On this page I will show you the differences between the first and the second time you play the verse. In case you are getting confused now, this is how the song is arranged:
The first difference in the second verse is the low C bass note, which we discussed earlier, indicated by the blue shading. You’ll agree that this sounds much better! And that’s why we only do it the second time, that way you keep your audience interested throughout the song.
The second difference is in section 5 of the verse. The second time, you play it like this:
There is a point of attention here:
- When you play the Bb (last note in the second bar above, 3rd string, 3rd fret), it must ring out while you play the D#sus2 chord that follows. This is tricky at the beginning. You must let go of the Bbadd9 chord, keep your left ring finger firmly on the 3rd string, and then lay your left index finger on the three bass strings, on the third fret. The difficulty is that you must fret the 3 bass strings in such a way that you do not touch the 3rd string. This is because you need to lift your ring finger later in order to play the open 3rd string, at the end of the 3rd bar. You should do this as late as possible, only just before you pluck the 3rd string. I found this a tricky move at the beginning, so it may require some persistence before you play it smoothly. But hey, I can do it now, so you can learn it too. 😎
The last difference, the second time you play the verse, is the ending. This an interesting one. It’s almost identical to the ending of the first verse time (section 6), with one important difference: a fake harmonic at the end, indicated by the <0>:
- You play the 'fake harmonic' by touching the third string on the nut, so actually touching the headstock of your guitar. Make sure that that a part of your fingertip extends off the nut and touches the very beginning of the 3rd string, just barely, but enought to dull the tone down. Don’t overdo it, the string should still ring out, but make sure that you hear a clear difference in tone. It takes a bit of try and error to get it just right. What you will hear is not a harmonic, but because touching the string at one end mutes all overtones but not the fundamental tone, it will sound like a harmonic at the 12th fret, but then one octave lower! No-one expects harmonics to sound so low, so this is a pretty cool effect.
Instructions
Are you done?
Can you play along with the audio loops above?
THEN YOU’RE DONE INDEED!
Read the epilogue for some final words and recommendations.
Anything still not clear?
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