Jane Says by Jane’s Addiction

Jane Says Sheet Music/TAB

A student recently asked me to teach them this. “Jane Says” by Jane’s Addiction is an insanely catchy song with a cool guitar riff that is essentially just two chords (G and A) with a couple pull-offs to decorate the A chord.

Learning this song offers the chance to practice a couple of useful ways of playing G and A chords. Notice that the 5th-string is muted by your ring finger while playing the G-chord which frees up the index finger and allows it to more fluently transition to the A-chord which is played with only your index finger by laying it across the 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings and the 2nd fret. This allows your ring finger to easily reach the 4th fret for the pull-offs during the A-Chord. The chorus uses a similar index finger barre covering the 2nd and 3rd strings during the Gsus2add#11 (a fancy name for a simple modification of a G chord). Arrows are included in the sheet music to indicate the strumming pattern I recommend.

Enjoy!

Grow Old With You by Adam Sandler – Valentine’s Day Repertoire #2

Chords/Lyrics

If you learn “Grow Old With You” by Adam Sandler you can win your girl’s heart while bringing her to loving tears of joy just like Robbie (Adam Sandler) did to Julie (Drew Barrymore) in the hilarious 1998 romantic comedy “The Wedding Singer”. If you aren’t familiar with the scene you should check it out here. And yes, that is Billy Idol in the scene acting as a flight attendant to help Robbie save the day.

Use swing rhythm when you strum the chords and remember that a C#m is just like a Bm but at the 4th fret. Good luck!

Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley – Valentine’s Day Repertoire #1

Chords/Lyrics          Finger Picking Pattern

With Valentine’s Day less than a week away, it’s time for all of us to remember why we picked up the guitar in the first place: to impress girls that are way out of our league (such as our wives or girlfriends). That’s why between now and V-Day I will be showing you how to play a few of the all-time best love songs ever sung so you can woo the object of your affection and honor your original motivation for playing the guitar.

Our first song, the classic 1961 hit, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley, is sure to make her swoon. I have provided both the lyrics with chords as well as a suggested finger picking pattern (it is also possible to use a pick) which closely mimics the piano on The King of Rock ‘N’ Roll’s original recording. Don’t be thrown off by the 6/8 time signature – there is nothing but straight eighth notes in my arrangement.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any requests for more love songs!

Auld Lang Syne

Chords/Lyrics          Melody

Happy New Year guitar lovers! Have you made your New Year’s resolutions? Any with regard to guitar?

One of my resolutions is make regular posts in this including weekly postings of 3-5 chord simple songs of which this posting is the first. And what song could be more appropriate to kick of a new year than the Traditional Scottish tune “Auld Lang Syne”. The phrase “Auld Lang Syne” can be translated literally as “Old, Long, Since” and has meaning similar to “Long, long ago” or “Days gone by.” If you are concerned that it is a waste of time to learn a song that is sung only once a year, I found it interesting to read that Auld Lang Syne has been played at a variety parting/sentimental occasions around the world such as funerals and graduations – check out the wikipedia page for an extensive list of occasions Auld Lang Syne has been played at.

We will play it in the key of D where it is easy to sing along to. Auld Lang Syne can be played with just 4 chords (D, A7, G and Bm). If you can’t play Bm yet, I know what your New Year’s guitar resolution should be… In the meantime, you can substitute D for Bm and it will sound good enough. I have posted both a chords/lyrics version of the tune as well as a melody version in the Sheet Music/Tabs section where you can find more songs and exercises.

Happy New Year!

Dan