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Practice Guide 5 pages
Lesson Discussion
Audio Practice Tracks
Here’s three different speeds of audio play-along jam tracks you can use while practicing. You can hear me playing over one of these tracks in the opening minute of my main tutorial above. These all count in for two measures (8 clicks), then begin the two measure sequence that the main progression uses:
D D A G G Bm A D
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
The bass notes follow the chord changes shown above. Use this to practice any of the chords I teach: the power chords, barre chords, or open chords. You can even try soloing or any lead guitar improv that strikes your fancy. Enjoy!
About This Lesson
In today’s lesson I’ll teach you how to play the 1970 classic Sweet Jane. My lesson will help you play along with the Velvet Underground’s original recording of this song, as well as the famous cover by the Cowboy Junkies.
In my guitar lesson, ‘ll walk you through the chords in a few different ways: power chords (easier to play), barre chords (for a more full sound), and even teach the song using open chords. I’ll also explain the nuances of the rhythm & strumming, which is really the trickiest part of this to get the hang of. Good luck, and as always I hope you enjoy the lesson!
- 0:00 Playthrough & Welcome
- 2:54 Power Chords
- 6:12 Rhythm & Strumming
- 11:48 Barre Chords
- 16:05 Open Chord Options
- 19:31 Ending
- 20:57 Singing Along (Tips)
Quick Links
- Song Wikipedia page
- Lyric & chords via Ultimate Guitar
- Lyrics on one page to help memorize the words
Related & Recommended
Here’s a handful of lessons to help with the techniques used in this song. This first batch is specific to the barre chords used in this song, which can be tricky to get the hang of at first:
When it comes to strumming, the tutorials below may help you out when it comes to string dynamics. Specifically, keeping a steady strumming motion and silencing the strings with your strumming hand. Doing these smoothly, while maintaining a groove during chord changes, is tricky with Sweet Jane – but with practice I am confident you’ll get there.
Browse Related Lessons
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