Lesson 51 Video

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Lesson 51

Lesson 51 - Kodachrome

Kodachrome (part 1)

 

Lesson Goals:

♦ Review the A7 and D7 chords
♦ Become familiar with chord progression for part 1 of "Kodachrome"
♦ Learn Riff in "Kodachrome"

In this lesson we will begin to learn the song "Kodachrome" by Paul Simon. This song breaks all the rules for "Three Chords and the Truth" by being comprised of a total of eleven chords. Hang on to your hat!

There is a lot going on in this song so we split it into two lessons. First we will work on the verse section and the predominate riff that is played in the song. In the next lesson we will learn the chorus and put the whole song together.

Let's take a look at the chart for the verses.

51 kodachrome part 1 01

Become familiar with the chord changes then we can go over them in the video.

Riff: There is a predominate guitar riff that takes place in this song. It comes in at the third measure of the above chart on the G chord and continues through a walk down to the Em chord. We added the TAB for this riff below for your benefit, if you would like to learn it, but it is not necessary if you want to just strum the chord progression.

51 koda riff tab 01

The riff starts on the 3rd fret of the 6th string which, as you know, is a G note. Then the riff finishes on the last four notes in a walk down to the Em chord. Try it out!

Lesson 51 Summary

Practice this chord progression using different rhythm patterns and experiment a little. The riff or "signature lick" is something you should attempt to work on a bit but you can play the whole song without it if you choose.

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Jam Tip!

We have included a TAB chart with a predominate riff that takes place in this song. Many songs have a particular guitar riff that is repeated several times throughout the song and this is known as a "signature lick". These signature licks often become as popular with the listener as the chorus or hook of the song and many songs are identified by their signature lick. A few that you have already learned are "Folsom Prison Blues", "Sweet Home Alabama"," Wish You Were Here", and the Intro Riffs for "Play that Funky Music" and "Day Tripper". With each of these songs you could just play the signature lick and the listener would immediately know what song you are playing.

A7 Chord

49 a7 pic

D7 Chord

50 d7 pic