’s annual Buddy Holly party. The song is mentioned in her 2007 autobiographical book Wonderful Today.

Billboard described “Wonderful Tonight” as “perhaps Clapton’s prettiest and mellowest love ballad in some time.” Billboard particularly praised Clapton’s guitar playing during the interludes. Cash Box said that “Eric’s singing is superbly understated; the guitar work is simple and evocative” and praised “the gentle beat and organ accompaniment.” Record World called it a “light, pretty ballad from [the album] Slowhand that should also move quickly up the charts” and praised Clapton’s singing.”

Paul2026-06-18T11:12:39-04:00

Hot For Robot

Look at the size of that bill! Things are getting hot for Robot in the Robot breakfast nook, and Robot has some ‘splainin’ to do. Airbrush acrylic on Illustration board. What’s this conversation sound like? Have a listen.

This is a recording of experimental acoustic guitar with a ton of filters and effects. “Hot For Robot” is somewhat out of character for me, but it was great fun. It is simply an acoustic guitar recording of some chord changes- kind of what I usually do- but is about as heavily modified and filtered as possible. I think wanted to see just how far I could move the end result from the original before I was satisfied, so here you go.

“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” – William Yeats

Paul2026-06-18T11:09:40-04:00

Yankee Doodle

Yankee doodle on solo guitar, left-hand, finger-style illustration. This technique is actually simpler than you might think! It involves alternating the thumb and first finger on adjacent strings and like any technique, the way to get it under your hand is very slooooooowly

Paul2026-06-08T20:30:15-04:00

America the Beautiful

Lyrics, notation and chord charts here!

“America the Beautiful” is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two never met.

Bates wrote the words as a poem, originally entitled “Pikes Peak”. It was first published in the Fourth of July 1895 edition of the church periodical, The Congregationalist. At that time, the poem was entitled “America”.

Ward had initially composed the song’s melody in 1882 to accompany lyrics to “Materna”, basis of the hymn, “O Mother dear, Jerusalem”, though the hymn was not first published until 1892. The combination of Ward’s melody and Bates’s poem was first entitled “America the Beautiful” in 1910. The song is one of the most popular of the many American patriotic songs.

Lyrics, notation and chord charts here.

Paul2026-07-01T19:11:53-04:00

God Bless America

God Bless America

“God Bless America” is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 during World War I and revised by him in 1938 in the period leading up to World War II. The later version was recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song.

The song is structured as a prayer, with introductory lyrics noting that “as we raise our voices, in a solemn prayer,” and asks for God’s blessing and guidance for the nation (“stand beside her and guide her through the night”).

Irving Berlin wrote the song at the end of World War I while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York. He decided that it did not fit a planned revue titled Yip Yip Yaphank and set it aside. The early lyrics included the line “Make her victorious on land and foam, God bless America…” as well as “Stand beside her and guide her to the right with the light from above”.

Music critic Jody Rosen has noted that a 1906 Jewish dialect novelty song, “When Mose with His Nose Leads the Band,” contains a six-note fragment that is “instantly recognizable as the opening strains of ‘God Bless America'”. He interprets this as an example of Berlin’s habit of interpolating fragments of […]

Paul2026-08-03T19:22:24-04:00

How to play “Country Roads” fingerstyle on guitar

How to play country roads fingerstyle on guitar This is a great John Denver tune – beloved around the world and not too hard to get under your hand. “Country Roads” is a terrific introduction to finger-style guitar playing because the changes are easy and the melody is so identifiable. And if you’re just getting started with reading tabs you can learn the melody line pretty quickly. Here’s a sheet with chords, tabs and notation for “Take me home, country roads” for guitar in the key of C.

This pdf has chord shapes with finger positions for the chords. country roads chords

Don’t concern about what you’ve played, concern yourself about what you’re playing

Paul2026-06-08T20:29:39-04:00

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World On A String

How to play deep elem blues

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