Chords for Grandma's Hands -Bill Withers - Easy Acoustic Soul Guitar Tutorial

Tempo:
114.6 bpm
Chords used:

B

A

Em

G

E

Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Show Tuner
Grandma's Hands -Bill Withers - Easy Acoustic Soul Guitar Tutorial chords
Start Jamming...
Mm -hmm, mm -hmm, mm -hmm, mm-hmm.
[A] [Em] Grandma's hands used to grab my son's grandma's hand.
Grandma's hands [B] played the tambourine so well.
[Em] Grandma's hands, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Grandma's hands, all right?
I love Bill Withers.
I love the way he plays an acoustic guitar.
I think [B] there's a lot of things that you
can learn watching this guy play,
and I'm breaking this soul classic down for you, all right?
Become a patron, [Bm] support the guitar lessons if you want.
Get a PDF for every [Em] lesson.
[E] Links in the description.
But if you came just to [Bm] rock and roll, and you love Bill Withers,
that's a cool idea.
And to respect it, [A] grab that guitar,
bring the Titches band, follow me on in.
Let's break this one down right now.
[C] All right, so maybe you've seen our Bill Withers Ain't No [B] Sunshine video.
It's actually our most successful guitar [A] video as of yet
[B] on 10 Thumbs when we did a while back before we
made the guitar a consistent thing.
And then you know Bill Withers is something I love.
I love his music, and I love how you can do some really [Em] cool
groove things, or he does, mm-hmm, mm-hmm,
[B] that get us away from just strumming the [G] guitar, which
is always nice.
Strumming the guitar is great, but it's
nice to [B] have a break and mix up some things, OK?
[Em] So let me run you [B] through what we're doing.
The intro looks [Em] like this.
And that's the principal riff that's going to [B] repeat itself
over and over again.
So let's put some tabs [Em] up there.
And you'll notice that I'm really just playing an E minor,
but I'm only [E] playing the E, [G] D, G, and B [B] strings.
So what I'm doing is my [E] thumb is on the E string,
pointer on the D [Em] string, middle on the G, and my ring on the B.
And I'm putting my middle finger here
on the second fret [G] of that D string,
and I'm pulling all these at the same [Em] time.
Now, that's going to happen two times, one and.
And you take that ring finger, and you're
going to put it on [Am] the second fret [B] of the G string.
[E]
And that makes an E [E] suspended four, OK?
So we're going from an E minor to an E sus four,
if that's important [Bm] for you to kind of,
if you [C#] like that kind of stuff.
If you don't, it sounds awesome, whether you know or not, OK?
So [Em] then it goes one and two and.
Fingers only on for the second beat.
Once you get that and, it's off.
One and two and.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm,
[E] grandma's hands
used to clap on Sunday morning.
All right, so then we go into the verse.
Now, on the verse, it [G] kind of functions
like a 12-bar blues in the sense that it's just this one loop.
And after you get the verse, you don't need a chorus or anything.
You have the rest of the song.
You're going to play that little E minor riff three [Em] times.
Grandma's hands used to clap on Sunday morning.
Grandma's hands play [B] the tambourine so well.
All right, in that part where it goes to the tambourine,
we're playing a B7.
[A] Now, [B] you're thinking, I know a B7.
This is a B7.
And this is a B7.
And you know, it's a little closer,
but it doesn't have quite the same vibe.
You watch [Bm] the BBC video.
I'm playing this like he played on his acoustic in that BBC series.
OK, so what I'm doing over this [B] B7 shape is I'm going 1 and 2
and 3, [Bm] 4.
And then [B] back.
1 and 2 and 3, 4.
You can give the 4, you can give a slap.
You can add another pinch.
Or you can do like I do and let it ring out.
1 and 2 and 3, [Em] 4.
[E]
OK, so up to that point in the verse.
[Em]
[B]
[Em] Two more times.
And then it [B] goes to this part that's like,
[A] [B] [A]
[B] [A] right [B] away.
OK, so then it goes up to [A] this next part
right [B] here, which is our B7 shape, but [G] also our E7 shape.
I'm sorry, our A7 shape.
And [B] I'm doing the exact same thing
I'm doing here with this B7.
I'm just moving [A#] it [A]
down, all right?
[G] Now, earlier when I showed you that, [A] it's from this bar shape.
We're [B] taking these big bar chords.
[A] And we're doing something called [B] chord fragments, which
is popular in jazz guitar, because you don't need all
those sounds ringing out.
If you're singing, and you got, especially if you have a band
playing, [A] [G] that sounds really [B] nice.
So I'm going [C#] B7, A7.
And it happens [B] three times, but only two beats.
