Margaritaville

[dhodge]

Hello to all

Someone already jumped the gun on this one, but it's probably for the best. Let's all tackle it together and share our thoughts, ideas and experiences with it.

Since everyone should have the D, A and G chords by now, the focus of this lesson is primarily on the strumming, a simple up-and-down pattern, and on the introduction to the technique of the alternating bass line.

I believe that if you take your time with this, it won't be anywhere near as hard as you might think. And with very little practice you should find yourself playing in this style without even thinking about it.

Bonus points to those of you who work up alternating bass patterns for other chords you know that we don't use in this song.

Concerning the intro/outro:

I posted this earlier this fall and it still is in effect:

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Hi to all!

This is just to let you know that you might notice something strange with the MP3 that we've recently posted with the Margaritaville lesson.

On the final MP3, I first go over just the intro. In the slow version I follow the notation. But in the second version (which then goes into the verse, chorus and outro) I play it differently from the notation. This is because I realized that my notation is wrong! What else is new, right?

Anyway, the correct timing for that measure in question should be:

eighth, quarter, quarter, eighth, quarter

My apologies and I'll get going on correcting that!

Peace
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On the MP3, I use a pick throughout the song. If you're using your fingers (and we're thinking about the intro here), you'll probably want to use your thumb on the B string and your index finger to pick the high E (first) string.

I think that covers everything, but I'm sure that we'll have a lot to discuss. See you on the boards.

Peace

[dhodge]

NOTE: this post was originally done by "catchamonkey" and I've moved it here so that it can be part of our lesson discussion.

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Hi everyone!

Talk about giving my brain a workout. Yes, like you say David, the chords seem simple at first, but hitting the right strings in that alternating bass line, and then the descending bass... and then remembering to sing... sheesh!

This is the first ever signature riff I have tried. Can you please let me know - which fingers do you play it with? Or should we be using a pick for this song?

I was going to skip it, but then I read "please don't think it's too hard" and so far it's sounding OK.

[Violet S]

I've been enjoying playing this song, I specially like the intro riff, which for the first few days has sounded a bit raspy, but improving a lot in speed and sound quality now.

I like the words, it's very timely as it's already very summery in the part of Downunder where I live.

I've tried the alternating base pattern before, so it wasn't too difficult, but still takes some getting used to on the acoustic as the strings are a little bit closer together than on the classic guitar I played it on before.

I wanted to ask about the theory links mentioned in the lesson - I'll try and search for them now and post back here if I don't find them, thanks  :)

[mordeth]

hi

this is a pretty fun little song to play. unfortunatly no-one who heard me playing it had any clue as to what it was :p

still, fun stuff. i love the intro piece, it sounds really cool to me. took me a while to get the alternating bass notes off, and funnily enough the hardest part for me was the change from a to a7 at the end of verse. shrug, guess its not a change ive come across before...and when you're trying to watch your fretting hand and strumming hand at the same time somethings always going to go wrong :p

oh, and did anyone else think the ending to the chorus sounds awful ? nothing to do with the lesson i know, i just thought that the a7 and d after the 3-beat g at the end sounded really off. haha, im sure people will disagree with me on the one

all i can say is, bring on the next lesson. (hope its house of the rising sun...)

waves
mord

[brian f]

Its been a while since this one was brought up, but I've got a few Q's about Margaritaville lesson.

On the intro signature riff, sounds like I can either play this with a pick or with fingers. If I use a pick, am I doing one downstroke for each beat in the intro?

In the verse, I am getting the hang of the alternating baseline, but I after the base note I am strumming Down/up on the bottom three strings of the chord. Should I be strumming Up/Down instead on these beats?

THnaks
B

[Musenfreund]

bhyman asks:

First post here on GuitarNoise. Wow, what a site. Never thought I'd be playing complete songs this quickly. Thank you David Hodge!

This was my first song I learned from the site. Very easy and plays just like everyone expects it to sound. It's particularly good as an accompaniment to others singing. However, I have a TERRIBLE voice (I'm not kidding there, really bad) and I'm trying to find some ways to break up the long D major and A major sections of the song when playing solo. The alternating bass helps but I need some other way to spice up these sections.

Has anyone tried to add some additional bass runs to this song? Any other ideas?

And a gentle reminder to all to avoid duplicate threads on the lesson forum.
Thanks.

[dhodge]

I find that if I'm playing this behind someone else's singing that I tend to add more in the treble than in the bass. Nothing all that fancy, just typical D and A chord fills and usually in the spaces where there's no singing.

For instance, the first line:

Nibblin' on spongecake...

takes up about a measure and a half. So I'll play the typical alternating bass strum and then finish it off with a little flourish:

D (D chord) A (D chord) D (D chord)

And then all single notes (all eighth notes played on the first two strings): G, F#, E, C#

And then back into the alternating strum for a measure and a half and then some other fill.

This is just an easy example. If you look at the lesson on Amazing Grace, you'll see more of what I really have in mind.

You probably already know a few tricks or fills for those chords. This is a good way to put them into the context of a song.

Hope this helps.

Peace

[Dave T]

Is this a particularily hard one to sing? Almost every Easy Song so far I can pull off a passable version, but this one I sound awful. My normal singing voice is too low, and if I try to push it higher on this one it's just cringe inducing. I can pull it off singing along with the CD, but can't do it with my own playing.

Any feedback anyone?

[mgideon]

Thanks for this. It is so much easier to learn with a song you really love! Can you explain the G chord. The page shows just the 3rd fret on the high e string being played. Is there a reason we are skipping the 3rd fret on the low e and the 2nd fret on the a string?

[BarnaBus RoX]

Hi David

I have read and watched your lesson on this many times but I still get confused with the bridge , are the chords the same for the bridge as the verses ?

Am I totally missing that part all together or am I just as thick as I think I am LOL

Cheers
Trev...

[dhodge]

You're not thick, Trev! But I'm thinking I am. What part are you referring to when you say "bridge?" I'm having trouble answering because I'm not sure what part of the song you mean! Sorry.

Peace

[BarnaBus RoX]

Hi David

Thanks for replying , I only know this version of this song as per following link :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUTf5qvS0Lo

When the band plays from 2.19 to 2.50 in this clip ..

Or is that just this particular version ..As I said it's the only one I know ...

Appreciate any help ...

Cheers

Trev..

[dannydesiliva]

I think Margaritaville is closer to "country" than it is to "rock".

[sthomas1228]

I can't seem to find the tabs from GuitarNoise on Songterr.com ... are the GN tabs there or just "some" tabs for songs? I was specifically looking for Margaritaville.

[pearlthekat2]

Can someone please post the tab to the signature riff?
I don't think GN will get sued...