Moonshadow by Cat Stevens | acoustic
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After subscribing check the welcome page and email for access. (Already subscribed? see the latest newsletter)  An acoustic guitar lesson on how to play "Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens from his 1971 album "Teaser and the Firecat." I had a request to do a lesson on Moonshadow and The Wind, both in the same week! I did The Wind already so as promised in that video, here's my lesson on Moonshadow. Many of Cat Stevens' songs seem simple when you watch him play them, but they're a lot more complex than they appear. Moonshadow is a great example of this. The fingerpicking section is intricate and there are several variations on the main riff. I go over this in detail in the lesson. The strumming sections are easier, but strumming evenly and in time—without rushing or dragging—is a skill that takes practice to develop. On the original recording the strumming is done with the thumb and first finger, but on most of the live videos I watched, Cat tucks the pick during the fingerpicking sections and uses it for the strumming parts. There's a lick at the end of the strumming sections that most lessons miss, but to me it's essential. I go over that in detail in the video and explain how that lick is modified in the live versions because of the pick. There’s a lot to this song and it took me longer than I thought it would to nail it down. I also covered Alun Davies' part. It's not as substantive as his part in The Wind, but playing it in C shapes with the capo on the 2nd fret adds different tones and voicings and fleshes out the sound. While my lesson is mostly on the original recording, I learned a lot from this video (very bad quality!) on Alun Davies' part as well as the differences from the original recording. I loved working this one out so I hope that you get something from the video. Cheers Andy |
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