Six String Fingerpicking Courses and Lessons

Take It Easy – Fingerstyle Guitar Lesson

The Eagles

SONG DETAILS

DIFFICULTY:

8

TUNING:

Standard

TEMPO:

139 BPM

KEY:

G major

This is the full guitar lesson for my fingerstyle arrangement of Take It Easy by The Eagles.

Take It Easy was written by Jackson Browne and Eagles band member Glenn Frey in 1972. It was the bands first single and went on to peak at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. To this day it remains one of the band’s best-known and most loved songs.

The arrangement in this guitar lesson is pretty demanding. Whilst the chord progressions are straightforward, the melody is busy and has lots of small nuances that you just have to learn.

Having said that, it’s an incredible amount of fun to play and once mastered it sounds fantastic!

Alright, let’s start learning Take It Easy!

Learn To Play Take It Easy

Take It Easy (Performance)

As you learn to play this fingerstyle arrangement of Take It Easy, be sure to frequently return to the performance as a good reference point and guide.

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The Intro Lesson for Take It Easy

In this first lesson we’re learning that instantly recognisable intro that we all love. It’s just three very easy chords but pay close attention to the timing and the strumming pattern or you may well end up playing it slightly wrong and being unaware of it.

If you want the lyrics of Take It Easy and just the chords in their most basic form, then you can find them here.

The 1st Verse Lesson

Into the 1st verse now of Take It Easy and this is where the melody kicks in. It’s worth noting that the bass is pretty easy, dare I say a little boring, throughout the arrangement. The vast majority of the time you’re simply playing the root-notes of the chords on the counts of 1 & 3 and adding a light percussive tap on 2 & 4.

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The 1st Chorus of Take It Easy Lesson

Now we have the chorus and this is where the chord progression changes. Like with any arrangement I recommend learning the progression off by heart first, then do the same for melody. It really will help cement everything in its right place.

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The 2nd Verse Guitar Lesson

I’ve already mentioned learning the chord progression/melody off by heart for any arrangement that you learn. Another thing that really helps is to learn the lyrics of the song. Occasionally it’s not necessary but with a song like Take It Easy you’ll likely find it a big help, this is because the melody is so nuanced in places and so knowing the words really helps you navigate your way through with accuracy.

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The 2nd Chorus Lesson

The 2nd chorus is similar to the first but is subtly different in places. As mention above, learn the lyrics to help guide you through the tricky melody line.

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The Solo

OK, it’s time for the solo. This section is pretty hard, it moves all over the neck and at times has some awkward moments and some big stretches. Don’t let that put you off though as, like for the vast majority of cases, it’s well worth the effort.

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The Final Verse/Chorus

The final verse and chorus are similar to the others so it shouldn’t take you too long to get these down if you’re OK with the previous ones.

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Outro

There’s just the outro left now and you’ll likely be very pleased to hear that the hard work is done, this section isn’t too hard at all.

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