Let’s Learn A Song Now

Learning multiple styles is something you’ll appreciate

Kacey Musgraves — Palace Theatre St. Paul — Photo By: Andy Witchger — Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

You’ve been waiting for it, and finally, we’re here. Don’t misunderstand; there are a lot more fundamentals and techniques to learn, but I thought you would enjoy learning a song. We’ll learn a few different styles that will use different techniques while showing you how you’ll be able to learn songs at will.

We will start with a song I heard for the first time tonight. I watched the CMA Awards to see what’s happening in country music. Kacey Musgraves performed this, and listening to it, I thought it was beautiful and a great starting point for this segment. It’s called The Architect.

As always, when I’m curious about how a song is played, I go to Ultimate Guitar (UG). The people who post the tabs or chords aren’t always right, but they give you a solid starting point. When I signed up for Ultimate Guitar, they were offering lifetime access at a small price. I haven’t seen them do that since, but it’s well worth what I paid for it if they do.

You may notice that this song has a perceived spiritual or religious tone. I mean nothing by choosing it. As a musician, I focus more on the music than the lyrics. Now, if they are promoting something offensive, I have no interest in hearing it, let alone learning to play or teach it.

UltimateGuitar.com — Author’s account

Note that the song is in the key of A but has no A chord. How is that possible? The capo on the second fret is the right answer. All those G chords become A chords.

Looking over the song, you’ll see a couple of new chords to learn before you start playing. Any good tablature site will have chord diagrams to show you how they have the chords played in the song. As you gain a better ear and some experience, you will hear when another version of a chord makes more sense.

If you listen to the song, you’ll notice it is single-noted and picked in arpeggio style. We could go that way, but we’ll save that style for a different song. Looking at the top of the tab sheet above, you’ll see a couple of notes that will help you play the song.

First, you’ll see the tempo. This will be great for when you get to the point where you can play it without having to listen to it while you play. It also shows you the strumming pattern used in the song. So you could set your metronome to 93 BPM and get a feel for how the song is strummed.

When I’m learning a song I’m not familiar with, I’ll listen to it while I read the tab so I can get a sense of how the chord changes go.

As the song starts, you’ll see that it shows the intro has you going between G and Cadd9, which is a great, simple way to get a good tone change with similar notes in the chords. I then pulled up last night’s performance on YouTube, which was exceptional and played a little differently. That version seems to stay on G until the first chord changes just before she starts the verse.

You’ll find that is pretty common for acoustic songs, giving you room for your interpretation. Be sure to stay true to the song’s intent and vibe. Later, we’ll talk about remaking a song and how you can make serious changes.

The Dsus4 is a subtle change to the D chord. You will either slide the ring finger up from the second fret to the third on the High e-string or leave it there and use your pinky finger to play the third fret. You can use this elsewhere as a nice pull-off to go from the Dsus4 to D, adding some texture to the D chord.

You’ll see the Em7 as you begin the chorus and perhaps note the similarities between the Em7, the Cadd9, the G, and the Dsus4. This is essentially a great way to walk the chords up or down with subtle movements. It's a clever songwriting trick.

UltimateGuitar.com — Author’s account

The second page of the tab continues the same chord progressions and only varies when it comes to the interlude, which gives you a nice Bm to throw a twist into your pattern. The Bm, C, and G are a nice three-chord separation from the verses and the choruses, with the C not having the add9 attached.

We covered using these more exotic chords to transition back to the root chord. The Dsus4, which becomes an Esus4 with the capo, makes a nice chord to serve as the turnaround to the root throughout this song.

I always enjoyed learning a new song, especially if it was from a style I didn’t usually play. A song like this can show you different chord progressions, how to write beautiful music with a handful of chords, and the little tricks you can use to add some zest to your chords.

Remember to play every day for at least 15 minutes. You’re doing great!