Hey Friend,
Guitar work doesn’t have to be flashy or difficult, or even intricate to be elegant.
I’ve been a fan of the band Bread since the mid-1970s.
In fact, the song “If” was my JAM in elementary school!
Back in the day (don’t know if they still do this), we would get music education once a week. The music teacher would come to class for an hour and we’d learn about the staff, melody and rhythm.
You know, the bare basics...
This was all to prepare us for the inevitable recruitment into band or orchestra, as we were all given the opportunity to get lessons on an instrument (mine was violin because my family owned one).
Fortunately for me, I’ve always liked strings more than brass or woodwind… 🙂
At the end of the school year, the teacher would bring a stack of songbooks - actually they were just lyric books - of popular songs of the day… - "Piano Man" by Billy Joel
- "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel
- “If” by Bread
We’d all have to raise our hands to request a song, and everyone knew what we were going to sing if the teacher called on me!
Most of Bread's famous hit songs showcase fingerstyle guitar and pack an emotional punch. When you slow down and listen to the guitar work, you’ll find it to be rather simple.
Let’s face it, though, simple is a strategy that works in anything you do. Any time I try to make something harder than it is, I tend to muck it up.
Let’s look at “Aubrey” by Bread.
From an arrangement standpoint, what could be simpler? A single guitar, strings (easily played on a synthesizer) and vocals.
Even the chord progression is simple, with a slow, even fingerstyle pattern and minimal variations on the pattern along the way.
The hardest part about playing the song is remembering those few variations.
And yet, the emotional content the song evokes is legendary (David Gates and Bread are famous for delivering huge emotional content).
Here’s a tissue if you need it…
Peace~
Dave
P.S. Let me know if you want to learn the song...
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