Heart Of Gold Guitar Lesson

Hey, everyone.

Welcome to my Heart of Gold lesson here. I had posted a play along video a short while ago and people wanted me to post the actual lesson video up. So. So I'm going to go through this song. I consider this a little bit more of like a beginner intermediate level song because there's a few things that we can do in this song. This song has lots of options. So we can keep it simple or we can add to it to make it more and more difficult. So what we're going to do is we're going to take this in sections. So there's essentially three sections to this song. So there's the intro section, which repeats at various points in the song. There is kind of, kind of the interlude inverse section, which is a repetitive chord progression. And then we have kind of the refrain, the part that goes, that keeps me searching for a heart of gold. That is another section that has its own things as well. So what we're gonna do. If you need the chord chart, I would highly recommend going to the chord chart so that you can follow along with me and know what I'm talking about with the cords and the different sections. And I'm gonna show you some things, easy ways to play it and also show you some more intermediate ways to play it as well. So first we're gonna start off with our intro, which is mostly two chords. It's an E minor and a D chord. And for the strumming, we're just gonna do all down strums, eighth notes. So it's gonna be 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. And so it'll sound like this if I use my E minor.

So we're just going to do that. Now the only tricky part about this is there is a somewhat syncopated rhythm when we switch to the D chord. Now, if you're not good at that, don't worry, we won't do a giant syncopation. So what it should sound like is a full measure of E minor, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. And then we're going to stick on the E minor. So it's going to be all together.

Be 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4.

And so we go full measure B.

Minor, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, and switch to D. 1 and 2 and 3 and four.

And now for some beginners who have a hard time with that syncopation, I say just hold the E or we'll just do D and E. So we'll.

Go 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and D and E minor again. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. D and E minor.

So that is another option that you can do for a beginner. There is a little bit more of a part to this. That's a little bit of a hammer on. But I'm going to show you that towards the end of the video because for most beginners they can't do hammer ons and pull offs. So I'll show you that at the end of the video how to spice it up. But it's just a little bit of A.

And that's what you would actually hear in the actual song. But I'll show that a little bit later. So let's just go through this intro part again. So it's a full measure of E minor D and then switching to E minor.

So we got 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. Repeat 1 and 2 and 3 and 4and 1, 1 and 2 and 3 and four.

So that is your intro and I will show you how to really spice this up towards the end of the video. Make it sound really, really cool. So that is our intro, very simplified. And within our intro there's going to be an interlude which kind of merges with our verse. So there's this chord progression that happens throughout the song. It's a half measure of E minor, a half measure of C, a half measure of D and a half measure of G. Now you can easily just play two down strums per chord if you want to keep it really simple. Or you can do A down, down, up, 1, 2 and 3, 4m, which would sound like this if I start.

With E minor, 1, 2 and 3, 4 and D and G. So it's all down, down, up, down, down, up, down, down, up, down, down, up.

So that is the simplified version. How I like to do it is I like to throw in a little bit of a 16th note pattern, which might be tricky if you're just learning how to play. But so don't worry about the 16th note pattern. But I'm going to show you in case you want to try and make it a little bit more tricky if you're at that level. So basically it's going to be three downs followed by an up. So it's going to be 1, 2 and up, 1, 2 and up. So it's going to be down, down.

Down, up, down, down, down, up, down, down, down, up, down, down, down, up, down.

And a 1, 2 and a 34 and up.

Now, if you're finding that difficult, don't worry. Stick to the easier pattern. I think I go over that strumming pattern in my online guitar course. If you want to sit and practice with me, you can go over to my website, laurenbatement.com and do a subscription to the course if you want to improve upon your strumming. So that is really it for the verse. It's just those four chords over and over and over again. And then the last section, and don't worry, I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna play through all of these from beginning to end just so you can hear it all together. But we're gonna go to the next section, which is the part that keeps me searching for Heart of Gold. So essentially, it's fairly simple. It's three chords. It's E minor, G and C. We're gonna do all down strums, 8th notes. So we're gonna start in E minor.

1 and 2 and 3 and 4, and then go to G1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and then C1 and 2 and 3 and four and.

And then here we have a really cool walk down that we can do. But before I get to the walk down, let's go and do that part again. Just the chords. E minor G and C. So we got 1, 2, 3, 4, E minor.

3 and 4 and 2, 3 and 4 and C2, 3 and 4 and.

And then we have this walk down.

And the notes we're playing. And for someone who's a beginner, this could be a little bit tricky for you if you're not used to going between chords and single notes. But we're starting on the third fret of the fifth string. So this is our C note. And then we're going from the third fret to the second fre, which is our B note. And then open string, which is A. So we're going C, B, A. And then we're ending on the top string, third fret, which is G. So.

It'S C, B, A, G, C, B.

