How to play Long Way Home by Tom Waits - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

An in-depth video guitar lesson on how to play 'Long Way Home' by Tom Waits. Guitar teacher Ry Naylor takes you through all the chords, chord progressions and strumming patterns with on-screen chord boxes, rhythm slashes and tab.

How to play 'Long Way Home' by Tom Waits - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

The original recording upon which my transcription is based:

The tab is available to download in .pdf format by clicking on the image below:

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A cascading effect using 2-note-per-string diagonal scale patterns. How cool is that?! This is a rough idea that randomly came to me the other day when I was noodling. I wanted to share it because I love the sound of it. The Em-E implied sounds great, especially with that cascading effect.

This example opens with a 4 note figure across strings 1(E), 2(B) and 3(G). It’s a descending E minor scale idea, but if you look at the picking hand you’ll see it’s playing a 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2… pattern but the scale descends. Huh?! Finger 1 in the fretting hand releases the D note to reveal the open B string so, whilst the picking is going to a higher string, a lower note sounds. Make sense?

I then repeat the same idea but take the fretting hand up a half step, so I get the notes of the E major scale.
It ends with a cascading descending E minor scale. The scale pattern I had in my head as I played it is on the second slide.

This is a new idea to me TBH and I realise that maybe I didn’t take the best route down to the low E string, but it’s some inspiration to get you thinking at your next practice session. It’s definitely something I’ll be spending some more time with 👍🏻🙏🏻

Name that chord. We’re getting more specific now, so check the fret number to identify the correct Root note.⁣
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⁣For a bonus point, can you name the song from ‘Dire Straits’ (last week’s Listening Club album) that ends with this chord?⁣
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⁣Leave your guesses in the comments and tag a friend who’d like this 👍🏻🙏🏻

You can now get 25% OFF my two video courses, ‘Guitar Rut Busters: Essential Theory’ and ‘TRIADS: Inside Out’ with the link in my bio.⁣
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⁣Another note naming question today. Do you know the answer? If not, you should definitely check out ‘Essential Theory’ to get my teaching approach across more than 3 hours of in-depth video lessons and a MAHOOSIVE PDF course workbook with loads of Ry graphics!

New insight from my latest YouTube lesson that just went live.⁣
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⁣More reasons why knowing the intervals in your chord grips is invaluable. This time we’re working with a Root 6 / E-Shape major barre chord.⁣
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⁣We can eliminate much of the grip to just leave us with the essence of the chord, the major triad. If we place the Root note on string 6(E) we create an open voiced triad that I transcribed from the playing of Lewis Capaldi this week.⁣
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⁣In the video lesson I’m breaking down his hit song ‘Someone You Loved’ and showing you exactly how he plays it live using these triad shapes.⁣
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⁣Check out the video link in my bio or find me on YouTube. Whilst you’re there don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE, LIKE the video (👍🏻) and drop a little comment to help the video get seen by more people. 🙏🏻🙏🏻⁣
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Do you learn intervals when you learn a new chord? Here’s a couple of reasons why you should…⁣
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⁣TBT to this lesson on chord visualisation. Always try and go behind the dots when you learn chords. Seeing the intervals can make a HUGE difference. ⁣
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⁣You can find a video on this subject on my YouTube channel if you search for ‘ry seventh chords’. Link in bio 👍🏻🙏🏻⁣⁣
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⁣You can also get an exclusive PDF guide on how to play seventh chords all over the fretboard when you pledge and become a supporter on Patreon. $5 per month will get you access to my ever-growing library of PATREON PRINTABLES, specially curated from my Instagram lessons. Check out how you can become a supporter with the link in my bio 🙏🏻

Named by a friend who noted their financial plight at the time, Dire Straits went on to become one of the biggest bands in the world over their 20 year career. ‘Sultans of Swing’, for whatever reason, is on most people’s ‘to-do’ list when they learn guitar. It’s a belter, but there is a wealth of classy playing to be learnt in the music of Knopfler et al. This stuff is essential listening.
What is your favourite Dire Straits song/album. Let us know 👇🏻🙏🏻

A little gem from today’s transcription job. Can anyone give us a song that uses this one? A gorgeous Chord of the Day™️ and a substitute for your open E minor grip.⁣
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⁣For any new followers (welcome!) the format of these posts is the chord grip for right handers then, in the second slide its a left-handed chart (because I’m a considerate guy!) and then I’m now adding a little video of me playing the chord so you can hear it. ⁣
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⁣I should have a new progression up using this one for y’all tomorrow so look out for that. Enjoy! 👍🏻🙏🏻

Get your FREE ‘Fretboard Mastery’ eBook when you join my mailing list (link in bio). ⁣
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⁣Here is your eleventh essential fretboard pattern. Our 5-2 octave from the previous post can immediately become a 4-1 octave shape if we move the notes down a string towards the floor. Nothing changes here are we don’t have any note moving from string 3(G) to 2(B) 👊🏻👍🏻

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