Going Off-Piste - Rock Anthem to Acoustic Version

[Robin, Wales]

This should be a bit of fun!

My son was chatting to me last night and telling me that my wee granddaughters (4 yrs old and 20 months old) have taken to dancing around the house to Runrig's The Clash of the Ash. Not surprising as their Dad is a shinty fan and played for Glasgow Mid Argyle club for many years.

So I watched the video above last night with my acoustic guitar in hand and I think that I could have a good go at an acoustic version. I found the key then worked out the chords (C, AM, F, G capo 3) while playing along to the video. The hook is the Am to holding the F chord before finishing C,G,C at the end of each verse. I thought that I'd open with the little accordion riff a couple of times and then flatpick/strum the chords with some runs and fills on the changes (sort of bluegrass style). But most importantly I thought that I'd focus on telling the story. So I'll see how it goes.

Does anyone else approach learning new tunes like this? And have you taken a rock anthem and produced your own acoustic version?

[Chipotle]

Sounds like the typical way I figure out a song--find the key, figure out the chords, see if I can add any runs/riffs/bass lines/embellishments to spice up the guitar part, if needed.

I have done an acoustic version of Depeche Mode's "People Are People" for years.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

This should be a bit of fun!

My son was chatting to me last night and telling me that my wee granddaughters (4 yrs old and 20 months old) have taken to dancing around the house to Runrig's The Clash of the Ash. Not surprising as their Dad is a shinty fan and played for Glasgow Mid Argyle club for many years.

So I watched the video above last night with my acoustic guitar in hand and I think that I could have a good go at an acoustic version. I found the key then worked out the chords (C, AM, F, G capo 3) while playing along to the video. The hook is the Am to holding the F chord before finishing C,G,C at the end of each verse. I thought that I'd open with the little accordion riff a couple of times and then flatpick/strum the chords with some runs and fills on the changes (sort of bluegrass style). But most importantly I thought that I'd focus on telling the story. So I'll see how it goes.

Does anyone else approach learning new tunes like this? And have you taken a rock anthem and produced your own acoustic version?

Before I started writing songs for the acoustic (my electric stuff was almost all riff based) almost my whole play list was rock anthems... a few of my favorites.

-Interstate Love Song by STP. That lick, with the bending and the open drone just works so well on an acoustic, some cool jazz chords through the verse and a great anthemic chorus.

-Disconected by Face to Face, give the verse a bit of a rockabilly swing and an alternating bass line.

-Lounge Act by Nirvana, my favorite Nirvana song to play on the acoustic.

-Look What Happened by Less Than Jake, do the walking bass line for the intro/ break down but upstroke the open B/E strings between every note. In th chorus revert to power chords with the B/E open.

-I Wish you Well by Tom Cochraine... dont change a darn thing, that song is perfect.