Hard to believe this Christmas cracker is 50 years old this year. Written by Slade’s Noddy Holder and Jim Lea, the song has been streamed nearly 100 million times on Spotify and generates substantial revenue each year for the band members.
Written by Pat McGuigan (of Barleycorn fame), this is an easy song to learn, with 5 straight-forward chords and a lively tempo.
Linda Ronstadt’s country rock version of this song was a huge hit for her – she occasionally played with The Eagles (not a bad backing band!) and this song was prominent on the set list. We look at a country-rock strumming style to accompany the song.
Learn how to play one of US’s classics. A great song to play once you get the strum pattern. Just three chords to play this cracker.
A huge hit for Slim Dusty in Australia in the late 50’s, The Dubliners made it popular in Ireland. The song is in waltz time, 3/4 time, and we look at the pick-strum-strum technique.
A happy Irish drinking song about poitín – home-made whiskey. Try your lilting skills in the chorus! The song gets honourable mention in The Pogues Fairytale of New York. A slower tempo practice file is included in the resources.
This great song about a musician’s life on the road, written in 1980, is one of Willie Nelson’s most recognisable works. It became a huge hit and won him a Grammy award. We look at how to play the song with and without a capo, and include Tabs in the resources section for the solo.
A follow-up to an earlier lesson on how to play the melody, we look at the chords and strum pattern for this ever-popular song. The words to this song were written by Donegal man, Cathal MacGarvey in the late 19th century.
Learn this cracker from Scotland’s Amy Macdonald – a great song to strum along to!
Learn how to play the Bagatelle favourite, Summer in Dublin. This song went straight to number one on its release in 1980 and continues to be very popular.
Written by Liam Reilly, this song was made famous by the Wolfe Tones among others. We use a finger-picking pattern to accompany the song, and we have a second lesson where we look at how to play the intro/solo.
Learn how to pick out the notes to the tune The Shores of Botany Bay – with the help of onscreen and downloadable Tabs. Slower tempo audio practice file included in Resources.