#PINBALL WIZARD GUITAR TAB HOW TO#
#PINBALL WIZARD GUITAR TAB SERIES#

The progression is: Bsus4 to B Asus4 to A Gsus4 to G F#sus4 to F#.For those interested in theory that means the 4th becomes the 3rd of the chord once it resolves. For example: the first chord is a Bsus4 that resolves (as in take the pinky off) to a B major chord. I wasn't sure if I got this across clearly in the video. The chords you'll actually be playing are suspended fourth chords (sus4) resolving to the major chord.It does sound slightly different, but it’s not likely anyone will hear the difference (except diehard Who fans that play guitar and are fanatics about playing things the way the original artist played it. Alternative Form #2: Another way to do this is to play it as a bar chord (see cheat sheet for fingering).A good strategy is to try this first and then try adding the thumb for the bass no later.

#PINBALL WIZARD GUITAR TAB HOW TO#

I show in the video how to deaden out the 5th string and the 1st string. Alternative Form #1: The easiest form involves leaving out the thumb and playing the top strings only.Even though this is the way Pete Townshend plays the chords it's really fine to use one of two alternate forms.

Fingering the chord with the thumb around the neck will be easier for some people than others.

In this lesson I've chosen to teach (in my humble opinion) the most useful part, and the most difficult part, of “Pinball Wizard” by The Who. I'm still not sure.īut “Pinball Wizard” was indelibly stamped in my brain for the rest of my life. I listened to this album over and over, probably in part trying to figure out what they were talking about. I found the Tommy album (actually released before Whos Next). Such a BIG sound… with melody and chords. He sounded like two guitar players playing at the same time. Pete Townshend was totally amazing to me. I actually didn't try to play their songs for a long time. The music really spoke to my teenage soul. I jumped in right around the time they released “Behind Blue Eyes” and “Won't Get Fooled Again”. How could you not want to play guitar after hearing “Stairway to Heaven” as a teenager?

I think it was their most well-known song that first awakened my desire to play the guitar when I heard it drift over the radio waves in my room during one of my “moody teenage” days. I remember hearing Santana… Kind of like a first love, I'll never forget Santana. Then I heard rock music… and I’ve never been the same. It conjures the images and feelings of being in an exotic place… away from the stresses of everyday life In the US.įirst there was a short teenage pop phase (as in Tommy James and the Shondells, don’t laugh… you were a teenager once) I really enjoy the music by artist like the Gipsy Kings and Ottmar Liebert. I wrote it up with the standard fingering, but decided that using ring and pinkie for Asus4 and middle and ring for A made for a much easier transition after the B.I'm best known (and have 5 CDs) for my own original Spanish/Flamenco style of music. I changed my mind about the fingering for Asus4 and A. I moved the inversions higher up than the original so the relationship between them is similar.Ī lot of moving from sus4 to major chords. The chord inversions are really important in this one. The strumming pattern for this one is the old down, down, up, down, down, up, windmill, windmill, windmill. They play a B chord instead of an A chord on that one occasion. There’s a slight variation on it at the end of the first verse (after ‘down in my soul’). So to make up for it here are four Who chord riffs.

#PINBALL WIZARD GUITAR TAB SERIES#

I’ve been terribly remiss in not featuring The Who in my Riffs for Ukulele series (although I did write up their ukulele song Blue, Red and Grey).

Pinball wizard guitar tab