E, G. So from the fifth string, that is third fret, second fret open, and then third fret on the top string, I like to strum on the G. So I like to go.

I like to strum the whole chord on that.

Gives it a nice full sound. And the other reason is because we're gonna throw in a half measure of G to kind of round this out. So we got.

So the whole thing together would be. If I play that section just for.

You that keeps me searching for a heart of gold.

And I'm getting old.

That keeps me searching for a heart.

Of gold.

And I'm getting old.

So we're just adding a little down up on that G to finish out the measure and give us a full measure to get back into the interludes in the intros and all those other parts. But those are the three sections of the song. That's it. Essentially. The very ending. There's an out, kind of like that outro part. He goes to keep me searching for a heart of gold that's just the intro at the very end.

You keep me searching for a heart of gold.

But I'm growing old.

I've been a miner for this heart of gold and.

Now we have the regular progression.

You keep me searching for a heart of gold.

And I'm getting old.

And that's how the song ends. So let me go through. I'm going to play through intro verse and a refrain for you straight through. And then after that I'm going to show you some cool little more intermediate type things that you can do to really spice up this song. And that's what I really like about this song for guitar players is it really does show you a lot. You can make it really simple or you can make it as hard as you want. So let's start off. I'm going to do the intro with a little bit of an interlude. Then we have a verse and then I'm gonna do refrain and that's it. So we'll start off with that intro.

So we got 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3 and chord progression.

D and G. E minor.

D and G. Now one more intro. Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum First I wanna live.

I wanna feel.

I've been a line of all this heart of gold.

It'S.

These expressions I never give a brain I keep me searching for.

And there you go. And it basically is just repetitions after on that. After that, you're going to go right back into an interlude with that chord progression. And that's really the entirety of the song. So I would start with the easier stuff first and then maybe come back and add some of this other stuff that's a little bit more challenging. The first thing I want to talk about is the intro. Something you can do on the intro. And that refrain section is a little bit of palm muting. I do have a video on how to do palm muting. I'll put a link below this video so that you guys can find that. But if you're familiar with the palm muting technique, you can add this to the song, particularly the intro and particularly that Keep me searching for Heart of Gold. I'm going to do it on the. The refrain section first so it'll sound like this.

It keeps me searching for a.

Searching for.

So it gives a really cool little dynamic to the song. If you don't want to do palm muting and you want to keep it open, that works too. But sometimes I, especially when I'm playing by myself as just a solo guitarist, I like to add some different types of dynamics to the song just to keep it interesting, especially if I'm performing for others. Now we can also do this on that intro on the E minor as well.

Kind of adds a little mystery to that intro. And then it's really cool because then when you go to the strumming, it really opens up the song.

So listen to that. So we got an intro with palm.

Muting.

And then strumming.

So you can really hear how the dynamics kind of ebb and flow and open and close on that. So it's a really cool technique. Again, I do have some palm muting instruction. I have a free video I'll put below this. But I also have some stuff in my online course as well if you were looking to expand upon that. So the final thing I'm going to add to this intro is the little hammer on that goes in there. Now, I know a lot of people sometimes struggle with hammer ons. It's not about really how hard you press the string. It's more about the speed. It's kind of like snapping your finger. So if you snap your finger really slow, it's not going to work. But if you go fast, you'll get a snap. So what we're doing on this intro is we're playing the E minor, that full E minor and then we're switching to D.

So we're hitting an E minor and then we're doing a hammer on. We're lifting up the first finger that is holding down the fifth string. So you're going to play the fifth string open.

I could actually.

Yeah, I have to think about what I'm playing. So yes, we are playing the fifth string open. We're going to hammer with our first finger. So you hear that? It's one pick, two notes.

And then you're going to pick the fourth string, which you will have your second finger from the E minor chord. So basically, E minor chord, lift up the first finger, play the fifth string, open hammer with the first finger, and then play the fourth string, which is being held down by the second finger for that E minor. So I'll put it together at 6.

2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3.

And.

That'S kind of like a 16th note. It's almost like a 4.

And 1 and 2 and 3 and 4.

And 1 and 2 and three and four. That's the timing of it. So you can work on that as something else to add to the intro. So if I play the whole thing for you, it'll sound like this.

So you'll hear that in the actual recording if you listen to the song. But that's how to do that little. Little lick thing that's in there. So once again, always start simple, and as you get the feel for it, add the complications in later. There's no point in frustrating yourself and adding in a lot of complic when learning a song. And you can hear Olive, who's trying to make herself comfortable in the bed over there. There's no point in adding a lot of complications to a song, because then you're just gonna get frustrated. I always recommend, especially to beginners, keep it simple, and then add the complications in as you go. So that is my lesson for Heart of Gold. I hope you guys enjoy it. Practice hard, and I'll see you in the next lesson video.

It.