Wild World Guitar Lesson - Learn to Strum with COOL Licks!

Hey, guitar enthusiasts. I have a fun Cat Stevens song here called Wild World. I'm going to show you some strumming. I'm going to show you some little licks that you can throw in between the strumming on the choruses. It's going to be a super fun song. But let's start off with the chords. We've got a bunch of open chords. We do have one bar chord which is going to be the F bar chord. Now, if you're not the greatest at bar chords, you could always use F major 7. It's not going to sound exactly like the song, but it will work as a substitute. We also have an A minor chord, a C chord, a D minor chord, a D7 chord. We also have an E major chord. We have an ESUS 4 chord, which you can just see here. If you're holding an E chord, all you have to do is put your pinky down. Okay. It's just like the Eagle song.

I like the way your sparkling earrings lay.

Same thing. It's that e to e sus 4. Very, very common. We also have a G chord, so those are all of our chords that we're going to be using throughout this. So I'm going to start with the strumming pattern and show you how to move through that in the verses, the intro, and then I'll show you how you can add in some licks if you're interested in taking it to the next level to make it even more fun.

So let's start off with the strumming pattern. It's going to be an eighth note strumming pattern. And we have a couple other strumming patterns that are going to come in because there's some chords where we're going to be moving over three chords over the period of a single measure. And I'll talk about that when we get there. Most chords though are two beats, so they're each going to be a split measure. So two beats on the first chord, two beats on the second chord. And what I would recommend doing throughout the song on that is just going down, down, down, down, up on each chord. So that's going to be 1 and 2 and 1 and 2 and. And on the one. And I'm kind of just catching the lower notes of the. Of the chord. So it's going to be.

Okay. So just showed you what we're going to do on the end on those chords that. Where there's three in a measure. But just go over this intro one more time with that first strumming pattern. It's going to be 1 and 2 and a 3 and 4 and a down, down, down, down, up, down, down, down, down, up. Let's just stay on the A minor to the D7. And just so you know, going from a minor to D7, you'll see I don't have to move my first finger. Finger at all. Nice little pivot point there. All right, so we got 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 and 2 and a 3 and 4 and a 1 and 2 and a 3, and on your own.

One more time.

So that's what we're going to be using throughout most of the song. Now, towards the end, you saw me do that e to e sus 4 to e. So the e, the first e is just the regular pattern. 1 and 2 and. And then what we're gonna do on the other ones is we're gonna do 16th notes. We're gonna go 3e and a 4e ander. So it's going to be very quick. It's going to be A down up, down up on ESUS 4. Then we're going to lift up our pinky. Down, up, down, up. All right, so it's going to be 1 and 2 and a 3, E and a 4, E and a again, 1 and 2 and a 3, e and a 4e and a 1 and 2 and a 3e and a 4e. On your own.

One more time.

All right, so if I go through this intro again, starting on the A minor, this is what it's going to sound like. So it's going to be 1, 2, ready, and.

LA la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la.

Okay, and then we jump right into the verse, which fortunately follows that same exact chord progression. All right, so it's just exactly what we played. We're gonna repeat that the second time through, though. On the end of this verse, we're gonna do an E7 to a G chord. So things turn.

And there's a little bit of a hop on that G. It's kind of changing on the. And after two. Let me just show you. So I'm going to take it. But if you want to leave, take good care. So the second half of the next verse, and if you need to follow along my notes, I do have them on my website, laurenbateman.com if you want.

To leave, take good care. Hope you have a lot of nice things to wear but there's A lot of nice things things turn bad out there.

So when I'm listening to it, now I'm playing it, it sounds like I'm going down. Up, down, up, down. So it actually sounds like it is changing on a downbeat. On the three. Down, up, down, up, down.

Down, up, down, up, down. So it's almost like one E and A. 3, 4. And then we've got 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. And so we've got a whole G, which is going to bring us into the chorus again. If I just play through that second half again from if you want to leave. So it's gonna be one, two, ready?

And if you want to leave, take good care. Won't be a lot of nice things to wear. But a lot of nice things turn bad out of there.

Ready? 1, 2, 3, 4. Now we got chorus. Same strumming pattern. Same. Just a different chord progression.

O baby, baby, it's a wild world.

It's hard to get by just upon a smile.

Ooh, baby, baby, it's a wild world.

I'll always remember you like a child, girl.

All right, so on the end of the choruses, again, strumming wise, we have three chords in a measure. So the C chord's going to be 1 and 2 and A. And then the D minor is going to be three E&A. And then the E is going to be four E and A. So if I just take that last.

Line, I'll always remember you like a child, girl.

Okay, so let's take this from the top. I'm going to do the intro, the verse, and the chorus so that we can play through the whole section. And then I'm going to show you how you can spice up this chorus with four little fun licks that you can practice playing along to. 1, 2. Ready? And.

LA la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la.

Now that I lost everything to you. You say I wanna start something new And I'm breaking my heart. You're leaving, baby, I'm breathing. And if you wanna leave, take good care. Hope you have a lot of nice things to wear. Well then a lot of nice things turn bad out there.

Ooh, baby, baby, it' world.

