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Q&A: Learning a Song for a Wedding? (feat. Chris Stapleton)

Lesson #435 • May 19, 2022

Video lesson

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It includes all of my notes for this lesson, allowing you to follow along at your own pace. You're free to download, print, and share the PDF across your devices.

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Editor’s notes

Hey there, my friends! In this lesson I answer a question from Patreon supporter Bud, who wrote in asking about learning a Chris Stapleton song for an upcoming family wedding. In my video, I give some advice about learning a song for such a performance — which can be summarized as start with the groove, and let the details follow. Later in the lesson I’ll demonstrate what this means using a portion of the song Bud asked about (Joy of My Life), and show how you can work through the chords, progression, strumming, and even the riff with a groove-first mentality. It’s all about not racing ahead to immediately learn the details, which can prevent you from building up a sturdy foundation for the rest of the song.

If y’all would like me to do a full song lesson for for Chris Stapelton’s verison of Joy of My Life, let me know. Bud, I hope this helps — and best wishes to your grandson for his upcoming wedding!

Video timestamps:

  • 0:36 Advice on learning any song for a wedding
  • 3:00 Chord Shapes
  • 4:35 Progression & Strumming
  • 8:10 Adding some flourish…
  • 11:03 The riff, explained w/ tab

Chris Stapleton’s version of Joy of My Life

Note, this is originally a John Fogerty song. It appears on Stapleton’s 2020 album Starting Over.

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