Unit 1: Acoustic John

"Helium"

Here is the play-through of the first John Mayer style tune we are looking at, based on the song 'Neon'. The track is played in free time to allow you to play it at any speed you like! Spend some time monitoring what the right hand is doing as there lies the secret to this style! Once you've watched through this track and listened to the intro, please move onto the next lesson where we will start breaking it down!

Fingerstyle Pattern

So, the first element we need to learn with this technique is what the right hand is doing. There are two specific patterns that we need to learn, both using the same technique. These are quite complicated patterns so please take your time and when you have a basic understanding of the part, please go over it with the tab.

The Chord Shapes

In typical John Mayer style, we have picked out some pretty cool chords to work within this tune. John likes to use extended chords with some unusual fingerings, creating some pretty unique chord voicings. We have put a healthy dose of normal chord shapes alongside the more complicated ones to ease you into some of his trickier shapes! The chord shapes used can be found in the fretboard diagrams.

Materials: The Chord Chart

The chord chart for the song is as follows, repeating twice to complete the entire part. Remember that the Em, G and Am7 have the second finger-style pattern, whilst the Esus4/B and Fsus2 have the first pattern.

Adding The Slap!

Ok, so now we have the chords and a good idea as to how the finger-style works, we now need to start adding the slap part. This is more a case of getting confident with what you are playing than anything else, so we will just gradually work up to it (as shown in the video). We will focus on the change between the Am7 and Esus4/B for this.

Putting It Together

We will now add the final icing on the cake by looking at the opening Em chord and adding the muted notes. Then we take the entire song and play through it very slow and steady to help you piece it together. This song is all about confidence, so just keep plugging away!