How to play One of These Things First by Nick Drake

[leapsplashafrog]

Well done. I have learnt this in DADFAD but I think you're correct BEBEBE. Sounds good in both tho. Being himself is something Nick struggled with and i think the tuning is a message in itself. What a great artist Nick was and i imagine poor mothering is behind his 'mental health' problems. Brought up initially in India he must have been inspired by all that open tuned music.

[1supaflyninja]

Brilliant!...wish i could keep up..

[somedayprovidence]

really awesome man...good work

[greguitar8888]

thank you very much... great tutorial and lots of fun to play.

[zackypooofillinois]

ever heard of the tuning babebe? i tuned my electric to it and you can get some decent riffs off the top three strings(BAB) i looked it up and haven't heard anything on the tuning but i highly doubt i'm the only one thats done it... can you possibly help me find out if any songs have been used for it?

[JoeChrisMorris]

I found the sheet music for this in a soundtrack songbook for Garden State

[ergoguitar]

nice try...but if you want to see how its done, check out plectrum 34's video. It is 100 percent correct. This guy is without a doubt the real deal, and has put in a lot of time to get it right.

[fret6th]

Brilliant I must agree all the tabs are WRONG thank you for clearing things up HUGE fan of NICK Drake.

[ImDrunkOnBaileys]

0:32 I thought you said Man and a Shit then lol. (thanks for the upload)

[JamesTKirkCobain]

Wow that is some crazy tuning. You mean tune down 5 -6 steps the lower E string to B and the A string all the way to E? Holy smoke, I`m suprised you can hear those strings at all after that. Well at least you don`t have to worry about breaking strings, the things are barely tight.

[OneDrinkForMankind]

BEBEBE, the same Bs and Es? sorry, i don't really get the tuning, don't want to do it wrong!

[sazma]

@OneDrinkForMankind Check the info box for the video. I explain there how to tune.

[Wrangle19]

@sazma i really like the quality of the tones from your guitar. seems perfect for Drake. just curious as to what you are using to generate that sound...guitar, wood, strings, etc? thanks

[groundworkderby]

Never tried this tuning, looking forward to getting home and trying it out. Do you know river man?

[sazma]

@groundworkderby I do. And I play it differently than most people :) I play it in the CGCFCE (pink moon, etc) tuning. Maybe I'll get some time (seems unlikely) soon and make a vid for it. Cheers.

[lawvermont]

Can the apologies and excuses, You don't need to be humble when you're right on the money. Thank you.

[melodel2]

Wow, thanks so much for this great and well-explained tutorial! I can't seem to play the picking pattern fast enough to get the effect that you are getting, is this normal?

[sazma]

@melodel2 Are you using a pick or your fingers? Try it with just your fingers. Thanks for the kind words :)

[buniluvr]

Wow - you are the master! Very impressive! I'll be hear all day! Thank you for making the world a better place :)

cheers

julie

[sazma]

@buniluvr You're welcome! Thank you for the great videos. I enjoyed them very much. Especially 'Harmony "G"'! Great melody and mood. What tuning is that in, if you don't mind my asking.

[DWBhalla]

This is a really helpful video thanks man. Really well played also. Been trying to find a decent way to play this song for ages and you nailed it!

Any chance you could do some more nick drake tutorials in this tuning? Would be awesome!

[sazma]

@DWBhalla Thanks for the kind words! I'm pretty sure Chris Healey's tabs for most of the BEBEBE songs are correct. If you're having trouble with a particular song, PM me and I'll be glad to help you out. I've sent other YouTubers private guitar vids before.

[AtomicFuse1]

excellent video! thanks

[mythikyle]

to BE or not BE.........i'll get me coat.

[cicerojohnny71]

First off, great lesson!! I've been trying to "master" this one for YEARS. Your lesson helped out a great deal. You say you use no pick? I myself use a pick for this song. I find that once ya "master" the pick technique, the notes ring out clearer.

[sazma]

Glad I could help and thanks for the kind words. I don't think I'm too far out on a limb if I say that I don't think Nick ever used a pick. Once you master the fingerstyle technique, the notes ring out just as clear :)

[gtrumpnc]

Thanks for posting your faithful rendition of one of my all-time favorite songs. It's perfect.