Like 1, 2, 3, 4.
1, 2, [A] 3, [B] 4.
1, 2, [A] 3, 4.
[B] So I like to go 1 and [A] 2, 3 and [B] 4.
1 and 2, [A] 3 [G] and 4.
[B] 1 and [A] 2, 3 and 4.
So I'm using [B] 16th notes there.
They're going to be pretty quick.
The whole time, I have my thumb on that E string, pointer
on the D string, and middle finger on the G string.
So I'm really just going in order, thumb, middle, ring,
thumb.
1, E, and 2.
1, E, 1, E, and [A] 2, 3, and 4.
[B] 1, E, and 2, [A] 3, and 4.
[B] 1, E, and 2, [A]
3, and 4.
And [G] after the third verse, that part's actually
going to happen not three times, but five [B] times.
Then it goes back into the [Em]
two times.
OK?
[B] So let's play the whole verse together.
OK, so let's go ahead and play it from the [Em] top.
I'm going to call this the E minor sus4 riff.
And we will [B] go ahead and play through the intro
and the first [G] verse.
And after that, it just repeats itself.
You just have to change the lyrics.
So here we go.
[Em] All right?
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Grandma's hands used to clamor all the Sunday mornings.
Grandma's hands [B] splintered her tambourine so well.
[Em] Grandma's hands used to itch you out.
Her [B] woman, she'd say, baby don't you write [A] so fast?
[B] Might [A] fall on a piece of glass.
[B]
[A] Might be snakes that have grabbed [Em] their glass,
now grandma's hands.
And then we'd start over here.
Grandma's hands used to build [E] a nut on my ass.
[A] Alright?
[B] Okay, so that's the whole tune.
Grandma's hands on the acoustic guitar.
I hope you dig it.
It's a really, really great song to [G#m] play.
Really pretty song.
And a [Em] lot of fun to play.
[B] Okay, 10thumbspro.com.
Take care and until next [E] time,
[Em] [C] [B] keep on having fun.
Keep on rocking and rolling.
Peace.
[Em]
[E] [Bm] [B]
[Em] Oof!
Tasty!
I love me some Billy.
I love me some Bill Wittes.
He's so good.
So good.
Alright, check out [B] our, our, yeah,
You know sunshine [G] when she's [Am] gone.
[G]
[A] If you're interested as [Bm] well.
Okay, it's [B] another really fun song to play.
Okay, [G] 10thumbspro.com.
Until next time, keep on playing [B] guitar, keep on
Key:  
B
12341112
A
1231
Em
121
G
2131
E
2311
B
12341112
A
1231
Em
121
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_ Mm _ _ _ _ _ -hmm, _ mm _ -hmm, mm _ -hmm, mm-hmm.
_ [A] [Em] Grandma's hands used to grab my son's grandma's hand. _
_ Grandma's hands [B] played the tambourine so well.
[Em] _ _ Grandma's hands, mm-hmm, _ _ _ mm-hmm. _ _ _ _
_ Grandma's hands, all right?
I love Bill Withers.
I love the way he plays an acoustic guitar.
I think [B] there's a lot of things that you
can learn watching this guy play,
and I'm breaking this soul classic down for you, all right?
Become a patron, [Bm] support the guitar lessons if you want.
Get a PDF for every [Em] lesson.
_ [E] Links in the description.
But if you came just to [Bm] rock and roll, and you love Bill Withers,
that's a cool idea.
And to respect it, [A] grab that guitar,
bring the Titches band, follow me on in.
Let's break this one down right now.
[C] All right, so maybe you've seen our Bill Withers Ain't No [B] Sunshine video.
It's actually our most successful guitar [A] video as of yet
[B] on 10 Thumbs when we did a while back before we
made the guitar a consistent thing.
And then you know Bill Withers is something I love.
I love his music, and I love how you can do some really [Em] cool
groove things, or he does, _ _ mm-hmm, _ _ mm-hmm,
[B] that get us away from just strumming the [G] guitar, which
is always nice.
Strumming the guitar is great, but it's
nice to [B] have a break and mix up some things, OK?
[Em] _ So let me run you [B] through what we're doing.
The intro looks [Em] like this. _ _ _ _
And that's the principal riff that's going to [B] repeat itself
over and over again.
So let's put some tabs [Em] up there.
And you'll notice that I'm really just playing an E minor,
but I'm only [E] playing the E, [G] D, G, and B [B] strings.
So what I'm doing is my [E] thumb is on the E string,
pointer on the D [Em] string, middle on the G, and my ring on the B.
And I'm putting my middle finger here
on the second fret [G] of that D string,
and I'm pulling all these at the same [Em] time.
_ _ _ Now, that's going to happen two times, one and.
And you take that ring finger, and you're
going to put it on [Am] the second fret [B] of the G string.
[E] _
And that makes an E [E] suspended four, OK?
So we're going from an E minor to an E sus four,
if that's important [Bm] for you to kind of,
if you [C#] like that kind of stuff.
If you don't, it sounds awesome, whether you know or not, OK?
