How To Play Free Bird By Lynyrd Skynyrd - Guitar Lesson 

Today at work, I heard Free Bird. I thought, I never learned that song. I never tried to learn that song. I want to learn that song. So, I got home, turned on RU-vid, thinking I'll search how to play Free Bird. I see Marty has a new video. Oh, I'll watch that first, then search for Free Bird... I kid you not...🤯

Beautiful guitar!

I’ve had a slide for years and have never tried it. Marty, you just gave me a reason. Thanks for the lesson.✌🏻

The hardest part of Free Bird? Remembering how it goes 😂

Thanks Marty. Just got a LP few weeks ago perfect song to learn

Man the top on that guitar really pops and is spectacular. Bea Utiful

Cool thanks Marty God bless you bro😊

I love your shirt!!! The Devils Rejects is one of my favorite movies but most people I talk to today never heard of it. Took me a sec to realize the "Free Bird" ending...I love that part! Perfect for your lesson! I pretty much learned the intro like you play it without a slide but I definitely picked up a couple of sweet notes from your lesson that i was missing...though I never refined my version since the 70's. Thanks for all of your videos. Great stuff! Foot note- Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dickey Betts and The Great Southern, the J Geils Band and Peter Frampton performed at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia June of 1977 before a crowd of 91,000. Great concert! The year before (1976) "Yes" performed there before a crowd of 120,00-130,00. I attended both. They used to call them dance concerts. (They would fill all the seats and then fill the field or floor so that there was standing room only). I don't think they do concerts like that anymore today. I googled those two concerts recently and was surprised to find a lot of pictures from those shows and then I saw an aerial view of the crowded stadium. It blew my mind, It was an unbelievable site looking down on the filled stadium from above..it was filled to the brink with people. I believe that image came from WMMR...a popular Philadelphia FM radio station of the time . WYSP and WMMR were the popular philly stations. Their was no internet or cell phones and MTV didn't even exist Lol. Oh.. and the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia was tore down a long time ago and the Wells Fargo center was built on those grounds. Home of the Philadelphia Flyers and the NBA 76'ers. Oh...just realized...and the Yes concert at JFK 1976 was also a celebration for the Bi-Centennial..200 year anniversary...July 4th 1776.

Thanks Marty

Allen Collins was a great guitar player, and songwriter. He wrote that song year's before they were ever any body. People always said when he played it was like being drawn to him. He had a certain energy that only a few have.

Thanks Marty! I dont know why but ive seen Skynerd more tgan any other band. It seems theyd be at any festival or even races for years. Free Bird live is an institution around here.

Very helpful! Thank you

At keg party’s back in the 80s and 90s this was a must do song, and all the way thru til today… even country people ask for it… the leads are somewhat monotonous, but that’s it! You could always get a decent reaction if you pulled it off… Great lesson again Marty! 😅

Thanks Marty!

Thanks buddy that awesome that makes me want to play that again

GREAT TONE

Thanks!

love your teaching mate

It’s the late great Ronnie Van Zant you must of played with Johnny or Donnie the 38 special member. This band is special to me I grew up in Jacksonville Florida right down the road from Lakeshore Baseball park where the band all started ahh Gary Rossington on the slide so many great licks Gimme 3 steps with the hybrid picking Allen Collins the Genius of Ed King my guitar hero’s great one Marty 🎉

Absolutely superb lesson. Cheers

One of goats. Good lesson and inspiration!

Great looking Gibson , Thanks for the Lesson , It was Ronny before the crash , now its Johnny . 😮

Great lesson ! You finally explained it slow enough for metro grasp it! Beautiful LP!

Thanks for the lesson 🤘🤘 that was friggin awesome. Now i got to get my slide out and try it 😂 not to mention all the parts i hadn't figured out yet. Got the main rhythm of the song down, but not the rest of it. Where I've only played rhythm my whole life, and now want to figure out the rest of it.

Awesome job. I’ve been away from playing for a few years and Am fiddling around with the guitar somewhat again, finally & you did an awesome job of explaining & showing how to play Free Bird & with some great, acceptable slight variations “AND” using a slide as honestly, that’s how it’s supposed to be played. Don’t know why I haven’t noticed your platform before now but I’m glad I did because you’re good & please except the compliment from an old returning musician & for the kicker, my parents were teachers so I think I’m qualified enough to hand out a star or two to put on top of a paper. 👍☝️

That's a top LP right there

“Im not a pimple on Ry Cooders *ss.”🤣👏🏻⭐️ good lesson

Dude ! Thanks for a great lesson 👍✌️

OMG that Les Paul 😍

Just found your channel 🎸 new sub 👍🏻 liking the way you teach Marty. Love this song…. now to learn it 👍🏻 cheers buddy 👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🎸

RONNIE!

