Playing a Whole Song

Last lesson, and it is the whole job: play through one track from beginning to end without stopping.

This one is classic rock in A major, moving between A, D, C, E and G. You know every one of those as an open chord, and every one as a power chord.

Go through it four times, differently each time.

First pass, power chords only, all downstrokes, one per beat. Lesson one and lesson five.

Second pass, open chords, strumming. Lesson two and lesson three. Lift on beat four.

Third pass, solo over it using A minor pentatonic — the same box shape from lesson seven, moved down so it starts on the fifth fret instead of the seventh. The shape does not change. Only where you put it does.

Fourth pass, mix them. Rhythm through the verses, a few bent notes over the parts that feel open. This is what playing in a band actually is.

A

A major, the home chord. Three fingers in a row on the same fret.

Classic rock in A major. Four passes, in order, no stopping inside a pass.

If you can do the fourth pass, you can play rock guitar. Not well yet, but really — the remaining work is more of the same, on more songs, for longer.

Go back through the catalogue and find another track in a key you know. Everything in this path transfers to it.