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This Monday stream was all about Christmas songs. I kicked things off with "2000 Miles" by The Pretenders - just three chords (G, C, D) but with that tricky strumming pattern where it's three strums per pulse. I also showed off the Lag Smart Guitar again with its built-in effects.
We covered loads of Christmas classics. "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon uses the same sus chord tricks as "2000 Miles" and "Christmas Time" by The Darkness. "Run Run Rudolph" got a proper Chuck Berry treatment with double stops, power chords and that blues shuffle riff - works great with a capo at the third fret for beginners using A, D and E.
I ran through "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" in Springsteen style, plus some Otis Redding soul Christmas songs like "Merry Christmas Baby" in that Steve Cropper guitar style. "White Christmas" got shown in both the original key and the Michael Bublé version in C major, which is more vocal-friendly.
Finished up with "Fairytale of New York" - showed how you can simplify it with a capo at the second fret playing in C shapes instead of wrestling with D major fingerstyle. The middle section with all the fast chord changes is the tricky bit, but the verses are just G, A and D.
Also announced that I'm doing bonus Wednesday streams through December, including a Beatles special this Wednesday for the Beatles '64 documentary.