Just purchased this and am working on it...wow. Excellent work out on so many levels...! To self: so you think you know your open chords and strings.. 😅. Excellent excellent lesson....
Thank you so much for the kind words my friend. 🙏🏻 I’m so glad you found this lesson to be useful. Don’t hesitate to check out some of my others too! I really appreciate your support 🍻
True, he certainly incorporates a lot of Americana and country touches. Certainly helps to have a wide palette of colours to choose from.. that's what jazz is all about IMO 🍻
Wow what a lesson, your playing is spectacular. While listening to you play I was repeatedly reminded of a country song I remember from when I was a kid ... The Tennessee Waltz. You would play a killer version of that tune.
"cowboy chords" get a lot of ridicule from many guitar players, but this approach really boosts their musicality - beautiful lesson, I'm getting on it right now
Then those alleged guitar players are just strange. Must be music majors. Learning to make music only enjoyable to other music majors. Replacing heart and soul with more notes. Bad trade.
Why have I only discovered this talented man just now? I'm a confident player but lack the little tricks and trills which he demonstrates so well. His playing is sublime. Thank you!
Fabulous lesson as always! I'm wondering if you could do a lesson where you just go through every open position chord and show all the tricks and variations you use ("Here's what you can do with an Am chord; here's what you can do with the B7," etc.). It wouldn't work for a composition but would be super helpful. Thanks either way!!
Thanks for the comment buddy. Hmmm, I think that’s a cool idea. I’ll give it some thought and see if I can find a way to put the examples in little short musical contexts 👍🏻
Another thing: thanks for having relatively advanced content in which you don’t explain the position of each finger, string and fret. If people are trying to play what is in this lesson, they don’t need that. It’s why I skip most lessons after a minute or so.
Ah thanks mate, that's so good to hear.. getting that balance right is something I put real thought into, and I agree that breaking things down into fret numbers is tedious and almost misses the entire point in the effort to advance one's playing.
I love the tone and the beauty in the simplicity and how it builds. Would love more lessons like this as the ideas are so applicable to the music I play with others.
Hey Alex, Thank you for posting all your studies. After playing and studying guitar for more than 50 years, it’s nice to see a fairly comprehensive study of open chords in Americana style. Well done. Fantastic playing.
I have always gravitated more towards playing using open chords. It does seem that most people are in a rush to get to the more complicated and fancier ways of playing that overlook using open chords, but I have found that there's so much to do and learn by embellishing and working within open chords.
@@AlexFarranGuitar I thought about it last night, and it appears that what you do is build a melody using chord notes and transition notes and then build other chords around those notes using various voicings and inversions. Have I got it right? If so, that's what I've been trying to do with my music, but I am no where near as knowledgeable or skilled at it as you are.
@@footsgrandson I had that issue too. There are a few things you can try, most of which depend on the type of pickups you have. The first thing you can try is to adjust the height and angle of your pickups. That helped with both my electric guitars, but not completely. If your pickups are the type with a slotted screw head, you can raise or lower each individual pole, but only do this after you've adjusted the overall height of the pickup itself. One of my electric guitars has that style of pickups, and it worked great. My other guitar, however, does not have the adjustable poles, so I did something I wouldn't recommend unless you are willing to buy all new pickups. I tapped on each of the magnets in the pickups until they were all even and lowered a bit. In other words, I took out the arch the magnets made in my pickups. This can easily break the pickup, but I got lucky and mine didn't break. Try that method at your own risk. Or.....you can take the guitar to a reputable guitar shop and have them do all the adjustments for you.
Very good job, sir. Of course, Tony Rice's iconic LP from 1983, Church Street Blues, is a masterpiece of this way of making a guitar sound its absolute biggest and most beautiful -- using the techniques you showed in this lesson!
Thanks buddy 🙏🏻 One of my all time favourite flat picking records by one of my all time favourite players. Definitely some of his influence creeping in as ever, but a very different approach and execution of course in that we’re going for big spacious washes of sustaining chords as opposed to filling in all the spaces with intricate lines. Just shows how much scope and freedom we really have on this incredibly versatile instrument 👌🏻😍
Alex, Brian of Active Melody got me off zero to a solid foundation, Adrian over at Anyone Can Play Guitar showed me what I needed to set my sites on next, and your lessons are the pièces de résistance. I will be purchasing individual lessons as I work through the tastiest ones for me. Great job, love your playing style, and approach accumen. Cropper and Dupree were my early benchmark players. Cheers, Mike
This is exactly why I love this channel… we can find some great materials like this ! It’s seems simple to play and all guitarist have heard this style and think that easy to play but I think we must to play that properly to sound good… so that need to take the time to work this tab correctly .. thank’s Alex to your good job … great quality of guitar lesson as usually 👍👌
Thank you for the comment my friend, that really means a lot! Absolutely correct.. many players secretly struggle to get their open position chords and transitions between them clean. Every note had to ring out 👌🏻💫
Yeah Alex the difference is made in the détail…play the right two or three strings together and not another… here is the work ! I never take before the time to play this style with the good rules and now it’s done … it’s a real happiness because this play in open chords sounds so great 👍thchuss my friend
Just discovered you via algorithm. I’m a “master of none” guitar player who’s wheelhouse is blues/classic rock but love jazz, classical, country, etc. I’ve always enjoyed the beauty of Americana style but haven’t quite put it all together. Your sound is beautiful and your instruction has opened up things already. Subscribed! Cheers!