New Guitar? That an Awesome top! Love it

Thank you. Glad I found your channel ❤@@!

Thanks for the choice and tutorial, great song!

Something people miss during the verse progression, on the last D chord Allen hammers open note and 2nd fret on the G string. Listen!

Top quality Marty....I don't think you ever done Sweet Home Alabama though!

I guess you do,use the wrap around!, 😊😊😊😊😊 I e never noticed….it does sound a bit brighter and the bends with light gauge strings are much easier to. Thanks man

I also was influened by them. I helped a ederly neighbor when I was about 13 clean out their shed. I found some tab books from his son that was covered in rat shit and piss😂. I asked if I coukd have them and thats how I taught myself guitar. One of the tab books was LS and the rest was history.

Very cool lesson. I learned the rhythm and slide parts as a kid, but was always too lazy to tackle the ending solo. Might just have to learn that now. Also, that’s my favorite guitar in your collection.. that I know of. lol.. Is that a ‘58? I know you did a video on that guitar.. I might have to look that up now. lol 👍🏼

The slide part actually doesn't have a "B" string. Gary used two G strings tuned together and rocked the slide back and fourth on both to get the sound he got. So his guitar was strung EADGGe.

So is it G mixolydian ? I am learning modes

Marty 5150, Off topic but I wanted to ask you are the Murphy lab R9'S really that much better than a good standard historic R9 VOS?

@Marty5150 Freebird always was (and still is) one of my favourite songs. The energy that is set free, when the solo parts start gives me the goosebumps. There's only one other solo that triggers a similar reaction at me and that is Santana's 'She's not there'. But that's on a different sheet of music. I'm not a guitar-player. I mean, I would never call me that way. I had some lessons as I was young but I never was able to understand the theories. Or better said, I never could feel the theories and that's the only way I can experience music. Maybe because I'm undiagnosted autistic, I mean, I can't even play with a pick, because I have to feel the strings. And that's the same reason why I can't use a "bottleneck" for sliding. But whatsoever, I'm not young anymore and my only remaining guitar (a cheap but beloved Epiphone Gothic LP Studio) is just catching dust for years and years now. LIke I mentioned, I never was good, even not with the lessons. I just learned some riffs and that's it. Not one song completely. But things got even worse, because now, years (actually almost two decades) later, I unlearned everything I've ever knew about guitar playing. Much stuff happened in my life, good and not so good things. I moved on, changed priorities but... still I can hear some kind of (metaphorical) whisper, when my eyes meets my LP. And without any plan or the intention to start over again, I started to watch videos about guitar playing and guitar lessons. And often when I do that, I think "hmm... hey, that sounds doable for me!". But in the next moment I realize that it's never that easy for me and most things are much more difficult as it seems. But some vids gave me a little glimpse of hope, that some stuff REALLY is doable for me. And now I found your channel and the way you explain stuff and also takes your time to even explain every little part very slow... well, that's a whole different level of hope for me. I watched this video and yes, I'm pretty sure I'll play this one day. Not with the sliding, but you provided alternative ways, so that will work fine for me. But well, I'm not megalomaniac, I know that even with your extraordinary teaching style Freebird isn't the song I should start with. First I should feel save again on the frets and yes, develope some new hard skin on my fingertips. :D But no matter if it takes weeks or months or whatever, I'll be back to lear this song with your tutorial. And most likely even more songs, because I now subscribed to your channel and will rummage through your other vids for sure.

That's a good looking LP. What model is that?

The flame on that LP is amazing! Is that an R8 or R9?

Knocking on the heavens door by Guns?

Have a couple of cold ones on me. 🍺

Uh, how many amps do u need???

Great lesson brother! Just curious, is that a Les Paul Standard? I'm thinking about buying a left-handed model in "Honey Burst." Also, I may have asked you before but did you know Gregg Fulkerson? He was a friend of mine and a great guitarist from Franklin.

Is your LP a 58' reissue?

👍🤟

Love that flame top!!! Why was Johnnie disgusted with you???? I hope you tell that story!!

Does a southern boy heart good

Devils rejects 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

This better not start a new round of free bird call outs at the local bars.

pLaY mE sOme SkYnRt!

Not son Marty. Johnny is his little brother

Seriously? How about Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?

The released album version was different than the original version. People don't even know there's an original version that wasn't released. The original version was changed during the recording sessions in Muscle Shoals. And to be honest, the changed version is better, IMO.