Chords for Jorma Kaukonen's Break Down Way Guitar Lesson
Tempo:
114.5 bpm
Chords used:
G
C
D
Am
E
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Jam Along & Learn...
If you really like Reverend Gary Davis stuff, at some point you owe it to yourself to get Ernie Hawkins' DVD collection.
himself when he was young,
every song that he teaches on the DVD,
himself playing it.
in your collection.
this, in some respects, is simpler than the Reverend's.
Once again, the Reverend is a two-finger picker, thumb and first finger.
rhythms are a little bit different.
himself when he was young,
every song that he teaches on the DVD,
himself playing it.
in your collection.
this, in some respects, is simpler than the Reverend's.
Once again, the Reverend is a two-finger picker, thumb and first finger.
rhythms are a little bit different.
100% ➙ 115BPM
G
C
D
Am
E
G
C
D
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ If you really like Reverend Gary Davis stuff, at some point you owe it to yourself to get Ernie Hawkins' DVD collection.
Because Ernie, in addition to having studied with the Reverend for a number of years himself when he was young,
_ _ just really is a great teacher, and for every song that he teaches on the DVD,
he actually has video footage of the Reverend himself playing it.
It's fantastic stuff.
It's really worth having in your collection.
_ In any case, my version of this, in some respects, is simpler than the Reverend's.
Once again, the Reverend is a two-finger picker, thumb and first finger.
I use three, so my rhythms are a little bit different.
But there's a lot of really important Reverend Gary Davis stuff there that I've used through the years in my own playing career.
And one of the little things is what kicks the song off.
So notice, if we're playing the key of C, _ _ part of the melody that we're going to be playing for this song is going to be using,
if you move a G [C] chord up to the fifth fret, [N]
that's a C chord also.
And we're going to be using part of that formation, part of that inversion.
_ And the one that we're going to use is _
[C] this part of the C here. _
Where you're borrowing the first four strings of the fifth fret,
your third finger's on the seventh fret of the fifth string,
and your little finger's on the root note, the [Ebm] eighth fret of the first string.
Now, _ in order to get these melody notes happening, what we're going to do is this.
[E] _
_ [Ebm] We're going to start from this B position, which is the fourth fret, and slur into the C.
[E] _ [C] _ And we're going to be using a 5-4 bass here.
_ [Eb] _
[E] _ _ [Am] _ _ [G] _ _ _
Now, and [Am] one, and [G] two, _ [Eb] and_
There's really only half a measure there.
The second half of this measure is going to be C in the first position.
But to double-check what's happening here, we're starting on the upbeat in this slur.
[Em] And _ _ one_
[C] And is the eighth fret of the first string.
[D] _
_ Two_
And that's a pinch of strings.
Four and one.
[G] _
_ And then the eighth fret of the second string by itself.
And then you're going to go to the first [C] fret.
_ [D] _ [G] _ [C] _ _ _
_ The melody's going to be this. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ And the bass will be a 5-4 bass.
[D] _ [C] _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [B] So what we have is this.
[E] And [Am] one, and [C] two, and [Am] three, [D] and four, [G] _ and_
And [Em] then, _ _ _ your melody's going to be on the first string.
[G] _ _
_ Open first string, first fret, second fret, third fret.
But, while you do [C] this, _ [Dm] _ [D] _ _ [Em] _
[Am] you're going to be doing a 5-4 bass.
So, you start off with a pinch of strings one and five.
_ [F] First fret by itself. _
_ And the second fret is a pinch with the [D] second fret of the first string.
_ And the open fourth string.
_ And then you go back to your C chord on the upbeat.
Pluck the [Bb] third fret of the first [C] string. _ _ _
Fifth fret, [G] third string.
And _ your last bass note now goes down to the third fret of the sixth string.
Now, most of the time when I play bass notes, I tend to do [C] a low note, high note thing.
But some things, especially some of the stuff I learned early on,
because the Reverend doesn't do that, his bass notes go just wherever he wants them to go.
So, it's not that sort of, _ almost like a country or rock and roll rhythm thing that I like to do.
So, in this case, the bass is going to _
[D] _ [G] go_
wind up on the third fret of the sixth [B] string, counting it.
[E] And one, [Am] and two, and three, [D] and [G] four.
[C] And one, [Gm] and two, [C] and three, [G] _ four.
_ [Eb] And then the beauty of so many of these root songs is there's lots of repetition.
So, if you learn one phrase, you've probably got, _ well, maybe the chord of the song done.
We're going to repeat this a couple times.
[Ab] And one, [Am] and two, [Ab] and [C] three, [Gb] and four.
[C] And [Fm] one, [D] and [C] two, and three.
[Em] Second time.
