Learning To Fly by Tom Petty | rhythm & solo
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An electric acoustic guitar lesson on how to play "Learning To Fly" by Tom Petty from the 1991 album Into the Great Wide Open.
Tom Petty co-wrote this song with Jeff Lynne from ELO who also produced the album. For me this is maybe TP's best song. It's only four chords that repeat over and over. Even the chorus and the middle eight are the same four chords! I always say that it doesn't have to be complex to be great and this tune is a testament to that. A lot of the appeal of this tune for me is the amazing production. The multi-layered acoustic and electric guitars along with the cool background vocals give it a real ethereal sound. Even though there are just four chords, I still see a lot of guys play them very poorly! Many times musicians don't take simple parts seriously and wind up having less than good results. The trick is keeping your fingers down as much as possible when you change chords and also letting strings ring through the changes.
Be it complex or simple, the only thing that matters is that you play it well! There's a really nice slide solo in this tune that was played by Mike Campbell, a very good slide player. I'm pretty hesitant to bring out the slide on my videos as I'm not much good at it but it's at least good enough to show the parts. I still had fun working out this solo though! Tom Petty will be remembered as one of the great songwriters of his era. He had a real gift for it. He'll be truly missed. I hope you enjoy the videos and have fun playing this fantastic song. Cheers Andy |
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