Guitar Logic

I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James

Added 2021-09-20 18:01:01 +0000 UTC

I believe that every guitarist should regularly explore blues music. One of the most effective methods of improving as a musician is to listen to the pieces that you like and learn them by listening and trying to repeat them. Not only are you doing ear training and technique building, but you are also broadening your music vocabulary with new tricks and phrases, improving your style and adding soul to your performance. Learn from your favorite songs and musicians, however, they don’t necessarily have to be guitar players.

I'd Rather Go Blind by Etta James could be one of those gem songs with a lot of soulful phrases intended for singing, which we will play on guitar.

The harmony is very simple here. One cycle consists of 8 bars and two chords, A and Bm7. There are 9 cycles in total and the last two are repeated.

A A Bm7 Bm7

Bm7 Bm7 A A

On the other hand, the melody is not repetitive and thus each cycle could be a new challenge for your memory. To make this easier I prepared an additional PDF with markings for each cycle so you can practice and memorize them separately and later put them together and play as a whole.

So, this time I’m sharing with you a fingerstyle interpretation of this great song and in some of the next videos I'll give it a take on my electric guitar.