Dust in the Wind - Kansas

This is a really good song to learn fingerpicking. The intro starts the song with a challenge, but the verse and chorus and bridge are harder to play, so it gradually becomes more difficult as the song progresses.

In the intro, the chords go as follow:

C, Cmaj7, Cadd9, C; Asus2, Asus4, Am, Asus2; Cadd9, Cmaj7, C, Cadd9; Am, Asus4, Asus2, Am.

It seems complicated but what it means is that you keep all your fingers on the same fret for 4 measures at a time, but changing the notes on the B string. So, on the chord of C you play with your first finger on the B string first fret, then without it for Cmaj7, then add your pinky for Cadd9, back to first finger for C. You do the same thing for the Am chords for 4 measures.

Kansas - Dust in the Wind P1

Kansas - Dust in the Wind P2

Kansas - Dust in the Wind P3

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Warning - Green Day Bass

This bass line is a nice major scale exercise.

Green Day - Warning Bass

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Warning - Green Day

This song is pretty simple. In the recording it is hard to hear the guitar that does the chords, because the bass is doubled by a guitar, but in the live recordings you can see billy joe playing chords. You can find the bass part here: Green Day - Warning Bass

Green Day - Warning Lead Sheet

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Hate to Say I Told You So - The Hives

Pretty straightforward song. The F5 is played on the A string.

The Hives - Hate to Say I told You So Lead Sheet

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones

This song is played at 173bpm on the record, but they play it much faster live.

The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop Lead Sheet

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Sheena is a Punk Rocker - The Ramones

This is a punk song with a surf rock feel. For the main riff, they slide into the quarter note and the eight note after the rest. Play the song all the way to the D.C. which will take you back to the intro. Then play the song all the way to the end with the repeats.

The Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker Lead Sheet

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Blackbird - The Beatles

This song is great for fingerpicking. It seems quite hard and intimidating when you first look at the sheet, but if you break it down into section, it is much easier. This song is build into 5 parts. The 2nd part is the hardest, because it changes chords often and quickly. The best trick is to work on the bass line first, because it goes up chromatically from fret 3 to 7 and goes back down the same way. There are three types of chords, major (finger on the A string and B string with one fret in between), minor (same thing but no fret in between) and diminished (finger on A string and high E string with the latter string being one fret lower). If you look below in part two the first chord is Major, the second one is diminished and the first one of the following measure is minor. So, what I suggest is that you learn those shapes of chords and look at the bass line while playing this part, so it feels less all over the place. One more thing, if you notice there is a G string open in between every chord, so learn to change chords first then add the extra notes in between.

The Beatles have rereleased this song several times, so the ending of the song changes slightly depending on the version.

The Beatles - Blackbird P1

The Beatles - Blackbird P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen

This song is pretty simple and it’s a great one to learn fingerpicking with. The pattern is written in the first measure and you just repeat it throughout. There is a break on the first measure of the last line, but only the first time through.

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah Lead Sheet

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Living Room - Tegan and Sara

This song is played with power chords on the guitar (G5, Eb5 and F5 on A string and Bb5 on E string), but I wrote the sheet with full chords, because the other instruments in the song play the minor and major thirds. In the live performances, they extend some parts of the song.

Tegan and Sara - Living Room Lead Sheet

Tegan and Sara - Living Room Lead Sheet P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Say You Won't Let Go - James Arthur

This song is based on one fingerpicking riff that repeats throughout the song. The rhythm is challenging, but once you get it you just have to repeat it.

James Arthur - Say You Won’t Let Go

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Let it Be - The Beatles

Let it Be is a classic. It’s a great song for beginners to play the rhythm section and intermediate players to work on the solo. Below is the lead sheet and the second page is the guitar solo. The Beatles have rereleased this song several times with different solos, so look for the 2015 remastered version.

The Beatles - Let it Be Lead Sheet

The Beatles - Let it Be Solo (2015 Remastered Version)

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Keep the Wolves Away - Uncle Lucius

This song is fairly simple and the strumming pattern repeats throughout the song. Below the lead sheet, there is the tablature for the two solos.

Uncle Lucius - Keep the Wolves Away Lead Sheet P1

The first solo is played on the second time through the instrumental part and the second solo is the third time through the instrumental part.

Uncle Lucius - Keep the Wolves Away Solo P1

Uncle Lucius - Keep the Wolves Away Solo P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

In the Shape of a Heart - Jackson Browne

This song is pretty simple, you could play all power chords the whole song, because the minor and suspended come from the keyboards. The form of the song is the challenge, because it is not a typical verse-chorus song, every section changes a little bit almost every time you play it.

Jackson Browne - In the Shape of a Heart Lead Sheet P1

In the Shape of a Heart - Jackson Browne Lead Sheet P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Ends - Everlast

This strumming pattern for this song is a bit challenging, but at least it’s the same the whole song. During the bridge, the guitar does a pentatonic riff in E.

Everlast - Ends Lead Sheer

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran

This song is simple, but watch out for the rhythm and the end of the chorus, because there are a lot of chords in a short period of time. Other than that, Ed adds some hammer-ons on the D and the A of the verse.

Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud Lead Sheet

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Speechless - Dan + Shay

This song does not have a lot of guitar, except for some popcorn style playing starting in the middle of the song. Below is the lead sheet for this song and there is also a version below that to play with a capo 6, so you use less barre chords.

Dan + Shay Speechless Lead Sheet P1

Dan + Shay Speechless Lead Sheet P2

The version below is the same song, but with a capo on fret 6 to make it easier if you are not comfortable with tons of barre chords like the version above.

Dan + Shay Speechless Capo 6 Lead Sheet P1

Dan + Shay Speechless Capo 6 Lead Sheet P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Angela - The Lumineers

This song is fairly simple. The strumming pattern is all 8th notes, but accented on the up beat. In the intro, there is a hammer-on on the 5th string.

Angela - The Lumineers Lead Sheet p1

The Lumineers - Angela Lead Sheet P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

That Thing you Do - The Wonders

This song is from a movie called That Thing you Do with Tom Hanks and Liv Tyler. It’s a great song and it is harder than it seems.

That Thing you Do - The Wonders Lead Sheet P.1

That Thing you Do - The Wonders Lead Sheet P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Bombtrack - Rage Against the Machine

This song is really fun to play and not too complicated. There are two main riffs, the intro and the bridge. The two riffs are repeated throughout the song and aren’t too difficult, but pay attention to the rhythm.

Rage Against the Machine - Bombtrack P1

Rage Against the Machine - Bombtrack P2

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com

Green Green Rocky Road - Oscar Isaac Cover

This song is a cover from Dave Van Ronk called Green Green Rocky Road played by Oscar Isaac in the movie Inside Llewyn Davis. It’s a very good fingerpicking song using a thumb alternating bass line.

When practicing this song, you have to tackle the thumb part first. Your thumb should constantly be alternating between the low D string (we are in drop D tuning : D, A, D, G, B, E with a capo on fret 4) and the high D string. Once you are comfortable with that, try to add the melody one note at a time. It’s a song that you can loop easily, which means that you can practice one measure at a time repeatedly without stopping and it will still be pleasant to the ear.

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions or comments you can contact us at patrice@paliatsky.com