Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone - Highway 61 - Guitar Lesson / Tutorial

Like A Rolling Stone - my arrangement in E major with alternative chord voicings.
Part One: Lesson.
Part Two: Playing this arrangement in the key of C.
Part Three: Why the chords work - a little music theory.

Part One: Lesson in four sections.
In each section I have added the first few lines of the lyric as a guide ( I am a non-singer!).
Note: I do not necessarily play the correct number of repetitions to match the full lyric.

Part Two: Playing this arrangement in the key of C.
I show how this arrangement of chords could be used to accompany the song in the original key of C major:
1] using standard tuning and a capo
2] using a 'modelled' baritone guitar on the VG Strat and a capo

Part Three: Why the chords work - a little music theory.
Obviously, you don't need to know this to learn how to play the song ... but I thought someone may appreciate the breakdown.
The original recording of the song is in the key of C major and uses the chords: C, D minor7, C/E, F & G. Underpinning these chords is an ascending bass line that starts on the root note, the 1st, and ascends through the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th degrees of the major scale. In the original key of C, these notes are C, D, E, F, G.

NOTE: there is a typo in the video - I have written B instead of E.

In this arrangement, in the key of E major, that bass line transposes to E, F#, G#, A, B.
The five chords (variations and extensions of the chord types above and all making use of the droning open e and b strings) are:
Chord 1: E major
Chord2: F# minor7 / 11
Chord 3: E / D# ( or G# minor / b13 )
Chord 4: A add 9
Chord 5: B add 11
The tabs for the chords are in the video.
These chords act in the same way as the originals as they contain and emphasise the ascending bass line. But the chord voicings and the droning e and b strings give a quite different vibe to the sound.

Thanks to Justin Sandercoe @ justinguitar.com
Many thanks to zapped and bootstrap for help with the theory.
Thanks to the good folk at vanderbilly.com
Thanks to tugwell for the cool lesson that inspired mine.

I hope you enjoy it and I always appreciate ratings and comments.

This was recorded February 18 2010.
Equipment: Fender VG Stratocaster, Peavey Vypyr 30, Peavey Sanpera II, Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 camera.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Bob
• Dylan
• Like
• Rolling
• Stone
• Highway
• 61
• Revisited
• Guitar
• Lesson
• Tutorial
• vanderbilly.com
• Justin
• Sandercoe
• justinguitar.com
• Fender
• VG
• Strat
• Stratocaster
• Peavey
• Vypyr
• 30
• Panasonic
• Lumix
• DMC-TZ3
• camera

[MrClasir]

I like the song in this key and the chords you're playing..I use a lot of those chords with open strings in my playing as well, I find them smoother than the standard ones.

[MrClose2u]

@MrClasir Thanks ... glad you like it ... those open drone strings ... love em :-)

[Shuggydylan]

Nice one, ma man, ah'll tell Bob

[MrClose2u]

@Shuggydylan thanks

[DrHogfan]

similar to Melissa by the Allman Bro's

[MrClose2u]

@DrHogfan thanks for watching and taking the time to comment ... this progression is a lovely one ... wouldn't surprise me to know it is in many songs

[MrClose2u]

@TPLZzCHIPPY thanks for watching and commenting

:-)

[TPLZzCHIPPY]

thanx man i learned this song

[MrClose2u]

@nankerphelge718 .... look underneath the video pane ... where there is space to write more info ... do you see the very first sentence? It says .... "Like A Rolling Stone - my arrangement in E major with alternative chord voicings."

[nankerphelge718]

@MrClose2u call it an "alternate version of like a rolling stone" or something like that then. bob dylan didn't write it in this key. it sounds like easy listening music in the key of e major, btw.