Because I don't always have a second guitar around, I've worked it out to some extent in standard tuning. While it's not as true to the original as yours, it'll get you by when you aren't able to radically detune.

Briefly, it goes:

O221XX O422XX O644XX X533XX X422XX O221XX

XO22XX 3200XX

3200XX 2422XX

XO22XX 2422XX

Fiddle around with the fingerpicking a while and it'll probably make sense.

[backdoorman29]

FUCKKKKKK..

dont do that man..we get jelous..what u did in the starting 30 seconds..

awesome playing bro..

nick drake is beautiful..so r u ..LOL..

[JoeChrisMorris]

I love this

You have to pick this one pretty fast! Travis picking or something

Very cool to have this up - I love the debate in the comments about tunings!

[sazma]

Thanks! :)

It's all fingerstyle... no pick.

[KaptainKool100]

Good. I have been playing guitar since I was 9 (now 13 haha) and I have a Fander Strat. I have tried to play with a Pick but I just can't. LOL

[cazywaz]

how would you tune it to BEBEBE?

[sazma]

Detune the G string to match the high and low E. Detune the D string to match the B string. Repeat the detuning process for the A and E strings.

[gunchibaiyya]

With your free flow and natural didactic style, you really need to produce these videos more professionally...you know, with a better camera, with better camera angle, with better sound pick up. It's people like you who make successful guitar teaching material.

[sazma]

erm... thanks! and ... sorry?

[gunchibaiyya]

I am not complaining! I just meant that your nice style deserves more professional attention.

[mahcuz]

Any chance you could put a video up of how to play Fly? :)

[sazma]

Chris Healey's Fly tab is 100% as far as I'm concerned. I'm planning on only posting stuff that I find different from the "accepted" tabs. For instance, River Man is in the same tuning as Pink Moon and so is Northern Sky, but most a lot of people will argue with you about it like they do with me in the other comments for this vid. :) Glad you enjoyed it. Feel free to PM me if you're having trouble with Fly.

[mahcuz]

I'll keep it in mind - by the way, couldn't agree with you more about the tuning. :)

[nicklassayshi]

I friggin' love you.

[sazma]

And I love you.

[neilboggan87]

perfect....someone who can finally nail correct tunings! flawless lesson! thanks a million!

[sazma]

Thanks for the kind words :)

[cupidsdelocke]

nice

[sazma]

You are!

[Jalkotsu]

Surprising as it may be, your "puny brain" exploding might make for an entertaining video.

Nice playing, btw.

[sazma]

Hehe, thanks :)

[BrandonSalem]

you. are. AWESOME!!! thank you sooo much! you're an amazing guitar player sir.

:D god loves you!

[sazma]

Thanks for the kind words :)

[jethrose]

Thank you Sazma.....I think you´ve done all of us only average guitar playing Nick Drake fans a big favour....showing us in an easy to follow vid. so we all can have a go! The tricky part is getting the right hand technique down tho. isn´t it?

[sazma]

Thanks! :) Nick definitely had an amazing right hand, but this one isn't too bad.

[vonlichtenstien23]

haha. "hopefully this has taught you how to a lii..to play..uh..from th..what ever the hell this songs called."

love it though man. thank you for this. ;)

[sazma]

LOL what I lack in smarts I make up for in lack of smarts!

[lxlcantar]

Kudos broseph, you can tell you know what you are talking about, I'm gonna try and work it out, thanks!

[amccann7]

Cool! Thanks so much for this informational post! You are a great guitar player!

[sazma]

You're very welcome :) I hope it's useful to you. Thanks for the compliment.

[rapmaster]

Sounds good. But that sure is a heck of an uncomfortable stretch spanning 4 frets -- at least for me, with my guitar... I think i'll keep trying DADF#AD... Thanks; keep the vids coming.

[itstabish]

Hey Rapmaster, yeah. thats the tuning. and capo 2nd fret.