thanks Adrian, a great lesson that also helps me link fingers to ears. Because of the slow pace I can hear where the chords, double stops and hammer ons are "voice leading" and try to pull that sound without always looking at fingers and fret position. Just play on slowly and see my if fingers can start to find the right landing spot by feel. Nice
when you put 99% of your brain hard drive into interval awareness, other important things like peoples names get mis filed. I've commented a good many times before and do know your MR A Farran, big apologies. From now on I will only divert 98% of brain hard drive to creative learning😉 ANother lesson learned.
Haha no need to apologise buddy, just thought it was worth mentioning 😂 I always appreciate your comments and enthusiasm my friend. Don’t let it stop! 🍻
Hey there, love your channel! New subscriber as of yesterday. Thanks for the amazing content! I’m curious if you have any videos on your sound setup? I love the thick warm tone you have and wanted to know where it comes from.
Hey buddy, thank you so much, I really appreciate the comment 🙏🏻 In most of the videos I mention a bit about my tone and gear used but have yet to do a dedicated “gear” video but will likely do one soon. The thing is, my setup is always very minimal/simple. Usually a tele of some sort, or an old Archtop into a vintage Fender amp with a splash of reverb and sometimes some trem from the amp too. I use some light overdrive sometimes also. I favour Nobels, Bluesbreaker and Klon type circuits for that 👌🏻
Well, me again... I just became a Patreon member... I scrolled through about 20 lessons and loved everything I saw...then I saw The Rain Song and said, okay he's already the best teacher on you tube... and then one of my absolute favorite LZ songs...😊 just had to swing back by and say thank you for all the lessons and covering many genres and artists.
Great lesson. I’ve never been a solo-oriented guitarist. I just don’t have the hot licks or brashness to pull it off convincingly. Instead, this is the kind of thing I hear in my head. David Rawlings with Gillian and Adam Levy’s work with Nora Jones are also both exemplary for this stuff.
Thanks Rob, glad you enjoyed it. Oh for sure, you mentioned a couple of fantastic players there. I will be doing a lesson on a Dave Rawlings vibe very soon 👌🏻
Goshdamn Alex! I always get so much out of your videos.. And your playing - regardless of genre - is absolutely stellar. Will 100% be signing up for your patreon, dude. Holy moses.
Great lesson once again. Thank you. Daniel Lanois has always been a huge inspiration for the chords/texture playing. Glad you mentioned "Not dark yet". Your lessons are pushing me beyond and I hope to purchase an individual lesson one day. Seriously thinking about becoming a patron as well.
Thanks for the comment buddy, I’m so glad you’re finding the lessons to be inspiring. It’s hard to find someone who you resonate with stylistically isn’t it? Glad you’re a fellow Lanois fan also buddy. Hope to see you on the Patreon sometime 🙏🏻🍻
Two CD's come to mind: Mr. Lucky by J.L Hooker and the song featuring Ry Cooder is: This Is Hip. The other CD is Bop Til You Drop by Rt Cooder It's the best one.
Fantastic lesson. Thankyou. Do you ever talk about your tone. I know it’s contentious but it’s a very lovely sound today. Shall be re watching this many times
Thank you my friend, I appreciate the comment! 🙏🏻 I do have a “Tone Talk” section in most of my videos, but basically it’s always the same, very simple stuff. A telecaster of some sort into a Deluxe Reverb circuit (whether my vintage 69’ Fender or this Emprize Falcon clone). 👍🏻
oh wow, what ag great lesson. I downloaded the tab as I was watching. Really looking forward to working on this one (still working and really enjoying the Americana Soul lesson) ... I hope you'll share more in this space, thank you!
This is an excellent lesson! Really going to help me dress up my chords. Would you consider does this for all of the popular guitar keys on your patreon? This same style lesson in D, E, G, and A would be incredible!
