In this video
A short tribute to Glen Hansard, who sadly passed away in a car crash, with a look at what makes his songwriting so worth studying as a guitarist.
Falling Slowly is the starting point, not to play it through but to explain why it gets taught so often. The melody uses a simple ascending C, D, E figure and the obvious harmonisation is a third above starting on E, then F, then G. The video covers how harmonies work diatonically (not always the same interval in frets, but always from the scale), why guitarists need to learn to play the melody before they can reliably sing the harmony, and the tip that harmony is a perishable skill that needs practising regularly to stay sharp.
Say It to Me Now is the second song, with a chord-by-chord breakdown in the key of E: major seven, dominant seven, C sharp minor (played as a number chord shape), F sharp minor and the 2-5-1 resolution that drives the climax of the song. The video also traces the chord movement back to its John Lennon source in Real Love, showing how great songwriters borrow and build on what came before.