How to Play Give Me One Reason, Tracy Chapman
I had not heard this song in years when I first got this request, and sitting down to learn how to play Give Me One Reason by Tracy Chapman was a fun experience. When the band comes in and you hear those first blues guitar licks, I swore it could have been BB King playing on the record because these blues licks are so good!
Alas, it was not the great BB King, but Adam Levy. Through my research, I discovered that I had heard Levy’s work before, but never knew that I was listening to him. Turns out, Adam is an accomplished musician and has not only played with Chapman but a slew of other great artists as well! The list includes Rosanne Cash, Amos Lee, and Norah Jones to name a few. If you’d like to learn a bit more about Adam Levy, check out his Wikipedia page, Adam Levy – Wikipedia.
Today we’ll review the electric guitar rhythm parts and the blues guitar fill licks. Learning how to play Give Me One Reason is a deep dive into excellent blues guitar work. Learning roots music will make any guitarist better, and that includes you! So get your guitar, and let’s start jamming!
Check out our YouTube video lesson for the electric guitar parts, and scroll down for chord charts and tablature!
Gear Corner
Tracy’s Rig
Tracy is using an older Gibson ES-125 with a cutaway, and man does it get a great sound! Looking at equipboard.com, she uses a Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Matchless DC30. I believe it’s important to learn something new every day and as I’m writing this post, I am aware that I have not heard of Matchless Amplifiers. While I think Tracy used the Fender Deluxe Reverb for the recording, I don’t want to let that stop me from doing a little research on Matchless, so let’s digress!
The Matchless DC30 is considered by some to be the holy grail of EL84 amplifiers and after you watch a couple of YouTube video demos, you may be inclined to agree. These 30-watt amplifiers should not be considered little because the two 12″ speaker combination weighs 83 lbs, and this thing very likely could break your back. But the sounds that you can create from Matchless amps are pretty incredible. If Tracy did use this amplifier on Give Me One Reason, you can’t blame her. The price tag for the 2×12 combo comes in at just under $4,000, so yeah. If I paid four grand for an amp, you had better believe I’m going to record with it! Check it out: Matchless Amplifiers C-30
Adam Levy’s Guitar
Welp, this one turned out to be tough to research. While Adam has a great Youtube channel (Adam Levy Guitar Tips – YouTube), the actual gear that he uses seems to be endless!
I see him with a Gibson ES-335 in some videos. Since I thought the tone sounded like BB King, I’m going with my gut and say that it’s very likely that he uses a Gibson ES-335 for this song. If I’m incorrect, let me know down in the comments!
That said, I was able to get a half-decent tone using the neck pickup on my Fender Baja Telecaster (smellytele.com) with the tone control rolled down to about 60% or so. I have also watched some of the live videos of Tracy playing this song, and the guitarists in her road band sometimes use Stratocasters. If this is thoroughly confusing you, that’s OK. What you should take away from this gear corner, is that a great tone can be achieved using most guitar models.
These gear corners are intended to be a guide, but you should be encouraged to use whatever you have in your home. Play around with the controls on your guitar and your amplifier. The guitar’s highs should be able to cut through the mix, but you’re not trying to get too much bite. The most important thing is getting a warm, rich, and balanced tone.
Guitar Chords
Nashville Numbers
Learning how to play Give Me One Reason is awesome because it follows one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music. ONE! FOUR! FIVE! Every time this progression comes back, I am reminded of how pivotal it is to begin recognizing and using this progression in your playing. It’s something that will be here forever!
The song is in the key of F#, so we just need to know what the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes of the major scale are to find our Nashville numbers. Sound easy? It is! The first note of the F# major scale is, well, F#. Next is Ab, third is Bb, fourth is B, and the fifth note of the scale is a Db. Grab the notes we’re looking for, and this week, you need to know the F#, Bb, and Db chords! Check out the chord diagrams below!
These are all bar chords, so they will require you to have a bit of hand strength built up. Even if you’re a beginner, this is a good song for you. You can get used to playing all bar chords and use Give Me One Reason to boost your playing to the next level.
Hate Bar Chords?
Yeah, I hear ya. It can be really frustrating if you’re really excited to learn a song, and then you get snuffed by the big bad bar chord. Well, you’re in luck because you can use a capo on the 2nd fret of your guitar. Instead of barring the chords, the capo will do this for you, and you can use an E, A and B chord shape.
If the B shape gives you too much trouble, try a B7. Is it like the record? Strictly speaking, no, but hey, most of us are playing in our bedrooms and living rooms so who cares. Play a B7 and have fun!
Rhythm & Strumming Pattern
The opening strumming and rhythm pattern for this song are immediately recognizable, and a pivotal part of learning how to play Give Me One Reason. Aside from the bar chords, this is a relatively simple strumming pattern, and it’s very accessible for beginners. It sounds more complicated than it is to play, so if you’ve got some of the basics down this will be really fun to learn.
Blues Licks!
Now we’re going to transition to the blues guitar licks! Learning how to play Give Me One Reason is a great example of how to play guitar with a singer. Did you notice how Levy never plays while Tracy is singing? It’s kind of like a call and answer. Tracy sings a line, Adam plays a lick. And they dance together like this for most of the song. Plus, these blues licks are master licks and you can use them in almost any blues setting.
In the YouTube lesson video, I’ll refer to these as Lick #1, #2, #3, and so on, so I’ll put a quick label on each lick so you can follow along. Note, these licks do not begin until the band comes in. Tracy sings the first verse (which is more like a chorus) by herself.
Lick #1
Lick #2
Lick #3
Lick #4
Lick #5
Lick #6
Lick #7
Lick #8
Lick #9
Guitar Solo!
WOOHOO! I love this solo because there are so many cool parts and pieces to this. And we all know that it’s the blues by now, so I’m going to shut up and put the tabs here for you.
The song continues after this, and there are additional licks that we haven’t covered. If this is something you want to learn, leave me a comment below! I’d be happy to tab this out and make a part 2 video if there’s demand for it!
That’s IT!
You know how to play Give Me One Reason!! If you’re looking for blues riffs to rip on your electric, check out our lesson for Catfish Blues, ZZ Top (smellytele.com)! The main riff is a classic blues lick that a beginner can pick up; additionally, we cover the guitar solo and fill licks for the entire song!
Remember, if you would like to support this webpage, please become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/smellytele! A perk of being a patron? I will make a video lesson specifically for you, so if there’s a song you want to learn but you can’t find a lesson for it, tell me! Because I’m here to help!
Also, go and check out some of our other electric guitar lessons! We have lessons for All Night, Brothers Osborne (smellytele.com) and Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line (smellytele.com)
And if you liked the guitar we used in today’s video, check out our full review of the Martin Custom D Classic Rosewood (smellytele.com) and the Fender Classic Player Baja ’60s Telecaster (smellytele.com).
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