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Summertime Blues

by Zach Bryan • Lesson #508 • Aug 12, 2023

In this week’s lesson I’ll teach you how to play Summertime Blues, the title track from Zach Bryan’s 2022 EP. This has probably been my most played song of the past few summers, and it’s one I’ve had a blast strumming & singing the past few weeks. In my main lesson I’ll teach you the chords, strumming patterns, and vocal melody — and if you’re interested in the lead guitar parts heard in my playthrough, I have a separate video (available below) giving you some tips on that topic. This one is tons of fun… let’s get into it!

  • 0:00 Playthrough
  • 1:33 About Zach Bryan
  • 3:13 Chords
  • 4:42 Strumming
  • 9:55 Vocal Melody
  • 11:23 Farewell

Licensed Song Sheet 2 pages

Follow along with my print-friendly guide for this song! It’s available for purchase at Musicnotes.com, the web’s leading provider of licensed sheet music.

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Lesson Discussion

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Premium Lessons

The following videos are available to members of Song Notes Premium. If you’re not a member, learn more about the many perks of Premium membership here on my Song Notes website. To those of you who are members — thanks for your support! It makes these lessons possible.

Full Play-Along Cover

Here’s me playing the song from start to finish, with chords on screen. Use this if you want to play along! I do include an additional acoustic guitar during the chorus (strumming each chord in full on the “1” count of each measure), as well as lead guitar peppered in here and there. My lead guitar riffs were inspired by what you hear on Zach’s album recording.

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Lead Guitar Tips

If you’re curious to learn more about the lead guitar part I play during my play along, check out this video. Note, this is a long (30 minute) single-take recording — giving a real time explanation of things. If you are interested in a polished “lesson” on this topic — or if you’d like the GarageBand file I used to record this — please email me and let me know! If there’s enough demand I’ll happily turn this topic into a proper tutorial with tabs, etc.

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Zach Bryan’s “Summertime Blues” Recording (album version)

Rise of Zach Bryan (from Grady Smith, 2019)

From Indie Country Artist to Overnight Superstar (from The Western Side, 2022)

Zach Bryan on Becoming Famous While Still in the Navy (from The Joe Rogan Experience, 2023)

Saving Country Music’s Review of Zach’s Debut Album (from 2019)

Here’s the link to this article from Trigger, who runs the Saving Country Music blog. He’s since posted dozens of articles mentioning (or focused on) Zach Bryan, but this one was the first.

Other Helpful Lessons

Here’s a few lessons I mention in my main tutorial, which will help when learning this song. Specifically if you’re interested in learning the vocal melody (and how you can play it in any major scale position) – check these out!

F Chord, Made Easy: 7 Alternatives to the Barred Version

★ Instructional PDF

Key of C Cheat Sheet! Notes, Chords, Fretboard, and Misc Tricks

★ Instructional PDF

Major Scales in Open Position

★ Instructional PDF

Major Pentatonic Scales in Open Position

★ Instructional PDF

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