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Learning the "Amie" Intro Riff, Step by Step
Lesson #488 • May 9, 2023
Hey there, friends! In today’s lesson I’m excited to teach you the intro riff to Amie, the 1972 classic from Pure Prairie League. Rather than showing you the full tab and expecting you to hit the ground running, my lesson will be a true getting-started guide. I’ll walk you through the very first steps I recommend taking with things, building on things layer by layer — and before you know it, you’ll be up to full speed and playing through the entire riff. Let’s get on in to it!
- 0:00 Lesson Overview
- 1:54 Major Pentatonic Overview
- 3:18 Practicing “One Phrase At Time”
- 8:21 Main Riff: Simple Version
- 12:28 Main Riff: Full Version
- 17:39 Add’l Tips & Advice
Instructional PDF 3 pages
Lesson Discussion
Extended Videos
Here’s a few zoomed in videos of me playing through the different variations of the intro riff, as I show in my video lesson. In each of these, I’ll play through the intro 4-5 times total, using the 100 beats per minute backing track. Tabs are shown on screen for your reference.
Simplified Version of the Intro (100bpm)
Full Version of the Intro (100bpm)
Backing Track
Here’s a single-chord backing track (A major), with a nice drum beat behind it, for you to use when practicing. You could use this when playing the A major scale, the A major pentatonic, or any of the exercises I show in my video lesson… including the full Amie intro riff! This is a bit slower than the actual album recording of Amie, but it makes for great practice.
Want to Learn the Full Song?
I have a separate video (lesson #504) where I teach the chords, rhythm, and strumming for all of Amie! Check out in the video below – and be sure to view my lesson notes for additional lesson materials (practice track, licensed song sheet, etc).
Other Related Lessons
If you want to brush up on your scales in general, here’s a few related lessons I’ve made:
If you’re interested in how scales work or the topic of scale degrees, here’s a few videos from my Practical Music Theory course that may help:
Browse Related Lessons
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About Song Notes
Hey there! My name is David Potsiadlo, and I'm the creator of the 400+ weekly lessons here at Song Notes, going back to 2013. Here’s my guitar story »
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