Let me begin today's newsletter by wishing a Happy Father's Day to all! In honor of all the Dads out there, past present or future! In honor of Father's Day, I'd love to share a collection of guitar lessons I've made for songs that are Dad-inspired in some way.

Links to each video lesson are below, and don't miss any bonus materials I've made for most of these lessons!

​Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin – this one has to be at the top of the list! Incredibly catchy, but also "the saddest song ever" says my thirteen year old daughter.

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​Father and Son by Cat Stevens – I learned this in my first few years of playing, and it remains one of my all-time favorites! Great songwriting too, with the verse POV continuously swapping between father & son.

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​Old Man by Neil Young – while I don't think this one is about a father and son directly, the vibes are there for sure. Also, note I have two lessons for this song... the one below, plus lesson #326 where I break down the intro riff in careful detail.

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​Keep the Wolves Away by Uncle Lucius – this isn't as well-known as the songs above, but it's a quite poignant just the same. It tells the story of the lead singer's father, who was seriously injured at work – leaving him & the family struggling to survive on the Texas coast. Musically, this one is just four chords – with some amazing whistling!

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​Box #10 by Jim Croce – such a fun song to play! Tells the story of a son trying to make it in the big city, and calling mom & dad back home for help.

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​The Housefire by Turnpike Troubadours – sang from a father's POV, this one tells the story of a housefire that uprooted him & his family without any warning. There's two quotes framed on the wall, in the background of all my videos... one of them is from this song!

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​7 Years by Lukas Graham – this one uses a similar songwriting format to Cats in the Cradle, where time passes with each verse. The singer starts off as a child, getting advice from his dad – and then grows up to become the old man who hopes his children come and visit once or twice a month.

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Some Songs inspired by Alaska

I'm currently on a family trip up in Alaska, and having a blast! The internet from our cabin is slow, but everything else is amazing. I snapped the pic below during a salmon fishing trip, as our boat passed below this bird as it took off:

How about some Alaska-inspired guitar lessons? It's a bit of a stretch, but I've got a few!

​Rise by Eddie Vedder – one of my all-time favorite songs, from the Into the Wild soundtrack. Haven't read the book, but love the movie. Tons of other great songs on that soundtrack as well... one of these days I'll get around to teaching Society, which many of you have asked for (Justin Sandercoe has a lesson for that song here).

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​Light On by Maggie Rogers – her breakout hit was Alaska, which she wrote while backpacking through the state. A viral video shows Pharrell having his mind blown in real-time hearing the single during a NYU music production seminar. Light On is a great tune, and fun to play on the guitar!

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​I've Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash – three chords, a ton of lyrics! Cash's cover of this song is quite fun to play. He mentions Alaska in one of the final verses: "Larimore, Atmore, Haverstraw, Chatanika / Chaska, Nebraska, Alaska, Opelika"

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That'll do for this week! Happy Father's Day one more time, and I'll see you in next week's lesson ✌️

David

Browse all my lessons at songnotes.net​