And [Gb] one, and two, and [Am] three, and four.
[G] _ _ Now, this time we're going to hit the bass note, third fret, sixth string.
One.
[Ab] _ _ _
And what I'm doing here is I'm going to a G sharp seventh.
[G] _ _
And my fingering for this, the rev doesn't use this chord, but I like to use this.
My fingering for this, for this G seventh, is to use my little finger on the third fret of the second string.
Third finger on the second fret of the fourth string.
First finger on the second fret of the fifth string.
And second finger on the third fret of the sixth string.
And if you'll notice the shape of the fingers covering strings four, five, and six, it's like a D seventh shape. _ _
[Gb] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
[B] _ [G] That tells you also that you can _ use that seventh shape anywhere on the neck.
For example, if it's a G seventh here, [Ab] then it [C] would be a C seventh there, the [D] eighth fret.
_ _ Or a D seventh there.
So, anyway, file that away.
It's a movable chord.
You can get a lot of mileage out of it.
In any case, this is your [G] G seventh.
If you move it up, it's a [N] G sharp seventh.
And that's going to be [Ab] my passing chord [G] to get down into the G seventh.
[B] So, the second time through will [C] be_
[Am] _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ [Ab] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [F] First [Eb] time through.
[E] _
[Gb] _ [C] _ _ [A] _ _ [C] _ [G] _ _
[C] _ [Eb] Second [E] _ [Am] _ time. _
_ [G] [Ab] Third _ [G] _ _ _ [Em]
time, like the first.
_ [Am] _ [C] _ _ [G] _
[C] _ _ [G] Now there's a place for a little run.
And one of the runs that I like to do for this, and I change it around [Abm] depending on how I feel, is [Gb] simply this.
_ [Em] _ [B] _ _ [Gb] _ [G] _ _ [Dm] _
_ [C] _ _ [Gb] _ [Em] Start on the first string open.
[B] First [Gb] fret, second [G] fret, [E] third fret.
[G] _
_ [F] _ Back to the first fret.
[Eb] _ [C] _
[B] Then go to the fourth fret of the second [A] string.
[Eb] Slur it down.
_ [C] _
First fret, second [A] string. _ _ _
Second fret, third string.
[G] _ Open third string.
And now we bring our bass in and start fingerpicking again.
Make a G chord.
Hit your sixth string, [B] third fret.
_ [G] One.
Open second string.
And [Dm] _ _ two.
Is the fourth string, third fret.
I'm making that G seventh chord again as I pinch strings two and four.
_ And back to your C, [N] pinching strings two and [C] five. _ _ _ _
And finish the phrase.
So, the last time through we're going to [Ebm] play this lick.
[E] _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ [C] _ _ [G] _ _ [Em] _ _ [Ebm] _
[D] _ _ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ [N] _
_ _ _ _ _ If you really like Reverend Gary Davis stuff, at some point you owe it to yourself to get Ernie Hawkins' DVD collection.
Because Ernie, in addition to having studied with the Reverend for a number of years himself when he was young,
_ _ just really is a great teacher, and for every song that he teaches on the DVD,
he actually has video footage of the Reverend himself playing it.
It's fantastic stuff.
It's really worth having in your collection.
_ In any case, my version of this, in some respects, is simpler than the Reverend's.
Once again, the Reverend is a two-finger picker, thumb and first finger.
I use three, so my rhythms are a little bit different.
But there's a lot of really important Reverend Gary Davis stuff there that I've used through the years in my own playing career.
And one of the little things is what kicks the song off.
So notice, if we're playing the key of C, _ _ part of the melody that we're going to be playing for this song is going to be using,
if you move a G [C] chord up to the fifth fret, [N]
that's a C chord also.
And we're going to be using part of that formation, part of that inversion.
_ And the one that we're going to use is _
[C] this part of the C here. _
Where you're borrowing the first four strings of the fifth fret,
your third finger's on the seventh fret of the fifth string,
and your little finger's on the root note, the [Ebm] eighth fret of the first string.
Now, _ in order to get these melody notes happening, what we're going to do is this.
[E] _
_ [Ebm] We're going to start from this B position, which is the fourth fret, and slur into the C.
[E] _ [C] _ And we're going to be using a 5-4 bass here.
_ [Eb] _
[E] _ _ [Am] _ _ [G] _ _ _
Now, and [Am] one, and [G] two, _ [Eb] and_
There's really only half a measure there.
The second half of this measure is going to be C in the first position.
But to double-check what's happening here, we're starting on the upbeat in this slur.
[Em] And _ _ one_
[C] And is the eighth fret of the first string.
[D] _
_ Two_
And that's a pinch of strings.
Four and one.
[G] _
_ And then the eighth fret of the second string by itself.
