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Sunday, November 18, 2012

"Catch the Wind"

Donovan's "Catch the Wind" is a song I've always wanted to know how to play on the acoustic guitar. It sounds like it shouldn't be that hard, but I've tried to figure it out a few times, and always walked away frustrated.

So it was with great pleasure that I saw it show up in my YouTube feed of new videos last week - no surprise that the tutorial is by the prolific Marty Schwartz. (Tutorial is here, song is here.)

I'm pleased, and not surprised, to find out that it's not hard to play. The trick is knowing to capo at the third fret. Once you do that, it's just strumming C, F, and G7. You can put a few embellishments in, that sound great, and also aren't hard - and Marty shows how to do it all.

The only part that's a little tricky is the descending bass run that starts the song (and some of the verses.) It's not hard, it just needs some repetitions, which I'm giving it.

Kudos again to the best guitar teacher on YouTube. If I ever meet Marty, I owe him as many beers as he'd like to drink.