The Ballad of…

I hope this is not too far off topic, but so often we concentrate on the legend of John Lennon without considering what he physically did as a performer. I came across this video, How To Play Guitar Like John Lennon:

Perfect if you plan on joining the cast of Beatlemania, or if you just want to appreciate the techniques of the world’s most underrated guitarist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFRsUydn2w4

(Sorry, I had to delete this before, because one single solitary “s” rendered the last paragraph totally confusion.)

Anon, I could’ve listened to that ALL DAY. I’ve watched that guy’s tutorials on a bunch of Beatles guitar (most notably “How to Play Lead Like George Harrison”) and it’s really insightful to an naturally very UNgifted musician such as myself.

So wonderful to see just how much John’s aggressive attitude towards playing did to create that Beatles sound–he didn’t so much strum as attack, and that is the opposite of every “how to” you’ll read. He must’ve had incredible stamina.

As I was watching this, I kept thinking, “Right–because he had small hands.” Rick 325 short-scale; sloppy chords; avoiding the classic barre shape and doing c7s instead–all small hander stuff. Just another reason I love Lennon, ’cause my paws are even smaller, and he showed you could rock the shit out of things without doing all these guitar god stretches.

But then the demonstrator started doing all the pinky stretches at the end, which threw me. Am I off on this, o competent guitarists out there? Was John’s rhythm style a small-hand thing, or simply style, do you think?

Thanks again, Anon! Great find, and if I have time I’ll post more.

Thanks Anonymous2 (&3) — that first clip is a minor revelation…