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, anticipating the next change. I start to be able to play it through without too many mistakes or coarse-sounding notes (by “course-sounding” I mean notes that kind of work but the melodic line isn’t polished or precise). You can hear how the second iteration sounds a little more correct, following the chord changes and the bouncy rhythm pattern a little more nicely. Practicing this way, I still have plenty of opportunities to be creative without having to work so carefully at playing exactly the same thing over and over and over… Video and chord/lyric sheet for the “Deal” changes is here: https://paulelwood.com/how-to-play-deal/

chord and lyric sheet here