Chords for J.J. Cale After Midnight Guitar Lesson + Tutorial

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[G] _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _
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How's it going everybody?
John McLennan here and in today's video I'm going to teach you how to play After Midnight
as recorded by J.J.
Kale on guitar.
This is a really laid back version of this song and we're going to use a capo on the fifth fret.
I've taken kind of the intro piano part and the main acoustic part and combined it together.
It's just two sections we're going to go over.
So it's one main chord progression and then a little refrain and you'll be able to play
the whole song right along with the recording.
But before we get into it I really appreciate your support at the [F] links below.
If you're interested in improving your guitar playing I've got a ton of great resources
for you on my website _ johnmclennan.com and you can also get a free book that I have all
about soloing at the first link down below and some blues training videos that come with
tabs and sheet music that are not on YouTube.
So check that out as my gift to you and with that said let's break this song down.
Let's break down how to play After Midnight as recorded by J.J.
Kale on guitar.
Now I've taken sort of this piano part and the guitar part and combined them together
for a really cool accompaniment part that you can play and sing along with.
So start off by putting your capo here [D] on the fifth fret and we're going to have this
little groove that starts on an A chord.
And here's what it sounds like.
Three and four and.
_ [G] _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ So this is a common classic rock move and it's a guitar part that's used in tons of songs.
You take this A shape here and we're going to play it with our index finger.
So we've got the open fifth string and then second fret, second fret, second fret and
I'm muting that high E.
If you want to play the high E you can reach up to the fifth fret
and play this A like this.
But typically I'll [G] just _ [D] _ kind of do this shape here with just the one finger.
Now what we're going to do is we're going to go back and forth _ between _ this A shape
and [G] what's called a D over A.
[D]
So that's going to keep the A in the bass, the fifth string,
and then [Bm] we're going to get four, [G] two, three.
_ [B] _
So ring finger on the [G] fourth fret, index finger on the second fret and middle finger on the third fret. _ _
_ And [D] rhythmically we'll go one and [G] two E and a three E and a four.
So that's two eighth notes, one and.
And then on beat two, two E and a.
And on the a of two is where we'll put these fingers down.
[D] So one and two [G] E and a three E [D] and a four.
And that's _ _ just going [C] back and forth between those two shapes.
So one and two E and a three E and a four E and a one and two E.
_ _ _ _ _ _ Then after four bars of that figure we're going to start the verse and that's where
the vocal comes in.
_ After midnight.
[F] _ Da [G] da da da [D] da da da.
[G] _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ So notice I'm dropping in that figure again there.
So for this verse section we're going to play a bar of A, [F] then two beats of [G] C, two beats
of D [D] and then two bars of A.
And we're of course in four four so we'll count one two
three [F] four then one two [G] three four [D] one two three four A two three four.
Now that's an easy way of playing it if you want to omit that riff that I was playing
you can just go two three [F] four C.
[G] Da da da da da da [D] da da. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ And the main strumming pattern that I'm doing there is two eighth notes one and just down
down and then down down up on beat two that's two E and a so it's an eighth and two sixteenths.
So one and two E and a one and two E and a or down down down down up down down down down up.
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _
[D] Da da da da da da da da. _ _
Now the only reason why I like doing this fill in there is because there's a break in
the vocal so it's like after midnight.
[F] _ We're [G] gonna da da [D] da da da da [G] [D] da _ _ _ _ _ _ _ da [F] da da _ da da [G] da da da [D] da da da da.
_ So see how the the riff fits in between the vocal which is really nice.
And then the last part of the song there's only one other section is where the vocals
go we're gonna cause talk and suspicion give an exhibition and that's another four bar
chord progression that sounds like this. _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
[D] _ After midnight [F] _ then [G] we're back to the first [G] part.
_ [D] _ _
_ So this little refrain here goes a bar of A [F] a bar of C a [G] bar of D and [A] then a bar of
E. _
That's where we'll find out what it's all about you know with those lyrics there.
That's where we go to the E chord.
[D] So it's A two three [F] four _ C three four D two three [A] four E two three four.
And I'm keeping that same strumming pattern going [D] throughout.
One and two and three and four [F] and a one and two.
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ [D] _ _ Back to the [F] _ _ [G] first part and [D] the riff.
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] Have fun practicing After Midnight as recorded by JJ Cale on guitar.
I hope you got some value out of today's video.
Before you go don't forget to get the free blues training that I have at the first link down below.
Also leave any song requests in the comments below.
I'm always looking to the comments for future video ideas.
Thanks for your support here on the channel and until next time. _ _ _
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