Give Me One Reason Guitar Lesson – Tracy Chapman

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Difficulty:
Length: 14:40

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Wikipedia page
Artist website
Music video

• 12 bar blues
• Barre chords
• Blues riffs
• Blues shuffle rhythm

Give Me One Reason is a really cool 12 bar blues song played in the key of F#. It is 12 bar blues in its purest form, which makes it all the better to listen to and learn on your guitar. And of course, if you can sing along with it, all the better!

Our video guitar lesson on Give Me One Reason will teach you the 12 bar blues progression that Tracy Chapman plays, as well as 7 cool blues riffs that the backing guitarist plays at given occasions in the song. Listen for them, and you'll hear them.

The lesson starts off with a short intro to the 12 bar blues form, after which, you'll learn the barre chords you'll need to be able to play the song.

Yes, it involves barre chords and will make your fretting hand very tired, but it is all the more practice, so don't back away from learning this song. The barre chords in Give Me One Reason will give your hands a real workout, and will really develop your knowledge of these chords in the process.

After you learn the chords, you'll learn to play each one of the 12 bars that make up the melody of the song. If you are comfortable with barre chords, you'll find it rather simple actually.

And once we get through the 12 bar melody, you'll get a chance to learn some really cool blues licks that are used in the song. You'll learn 7 blues riffs to be precise, and also learn how you can transpose those licks to play them in any key. This is demonstrated in the key of A.

Make sure you download the tabs to Give Me One Reason after logging in, so you won't have to remember all the chords and notes.

Give Me One Reason song Details

Give Me One Reason was written by the multiple Grammy award-winning Tracy Chapman, and released in 1995 on her album entitle New Beginning (great album by the way).

It is a classic 12 bar blues song with repeated lyrics in each and every verse and the chorus as well.

Give Me One Reason awards and chart rankings

• United Kingdom: #127
• United States: #3
• Canada: #1
• Australia: #3
• New Zealand: #16
• U.S. Billboard Hot 100: #6

If you want to refine the skills you learned in Give Me One Reason, check out these lessons on songs by clicking these links:
12 bar blues / Barre chords / Blues riffs / Blues shuffle rhythm

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