And then you're going to go to the first [C] fret.
_ [D] _ [G] _ [C] _ _ _
_ The melody's going to be this. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ And the bass will be a 5-4 bass.
[D] _ [C] _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [B] So what we have is this.
[E] And [Am] one, and [C] two, and [Am] three, [D] and four, [G] _ and_
And [Em] then, _ _ _ your melody's going to be on the first string.
[G] _ _
_ Open first string, first fret, second fret, third fret.
But, while you do [C] this, _ [Dm] _ [D] _ _ [Em] _
[Am] you're going to be doing a 5-4 bass.
So, you start off with a pinch of strings one and five.
_ [F] First fret by itself. _
_ And the second fret is a pinch with the [D] second fret of the first string.
_ And the open fourth string.
_ And then you go back to your C chord on the upbeat.
Pluck the [Bb] third fret of the first [C] string. _ _ _
Fifth fret, [G] third string.
And _ your last bass note now goes down to the third fret of the sixth string.
Now, most of the time when I play bass notes, I tend to do [C] a low note, high note thing.
But some things, especially some of the stuff I learned early on,
because the Reverend doesn't do that, his bass notes go just wherever he wants them to go.
So, it's not that sort of, _ almost like a country or rock and roll rhythm thing that I like to do.
So, in this case, the bass is going to _
[D] _ [G] go_
wind up on the third fret of the sixth [B] string, counting it.
[E] And one, [Am] and two, and three, [D] and [G] four.
[C] And one, [Gm] and two, [C] and three, [G] _ four.
_ [Eb] And then the beauty of so many of these root songs is there's lots of repetition.
So, if you learn one phrase, you've probably got, _ well, maybe the chord of the song done.
We're going to repeat this a couple times.
[Ab] And one, [Am] and two, [Ab] and [C] three, [Gb] and four.
[C] And [Fm] one, [D] and [C] two, and three.
[Em] Second time.
And [Gb] one, and two, and [Am] three, and four.
[G] _ _ Now, this time we're going to hit the bass note, third fret, sixth string.
One.
[Ab] _ _ _
And what I'm doing here is I'm going to a G sharp seventh.
[G] _ _
And my fingering for this, the rev doesn't use this chord, but I like to use this.
My fingering for this, for this G seventh, is to use my little finger on the third fret of the second string.
Third finger on the second fret of the fourth string.
First finger on the second fret of the fifth string.
And second finger on the third fret of the sixth string.
And if you'll notice the shape of the fingers covering strings four, five, and six, it's like a D seventh shape. _ _
[Gb] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
[B] _ [G] That tells you also that you can _ use that seventh shape anywhere on the neck.
For example, if it's a G seventh here, [Ab] then it [C] would be a C seventh there, the [D] eighth fret.
_ _ Or a D seventh there.
So, anyway, file that away.
It's a movable chord.
You can get a lot of mileage out of it.
In any case, this is your [G] G seventh.
If you move it up, it's a [N] G sharp seventh.
And that's going to be [Ab] my passing chord [G] to get down into the G seventh.
[B] So, the second time through will [C] be_
[Am] _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ [Ab] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [F] First [Eb] time through.
[E] _
[Gb] _ [C] _ _ [A] _ _ [C] _ [G] _ _
[C] _ [Eb] Second [E] _ [Am] _ time. _
_ [G] [Ab] Third _ [G] _ _ _ [Em]
time, like the first.
_ [Am] _ [C] _ _ [G] _
[C] _ _ [G] Now there's a place for a little run.
And one of the runs that I like to do for this, and I change it around [Abm] depending on how I feel, is [Gb] simply this.
_ [Em] _ [B] _ _ [Gb] _ [G] _ _ [Dm] _
_ [C] _ _ [Gb] _ [Em] Start on the first string open.
[B] First [Gb] fret, second [G] fret, [E] third fret.
[G] _
_ [F] _ Back to the first fret.
[Eb] _ [C] _
[B] Then go to the fourth fret of the second [A] string.
[Eb] Slur it down.
_ [C] _
First fret, second [A] string. _ _ _
Second fret, third string.
[G] _ Open third string.
And now we bring our bass in and start fingerpicking again.
Make a G chord.
Hit your sixth string, [B] third fret.
_ [G] One.
Open second string.
And [Dm] _ _ two.
Is the fourth string, third fret.
I'm making that G seventh chord again as I pinch strings two and four.
_ And back to your C, [N] pinching strings two and [C] five. _ _ _ _
And finish the phrase.
So, the last time through we're going to [Ebm] play this lick.
[E] _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ [C] _ _ [G] _ _ [Em] _ _ [Ebm] _
[D] _ _ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ [N] _