So [Em] then it goes one and two and.
Fingers only on for the second beat.
Once you get that and, it's off.
One and two and.
Mm-hmm, _ _ mm-hmm, _ _ _ mm-hmm, _
[E] grandma's hands
used to clap on Sunday morning.
All right, so then we go into the verse.
Now, on the verse, it [G] kind of functions
like a 12-bar blues in the sense that it's just this one loop.
And after you get the verse, you don't need a chorus or anything.
You have the rest of the song.
You're going to play that little E minor riff three [Em] times. _
_ Grandma's hands used to clap on Sunday morning.
_ _ Grandma's hands play [B] the tambourine so well.
All right, in that part where it goes to the tambourine,
we're playing a B7.
[A] _ Now, [B] you're thinking, I know a B7.
This is a B7.
_ _ And this is a B7. _
_ And you know, it's a little closer,
but it doesn't have quite the same vibe.
You watch [Bm] the BBC video.
I'm playing this like he played on his acoustic in that BBC series.
OK, so what I'm doing over this [B] B7 shape is I'm going 1 and 2
and 3, [Bm] 4.
And then [B] back.
1 and 2 and 3, 4.
You can give the 4, you can give a slap.
You can add another pinch.
Or you can do like I do and let it ring out.
1 and 2 and 3, [Em] 4.
_ _ [E] _
_ OK, so up to that point in the verse.
[Em] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ Two more times.
_ _ _ And then it [B] goes to this part that's like, _
[A] _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ [A] _ _
[B] _ _ _ [A] _ _ right [B] away.
OK, so then it goes up to [A] this next part
right [B] here, which is our B7 shape, but [G] also our E7 shape.
I'm sorry, our A7 shape.
And [B] I'm doing the exact same thing
I'm doing here with this B7.
I'm just moving [A#] it [A] _
down, all right?
_ [G] Now, earlier when I showed you that, [A] it's from this bar shape.
We're [B] taking these big bar chords.
[A] And we're doing something called [B] chord fragments, which
is popular in jazz guitar, because you don't need all
those sounds ringing out.
If you're singing, and you got, especially if you have a band
playing, _ [A] _ _ [G] that sounds really [B] nice.
So I'm going [C#] B7, A7.
And it happens [B] three times, but only two beats.
Like 1, 2, 3, 4.
1, 2, [A] 3, [B] 4.
1, 2, [A] 3, 4.
[B] So I like to go 1 and [A] 2, 3 and [B] 4.
1 and 2, [A] 3 [G] and 4.
[B] 1 and [A] 2, 3 and 4.
So I'm using [B] 16th notes there.
They're going to be pretty quick.
The whole time, I have my thumb on that E string, pointer
on the D string, and middle finger on the G string.
_ So I'm really just going _ in order, thumb, middle, ring,
thumb.
1, E, and 2.
1, E, 1, E, and [A] 2, 3, and 4.
[B] 1, E, and 2, [A] 3, and 4.
[B] 1, E, and 2, [A]
3, and 4.
_ And [G] after the third verse, that part's actually
going to happen not three times, but five [B] times.
Then it goes back into the [Em] _
two times.
_ _ _ OK?
[B] So let's play the whole verse together.
OK, so let's go ahead and play it from the [Em] top.
I'm going to call this the E minor _ _ sus4 riff.
And we will [B] go ahead and play through the intro
and the first [G] verse.
And after that, it just repeats itself.
You just have to change the lyrics.
So here we go.
[Em] All right? _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mm-hmm.
_ _ _ Mm-hmm. _
_ _ Mm-hmm.
_ Grandma's hands used to clamor all the Sunday mornings. _
Grandma's hands [B] splintered her tambourine so well.
[Em] _ Grandma's hands used to itch you out.
Her [B] woman, she'd say, baby don't you write [A] so fast?
[B] _ Might [A] fall on a piece of glass.
[B] _
[A] Might be snakes that have grabbed [Em] their glass,
now grandma's hands.
_ _ And then we'd start over here. _
Grandma's hands used to build [E] a nut on my ass.
[A] Alright?
[B] Okay, so that's the whole tune.
Grandma's hands on the acoustic guitar.
I hope you dig it.
It's a really, really great song to [G#m] play.
Really pretty song.
And a [Em] lot of fun to play.
[B] Okay, 10thumbspro.com.
Take care and until next [E] time, _
[Em] _ _ [C] _ [B] keep on having fun.
Keep on rocking and rolling.
Peace.
[Em] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ [Bm] _ _ [B] _ _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ _ _ Oof!
Tasty!
I love me some Billy.
I love me some Bill Wittes.
He's so good.
So good.
Alright, check out [B] our, our, yeah,
You know sunshine [G] when she's [Am] gone.
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [A] _ If you're interested as [Bm] well.
Okay, it's [B] another really fun song to play.
Okay, [G] 10thumbspro.com.
Until next time, keep on playing [B] guitar, keep on

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