Great lesson ~ I’m an open position FAN too ~ lots of folks like to try to push away from them because it appears to be less sophisticated…? The possibilities are heavenly
Thank you Alex. I just stumbled on your channel. I play mostly Americana Roots music, this will really help! Great lesson and looking forward to more. Thanks for sharing, nice playing!
I sure enjoy your videos. Your playing is terrific and you have the talent and ear to embrace the individual character of each style you are playing. I love learning all these bits and pieces of different styles and mix them in with the bits and pieces I learned from someplace else. I can’t play all the different styles but I end up playing with the hodgepodge of stuff that in the end just sounds like me. Anyway, tip of the hat, sir. Well done and thank you.
Another gem. You hit me where I need it, one of those people who have not paid enough attention to open position. And loving that tele! Interesting, hollow but without the thinline f-hole. It really sounds gorgeous. (Another thought - slow 3/4 is not so easy to play really well ...?)
Thanks buddy, glad you found it useful! 🙏🏻 Yes, I love that it’s fully hollow but without the f-holes.. it’s a really smart guitar 👌🏻 interesting thoughts re: 3/4 playing.. I guess for some people they don’t play too many tunes in that time signature. It has a such a beautiful lilting feel to it though and gives us a sense of more space somehow 😎👌🏻
A fantastic study into what can be achieved in the ‘open’ position, very nice indeed. Mark Knopfler has already had a mention but he was the inspiration behind me wanting to learn the instrument back in the early 2000’s. 👍😎
Thank you my friend, I’m glad you enjoyed the video! 🙏🏻 The weather is a bit cold here but at least the sun is shining and spring feels a little closer! 👌🏻🧡
Love this one Alex... I only follow your lessons on my nylon Cordoba gk negra pro... i always want to break out the tele... but i love the nylon so much... is that wrong!? I so love secondary dominants in conjuction with a quick passing min7b5s, addicted to rewriting my compositions involving that stuff at the moment and that's all thanks to your amazingly easy to digest approaches to discovery, in about a year there is a noticeable difference in my tone pallet! Thanks man!
That’s so good to hear Stuart! Thank you for the comment mate🙏🏻 I don’t see anything wrong with playing this stuff on nylon string at all! Do what you prefer 😎
Sweet mate,, kinda know all these sounds - but you did it in a slightly different flavour to me so was like a fresh thing....I froth on how limitless the guitar is!!
Were you using a bit of tremelo in your signal path? I fear some new electric players may try these moves with no reverb and no trem and wonder why they dont sound as nice. Players that likely will benefit from this instruction on open voicing chords with hammer ons and pulloffs also may need some words on appropriate tone settings.
I really hope you're doing music full time: RU-vid, teaching, etc. Your techniques and style have studio musician written all over btw....so something to think about. Also, the Partscasters you come up with are wicked.🔥
Thanks man, I appreciate the sentiment. Indeed, I’ve been a full time musician for many years now. A mixture of teaching, session work and regular gigging/touring. Getting into the RU-vid/Patreon thing lately has transformed things hugely and added a whole other dimension and I’m really loving it! 🙏🏻🍻
Thanks mate. It’s a Karl Longbottom guitars T16 (fully hollow). I show it in more detail in this video here; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3YfBdDBBc_o.htmlsi=keGdyyLhVropEKy7
My opinion is that virtually all folk based western music except super tight bluegrass is better in open tuning, even a lot of material people typically don't bring there. It just takes some practice to get the minor voicings, and honestly I have played standards in open tuning, just muting stuff and doing shell voicings to get just the major sevenths and nines and all that. But anything in the whole singer songwriter area is going to sound four times as good if you can figure it out in one of the many open chord tunings. Here are a couple fun ones not as often used. C G D F C E - play an a major shape and then take it off and you are playing the beginning of coyote by Joni. This tuning is very rich, many many possibilities, have done numerous new songs with it. E A C# E A E. putting the third low gets some really neat cello-y things happening. E G# B E G# E - this is one of Curtis Mayfields, does not work on every guitar, is amazing tho. Finally, D A D F A D just D minor... John Fahey used this, it immediately makes you write differently.
Thanks David. Not sure what you mean? I’m just using a telecaster into an Emprize Falcon (vintage deluxe reverb circuit). Using a Strymon flint for a small touch of tremolo too. 👍🏻
Oh yeah!.. I love that album! I need to revisit it. Back when it came out I spent some time transcribing some of the tunes. Loved his version of The Beatles “Anna” too 👌🏻😍
@@AlexFarranGuitarThanks, Alex. At my level, this is the lesson I need, especially with so much musical structure (theory) in it. I think I'll be spending a few hours on this very lesson, and then as a jumping off point. Very valuable.