Father and Son by Cat Stevens | acoustic
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An acoustic guitar lesson on how to play "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens from his 1970 album "Tea For the Tillerman."
Cat Stevens wrote this song for a proposed film project called "Revolussia" by British actor Nigel Hawthorne. The story line was about a boy who wanted to join the Russian revolution but his father, a farmer, didn't want him to go. The project was eventually shelved as Cat Stevens came down with tuberculosis and spent over a year in hospital. He had a collapsed lung and nearly died. He eventually recovered and the song was included on Tea For the Tillerman. It was released as a single with Moonshadow on the B-side. Moonshadow also appeared on the 1971 album, "Teaser and the Firecat". This and "Wild World" have always been my favorite songs from Tea For the Tillerman and I've had a ton of requests for it over the years. It's essentially a very simple song with some basic first position chords. The only bar chord is the B minor which appears in the later verses. The strumming pattern is also not complicated but there are a couple of timing things at the end of the verses that might take a few tries to get right. The intro is two guitars, one playing the chords and the other playing the lick. I'll show you a couple of options of how to play both parts if you're playing it on your own. Probably the best thing that you can learn from a tune like this is strumming open strings as you make the chord changes. The key of G is great for that because the D, G and B strings are all in the chord. If you try to hit the chords without doing that it'll sound really jerky and awkward. By strumming open strings on the changes, it gives you that fraction of a second to move your hand to the new position making everything smooth. I hope that you enjoy the video and that it helps you to learn this beautiful song. I had a great time working on it as it's always been a favorite of mine. Cheers Andy |
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