It'S hard to get by just upon a smile.

O baby, baby, it's a wild world.

Always remember you like a childbirth.

And then you would jump right back in to the next verse. Might have held the G on that before coming into the chorus. Just a little extra Longer, but that's okay. It's a G chord. We can let that ring. I'm going to show you the riffs though, because there is a riff that goes there. It's more of a piano riff than a guitar riff. But I'm going to show you what you can do to kind of transition into this and spice it up just a little bit. So I'm just going to play this through slowly because even me, I would have to practice this to go to go very fast with it. But I've practiced it enough to be able to teach it to you and that's what's most important. So we've got.

But then a lot of nice things done bad out there.

Ooh baby, baby, it's a wild world.

It'S hard to get by just upon a smile.

Ooh baby, baby, it's a wild world.

I'll always remember you like a child, girl.

Okay, I missed one note on that, but I'll slow it down a little bit more. That was actually faster than I was practicing it. Not too bad. But you can see there's a really fun little lick in here.

With lots of hammer ons and pull offs. That one's super fun. Let's start off with the first riff. Okay, so again, this is the piano part where you hear the piano going.

Dun dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun.

So we're kind of mimicking a little bit of a walk down. So instead of playing that second G, we're going to start on the third fret of our D string. So it's kind of going to be like 2e and a, 3e and a, 4e and a. And it's going to be 3, 2 open. And we're just going to strum 1e and a, 2e and a, 3e AND a. Down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down. Okay, so we have our G chord, E7 into G. So we've got this bad out there.

Okay, just very quick, 2e and a 3e and a 4e. And that's the timing of that.

So then the chorus, we just started off normally. Okay, so we start with that C chord.

O baby bab.

Now on the F. This time it's only two beats. So all of these riffs that come in happen on beat three. So to give myself time and for me to get myself, you know, mentally prepared for playing this riff, I usually just do a couple down strums.

Wild world.

And then I jump into the riff.

Okay, so what is that Riff. All right, so it's three E&A four. E&A I. Okay, so we're gonna hit end on the G chord, which is the next chord. So what is this riff? It's B string. We're starting on the first fret and we're pulling off. Now, at pull offs, you have to remember you gotta kind of pick downward on the string to get it to sound. Then we have the second fret on the. Sorry, G string. We're pulling down.

So it's bottom, bottom, bottom, bottom.

And you can see my hand, my fingers. I'm not just lifting them off the strings. I'm pulling down on the strings. And then I get a double pull off here. This is the hard one.

Three, two, open. So three, two, open. And then we're going to end on the three on the C note here. Okay? And then we're gonna get into our chord. Now you'll probably saw on my fingers, depending on which way you make your G chord, when I went to the G chord, I ended up playing it this way because after this lick.

My third finger is right there. So it's probably easier for me to do it this way than try to get the way I usually play my G chord. So just a little note on that. So again, it's first fret on the B string, pull to open, Second fret on the G string, pull to open. And then we have a double pull on this D string. So it's going to be third fret pull, second fret pull to open, third fret on the C. And then we're going to jump right onto a G chord. If you can get the full chord in, that's fine. I'm playing it this way with the muted fifth string, so that works as well too. So again, that whole little riff is.

Three and A, four E and da.

And then G. Okay, so then that brings us into.

It's hard to get by just upon a smile, girl.

And again, two down strums on the C. And now we've got.

And again this one's going to be all 16th notes. 3e and a 4.e and a. And you can see I'm just moving between the third fret on the low E string and the A string. So it's going to be double three on the low E string, open A string, triple three.

Open. And then we end on that G on the top string again. So it's.

Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom.

Okay?

And that comes right on the end of that C. So it's.

It's hard to get by just upon a smile.

Okay, then we move into the next one again.

Ooh, baby, baby, it's a wild world Sing.

Same riff here. It's gonna be riff number two.

And then ending on that G. I'll.

Always remember you like a child, girl.

And now it's gonna be a D minor chord, four picks. I missed one of the notes the first time I did the playthrough. But it's gonna be D minor from the D string, three E andA. And then we're gonna play an E chord. But because I'm just picking the bottom four strings, I'm just going to move these two fingers up.

And it's going to be 4e anda. So it's 3e and 4e and. And then right back into the verse from there. So I'll try this one more time. Playing through slowly for you guys. I'll play a little bit slower than I played it the first time. I'll admit that was even a little fast for me. But we got through.

But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there.

Ready?

Ooh, baby, baby, it's a wild world.

It'S hard to get by just upon a smile.

Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world.

I'll always remember you like a child, girl.

And you can see I messed up getting into that G chord because I don't usually play my G chord that way. So if I were gonna practice this, I'd have to sit on that and really work on that transition. But this gives you an idea of how to throw in some fun little riffs as I drop my pick on the floor and create some movement and make this song a little bit more interesting. If you want to practice going between strumming and playing riffs, this is a great song to do it with. Now, if you want another really fun song where I show you some strumming, some picking, and some riffs, I highly recommend you go check out My Sweet Home Alabama lesson right over there. We're going to show you how to strum it, how to pick it, and throw in some of the fun little licks, too.