Chords for Was John Lennon a Good Guitarist?! | Friday Fretworks

_ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [G#] _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [Em] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _
_ [G#m] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ [C#] _ [B] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ Hey guys, I'm Chris [N] Buck and a very warm welcome to Friday Fretworks.
And this week we're going to be taking a closer look at John Lennon's guitar playing and trying to answer the question,
was he any good?
Now a few weeks ago I uploaded a video to the channel taking a closer look at the Gibson Les Paul Junior
John Lennon custom shop model from a few years ago.
And despite the video itself not really being about John Lennon's guitar playing per se,
it surprised me to see so many remarks in the comment section below
generally bringing John's capabilities as a guitar player into question.
Now this really surprised me, I mean not that YouTube's comment section is probably the best place to take a cross section of public opinion,
but myself I grew up desperate to learn Beatles tracks but really struggling to get my head around them
primarily for the fact that they involved so many chords, shapes of which sometimes were very unusual
and they all seemed to change shapes and chords so very quickly.
So as I said I've always had it in the back of my mind that he was a fantastic guitar player.
But in making this video I've delved in to pick out a few examples which,
I mean there are innumerable Beatles tracks which I could have used as an example.
I mean his brilliant capabilities as a writer, not only of songs but of great guitar parts to sit within those songs,
but in the interest of really getting the point across, I've chosen four examples,
five including Norwegian Wood at the start of the video,
not only to demonstrate his capabilities as a writer but quite frankly a brilliant guitar player.
First up we have a track which is actually quite off the news when it comes to demonstrating John's proficiency as a deadly rhythm player.
And that is of course All My Loving.
It's one of those kind of bizarre Beatles moments I guess,
where all four members of the band are playing such unique, interesting and distinctive parts
that not only sound great in isolation but really hang together beautifully within the context of a mix.
However it is arguably John's part which is going to be the hardest to replicate.
Those unrelenting constant triplet rhythms that he's playing, not only a workout for the right hand and the wrist,
but again the chord changes and the speed at which he was changing them really are hard to replicate.
Couple that with the fact that the chord shapes are actually more akin to banjo chords that he learned from his mother Julia,
who was familiar with the banjo but not the guitar, you really do have a part that is very hard to replicate.
This is a part that he was famously proud of and honestly it's easy to see why.
It is a fantastic demonstration of how to play rhythm guitar.
Now for this example I'm going to be using a borrowed Rickenbacker 325,
modified to John's specs with the added Bigsby and the Burns knots.
[F#m] _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ [C#m] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
[F#m] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ [F#m] _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
[E] _ _ _ [C#m] _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ [C#m] _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _
[C#m] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ Next up we have another early example, a track from Hard Day's Night this time,
which again puts focus on John's stellar right hand work as much as it does the rapid chord changes with his left.
However it's actually the verse parts in I Just Want To Dance With You which are most impressive here,
very reminiscent of the type of playing that Nile Rodgers would actually come to typify some 14-15 years later.
Again, technically challenging, perfect for the song, in this case well ahead of his time.
[C#m] _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ [G#] _ _ [C#m] _ _ _
[F#] _ _ [G#] _ _ [C#m] _ _ _ _
_ [G#] _ _ [F#m] _ _ [B] _ _ [E] _
_ [B] _ _ [E] _ _ [G#m] _ [F#m] _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ [G] _ _ [F#m] _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ [C#m] _
_ [A] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _ [B] _ _
[E] _ _ [D#] _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ [C#m] _ _ [A] _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ [C#m] _ _
_ _ [F#m] _ _ [G#] _ _ [C#m] _ _
_ _ _ [G#] _ _ [C#m] _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ [G#] _ _ [F#m] _ _ [B] _
_ [E] _ _ [B] _ [N] Next up we have one of the few examples of John actually playing lead guitar on a Beatles record.
He was notoriously lacking in confidence when it came to his guitar ability,
as this interview with Andy Peebles only a few days before he died explains.
Yeah, I was never in the London scene in the 60s, whereas George and Paul would be going round everybody's sessions all the time,
playing with everybody.
I never played anywhere without the Beatles.
I never jammed around with people at all.
Loyalty or just an interest?
No, just shyness, insecurity and I couldn't go in a session and play like George plays.
You know, I have limited vocabulary on the guitar and the piano, so what could I do going in with Cream or whatever they were doing in those days?
So I never hung out in the clubs playing, I hung out in the discos boogieing and drinking and that, but I never did that bit.
Bearing that in mind, it's perhaps no surprise that John's lead playing was confined to a very small handful of Beatles recordings,
perhaps the most extensive and impressive of which was Get Back.
So the story goes, it was recorded during a moment when George Harrison temporarily left the band during those troubled letter B sessions,
frustrated by the ways that things were progressing.
Whatever the reason, again, it's a fantastic example of John's guitar playing with really concise lead work and those precise right hand rhythms.
Maybe it's not as technically challenging as the earlier two examples, but again, a [A] perfect example of John playing the right part for the right song.
For this example, I'm using the Epiphone Custom Shop John Lennon replica Casino that he bought in 1965. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [Am] _
_ [D] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ [Am] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
[Am] Lastly, I'm going to leave you [D] with what is probably my personal favourite out of all of these examples,
and that [C#] is Revolution taken from the White Album session.
So obviously it was never included, or this version was never included on the White Album.
Incidentally, if you're interested in seeing how John achieved that unique biting director desk fuzz tone,
I did a video on that a few months ago which I shall link above, but again, it's John's guitar playing that we're focusing on here.
And even if it is arguably the least technically challenging out of all the examples that I've used,
it's that Chuck Berry relentless rhythm playing that oozes attitude and swagger which really drives the band forward.
Quite frankly, you can't imagine the track without it.
Maybe not the most technically gifted player in the Beatles, but again, John's innate ability to write the perfect part for,
quite often, the perfect song is the mark of a truly great musician when it comes to my opinion anyway.
So as ever, I've been Chris Buck, you're watching Friday Fretworks.
Thank you very much for watching, and I shall see you next week.
Cheers guys, take care.
[A#] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [C#] _ _ [G#] _ _ [A#] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D#] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [A#] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D#] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G#] _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
[A#] _ _ _ _ _ [D#] _ _ _
[F#] _ _ [A#] _ _ _ [D#] _ _ _
[A#] _ _ _ _ _ [D#] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _