The first 4 bars help to establish the mood of the song. It's a very simple riff based on an Am chord.
I often like to play chord fragments or unusual chord voicings and bars 5 through 10 represent a very restrained and minimalist approach to rhythm guitar, which allows other instruments in the song to breathe (keyboard, lead guitar, bass, etc.). This is something you can also observe in Eric Johnson's masterful playing.
Bars 11 and 12 represent an idea I like to use where I alter the harmony by changing the bass note. You'll notice how I play C on the 3rd string and E on the 2nd string throughout the 2 bars, but I switch the bass note from an A to a G.
Bar 13 is a bit of a twist, with the bass note moving down chromatically from G to F#. F#, of course, doesn't belong in the key of Am and brings out something different in the progression.
Bars 19 and 20 represent a melodic single note line. It can really bring out the emotional content in a song depending on what chords you play underneath. By playing with the phrasing, you can create some really evocative lines.
I highly recommend you download the Power Tab file to hear the phrasing of the song.
SOARING THROUGH THE CLOUDS
Written by David Andrew Wiebe
Level: Intermediate
Gtr I (E A D G B E)
Q=130
4/4
Gtr I
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E W W
||------------------|------------------||----------|------|
||o-------5-----5---|-------5---------o||-1--------|-3----|
||------7---7-----7-|-----7---5-4------||----------|------|
||----7-------7-----|---7---------7-5--||-3--------|-5----|
||o-0---------------|-0---------------o||----------|------|
||------------------|------------------||----------|------|
W H H W E E E E +H
|----------|-----------|-1--------|----------------|
|-8--------|-3----5----|-1--------|-------3-(3)----|
|-9--------|-0----5----|----------|-----0----------|
|----------|-----------|-3--------|---0------------|
|----------|------0----|----------|----------------|
|-8--------|-3---------|----------|-3--------------|
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E +H
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------||
||o-----5-----5-----|-----5-----5-----|-----3-----3-----|-----3---------o||
||----5-----5-----5-|---5-----5-----5-|---2-----2-----2-|---0------------||
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------||
||o-0-----0-----0---|-----------------|-----------------|---------------o||
||------------------|-3-----3-----3---|-2-----2-----2---|-3-----3-(3)----||
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E H H H H
||----------8-7-----|---------8-7-----|-7----5----|-7----8----||
||o-----5-6-----8---|-----5-6-----8---|-5----5----|-5----8---o||
||--5-7-----------7-|-5-7-----------7-|-----------|-----------||
||------------------|-----------------|-7----7----|-7----5----||
||o-----------------|-----------------|-----------|----------o||
||------------------|-----------------|-----------|-----------||
H. Q H H H. Q W
|-7-------5--|-3---------|-0----------|------*|
|-8----------|-3---------|---------3--|-1----*|
|------------|------5----|------------|-0----*|
|------------|-----------|-3----------|------*|
|-8----------|-3---------|------------|-3----*|
|------------|-----------|------------|------*|
Download the Power Tab file.
This article was written by David Andrew Wiebe, web designer, graphic designer, guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, songwriter, guitar instructor, and music expert. Interested in winning a free CD? Click here for more info!
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Recommendations? Email me.Published on December 3, 2007