Livin' on a Prayer

Guitar

I’d like you all to know both the Rhythm and Lead parts for this song. If the lead section is a challenge and something to work toward, then it’s just the Rhythm you should get to grips with for the time being.

The chart is definitely your first port of call, and being familiar, as always, with the song itself.

Use the Video I’ve made to learn the Rhythm part and the Main Guitar Riff and Fill.

We’ll take a look next week at the solo, and some alternative chords.

Vocals

This is quite a high song for an adult male singer, but as a younger person, or a female voice, it’s a great one to push the top of your range, and really ‘go for it’ on.

Just pay attention to the phrasing on each section, as a VERY well known song, the audience will be familiar with how the recording sounds and when we’re performing, we really want to know the songs better than anyone else in the room (if possible).

See how you get on and listen for the differences in the melody between the first and second verse.

Drums

As you know, Drums aren’t my first instrument, so I’ve watched a number of online drum lessons and picked out my favourite for you.

A few notes though, make sure you’re saving some energy/power for the solo and the outro. Rather than playing at full power from the start, it just wants to be solid. You need to match the energy of the rest of the band throughout the song.

Keyboard

We've played this song quite a lot now so we know our way around the chords. It's time to really focus in on the keyboard arrangement particularly in the Introduction and Verses, which are more exposed for the keyboards. We can bring in some new sounds and some more detailed playing to really move our performance on to the next level.

Do some close listening to the two videos and try to pick out the details of the keyboard playing.