[sazma]

How do you hit the low C# in that tuning? Also, how do you achieve the unison sounds?

[jimmurray74]

helpful vid - shall learn it as an xmas present for my wife - its her favorite song. You touch upon 'man in a shed' & 'from the morning', any chance you could make a similar vid for those songs for incorporating whats required from the left hand too? yours gratefully.

[sazma]

I'd love to, but my problem is time. I've been really wanting to make another video for a while now, but I just can't find the time to do it. There's decent tab on the net for both of those songs. I posted this because I play it differently than anyone else. Cheers.

[Gingerhoneycat]

wow, you're good!! I'm gonna have a go at this, it might take a while haha:)

Thanks for posting xx

[sazma]

Very kind of you to say. I'm sure you'll have no problems with it.

[sazma]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm sure you'll get there! I'll add Northern Sky to the list of videos I want to make. I play it differently than any of the tabs I've seen, so I'd have probably done one anyway. :)

[ShedDust]

Sweet. It must be so satisfying and rewarding to arrive at a point of playing ability that you can play these great songs. I ache to be able to play some of Nick's songs. I think Northern Sky is probably less technical, but how'd you feel about posting avideo of how to play that? Well done.

Mark

[GZeusKriest]

You've really touched on Nick's unique playing style, I wish your camera was positioned higher for a better view of the finger positions.

[sazma]

Thanks for the kind comments. :) Unfortunately I only have a crappy laptop webcam, so for now it's the best I can do.

[babaoriley8]

how do you tune to bebebe i cant figure it out!

[sazma]

Tune your A string down to match the low E. Tune your D string down to an octave lower than the B string. Tune the G down an octave lower than the high E and then tune the low E down to an octave lower than your old D (now B) string.

[joni36]

Great playing but it is open D(DADF#AD), capo 2nd fret, I think..

[sazma]

What makes you think that? Nick has no other songs in that tuning.

[ergoguitar]

@sazma Probably because Chris Healey notates the tune in open D tuning, as do others here.

[stefffjunior]

how do you tune to BEBEBE??

[stefffjunior]

nevermind, i'm stupid. i think i got it.

great playing!

[sazma]

Glad you got it! Thanks for the kind words :)

[rusty007]

I think you are onto it with this tuning. I have recently learnt the DADF#AD method but you don't get the alternating bass notes in the chorus with that tuning.

I really liked your teaching style, looking forward to more ND tutorials.

Ed

[sazma]

Very kind of you! thanks :)

[KingofRoath]

I still think it's in DADF#AD. Don't forget there is a bass guitar providing alternating bass on the recording.

[sazma]

True that there is a bass, but wouldn't Nick have written the song on guitar? Also, wouldn't he have other songs in that tuning?

[KingofRoath]

I'm sure Nick wrote all his songs on a guitar, but that doesn't mean every note on the recording comes from his guitar, does it? Depending on who you believe, Bryter Later, Clothes of Sand and Place to Be are one-off tunings - why shouldn't OOTTF be?

[sazma]

Of course it doesn't mean that. There are other things (like the unison sounds) that I mention in the video that make me think this is the tuning. Why do you think it *isn't*?

[sazma]

i meant to click reply and accidentally removed your response. Sorry. If you actually watch the video, I mention that it's very easy to hear the sound of the same note being played on two strings and refer to it as "unison". Nomenclature aside, why do you think this isn't the right tuning? Or that the other is? Having played it the DADF#AD way for a long time, it never sounded right; which is why I went through the trouble of figuring it out. Also, the low C# comes out of his favorite 222000.

[mahcuz]

I hear the 'unison' too. I think you've pretty much nailed it :)

[sazma]

Thanks very much :)

[olivercarle]

hey! great tab mate

[sazma]

Thanks much :)

[crnacreper]

really nice, really:)

if you could post where you found the tabs, i'd be extremely grateful,

[sazma]

I didn't find the tabs, I listened to it and figured it out :)

Thanks for the positive feedback

[sazma]

Thanks for the positive feedback! :) I'll post more soon.

[peteyofcanada]

Wow! Please post some vids on how to play some of these other songs. This is great!