We're checking out a brilliant approach to playing guitar that I'm calling a Singer-songwriter trick as it's just used in so many classic songs!
A great place to start to inspire us is to see what inspired the best...
Parallel 10ths
Blackbird and it's Origins
Inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's Bourrée in E minor, a well-known lute piece, often played on the classical guitar. As teenagers, he and George Harrison tried to learn Bourrée as a "show off" piece. The Bourrée is distinguished by melody and bass notes played simultaneously on the upper and lower strings. McCartney said that he adapted a segment of the Bourrée (reharmonised into the original's relative major key of G) as the opening of "Blackbird", and carried the musical idea throughout the song. The first three notes of the song, which then transitioned into the opening guitar riff, were inspired from Bach.
Other great song examples include
Fast Car (Tracey Chapman)
Hold Back The River (James Bay)
Love Yourself (Ed Sheeran written)
Perfect - Ed Sheeran - in (G) very simple version
Learn these in G
Other Keys to Explore
Hey there Delilah - Plain White T's (D)
Tears in Heaven - Clapton (A)
Skinny Love – Bon Iver (C#m)
Shape Of My Heart – Sting (F#m)
"Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (from Once and in C major)
