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Rhythm Deep Dive — "Guitar Town" by Steve Earle

Lesson #569 • Nov 8, 2024


In this video I want to demonstrate my process of working out the tricky rhythm of Guitar Town, the Steve Earle song from 1986. This one came in by request over on my Song Notes community forum, and after listening it immediately grabbed my ear.

While the song is in 4/4 time with just three chords (G,C,D) — the rhythm is anything but simple. Some measures have only three counts, others have two – and in a few cases he’s switching to chords a full quarter note before the strong beat of the “1” count. This makes it memorable and catchy, but very tough to get the hang of.

This video is more of a process video than a step-by-step lesson. You’ll see me work out the rhythm via handwriting on my iPad, listening & rewinding as needed, until I finally arrive at a place of 100% confidence when it comes to how long you stay on each chord.

I do plan on practicing this one & doing a more typical tutorial — stay tuned for that! But I wanted to share this in the meantime, as I think showing this real-time process may be helpful & inspiring to some of you out there. Remember, you too can do this! It takes practice, especially with tricky songs like this… but it can be done.

  • 0:00 Lesson Overview
  • 2:10 Taking Inventory of the Chords
  • 7:19 Verse
  • 18:27 Chorus/Refrain
  • 25:50 Bridge
  • 32:06 Putting It All Together
  • 34:11 Farewell

Instructional PDF 1 page

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Follow along with the print-friendly PDF!

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.

To download the PDF, upgrade to premium or log in.

Lesson Discussion

Jump in the conversation with other members of the Song Notes community! Post a comment about this lesson, ask a question, or even upload a video of your progress. All skill levels welcome!

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Jump in the conversation with other members of the Song Notes community! Post a comment about this lesson, ask a question, or even upload a video of your progress. All skill levels welcome!

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Steve Earle Playing “Guitar Town”

Listen to the man himself play things! The second video (below) is the one I use in the main tutorial above.

Album Version (Official Music Video)

Live in Austin (2019)

Other Songs By, or Inspired By, Steve Earle…

You may be interested in Copperhead Road which I did a lesson for back in 2019! Quite the fun song to play.

"Copperhead Road" by Steve Earle

$ Song Sheet Available

While it’s not a Steve Earle, I recommend Whitehouse Road by Tyler Childers. Very similar vibe to Copperhead Road, both musically and lyrically.

"Whitehouse Road" by Tyler Childers

$ Song Sheet Available

And this one is a bit more of a stretch, but in lesson #322 I took Green Day’s Welcome to Paradise and did a cover in the style of Steve Earle and/or Tyler Childers. Basically, me taking what I learned in both lessons above and applying it to the Green Day classic. Sharing in case interested!

"Welcome to Paradise" by Green Day, in the style of Tyler Childers

$ Song Sheet Available

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