James Taylor – Fire and Rain
Learn how to play James Taylor – Fire and Rain note-for-note on guitar.
Difficulty level: Intermediate
Barre chords: No
Thumb over chords: No
Playing Style: Fingerpicked
Tuning: Standard
This preview video contains the introduction taken from the complete lesson for the song Fire and Rain.
The complete song lesson contains 3 lesson videos – one per section of the song, a performance play thru video, full tabs, chords and lyrics. You’ll receive a link to download the lesson which will download as a zip file of 185 Mb containing all the lesson content.
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You’ll receive at least two videos per song, one lesson and one performance-standard play-through. You’ll receive the chords/lyrics and guitar tabs as PDF files.
The videos are mp4 format and should play on PC’s, Macs and most mobile devices.
They will download as Zip files. If you don’t have a Zip program on your PC you’ll need to install one to open the file. I use Zipeg which you can get free, here.
If you want to download to an iPad or iPhone you’ll need an app to do so, please read here to know more about it.
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Frank says
Hey Jerry- I have one very minor comment/suggestion: When you play through a few bars slowly, I think it would help me if you counted in. It’s coming up on Fire and Rain because I’m having a heck of a time getting the timing down and I play along with you. (Note: I hesitated to mention this on a free lesson so I looked at another lesson with the same issue, the instrumental verse of St. James Infirmary. I suspect Steamroller Blues is the same but I didn’t go back to check.) Just a thought. Another thing that would help is if there could be a way to loop portions of the video. Is that possible? I haven’t figured it out if there is.
Anyway, I hesitate to bring this stuff up because your lessons are pretty close to perfect. Thanks for your efforts!
Jerry says
Thanks for the feedback Frank. All the songs you mention start on the 1 beat. On any songs that don’t I do give a count in to show that it begins on an irregular beat.
I’ll give your suggestion some thought. Thanks!
Frank says
I understand. Thanks for the quick reply! This is frustrating- I’m hitting the notes but I’m not getting the sound. What can I do? Wait, I know- practice.
Remy says
Just one word THANK !!!!!
Kelly Stauffer says
You know, I signed up for James Taylor’s lessons, thinkiing ,fantastic, I’ll finally be able to figure out how to play one of my favorite songs. Wrong! There is no way I could do this even in slow motion. Maybe I eventually would have done it but man it’s complicated and full of notes. I love it but I couldn’t even tell for sure abt some of the chord fingerings and bc he gives no instruction its a bit frustrating and painfully slow. I still havnt figured out how to get YOUR lessons bc all i have is asmart phone, but I came across your site and I’m all in. It sounds like you’re a talented and effective inspiring teacher and for those who dont have the means to hire a private teacher it sure helps things along when someone like uou is added to the equation. I’m 58 y.o and played the oboe from 3rd to 11th grade and I was inspired to try teaching myself this beautiful instrument. I’m hoping my chord changes will get faster and smoother with enough practice. It helps tremendously to not have to try deciphering what’s happening in favor of being told in a fraction of the time for sure what an artist was doing. A million thanks for your time.
Isabel says
Hi Kelly.
To download the lesson on your smartphone you need to be able to unzip the file. You probably need an app to do that. Also be aware that these are large files and you’ll need enough space on your phone to store the files.
Hope it helps.
Claudia Lenoir says
I have tried for years,on and off, to grasp counting time; you have helped me immeasurably. Very, very grateful. Thank you.
Paul Stewart says
Jerry, you are obviously an extremely talented guitarist and musician. You are also the best guitar instructor/teacher I have ever run across. Your instructions are broken down into logical sections, the dual screen videos are great, your method is clear and consistent and from what I’ve seen so far 100% accurate. So glad I found your website. Thank you. Paul in Nashville.
Joe Choong says
Many thanks, Jerry. You have been an enormous help to my endeavor to learn the guitar at my late age.
Gary Barnes says
Jerry, Your work and dedication is keeping a lot of great acoustic guitar music alive and well. I especially enjoy your breakdown of Dylan and your excellent teaching style. Thanks to you I can play some of the tunes I have always loved. All the best.
Jerry says
Thanks Gary. That’s great to hear!
Mel Scobie says
Thanks.
Paul Stewart says
Great lessons Jerry,,,,,,,, the best in my opinion.
Ed Berry says
Like others I have played for many years and find your tutorial very easy to understand. Love to spend my spare time working on technical songs that bring back such great memories. Thank you very much for your time spent breaking these songs down for us to enjoy.
Ed
david smith says
Thank you Lowell. I have been a James Taylor fan since I was seven. I started playing guitar fourteen years ago. I have taken classical fingerstyle lessons since then once a week. I still haven’t played in front of an audience. Your voice is great and so are your lessons.
Thank you,
David
Lowell Davis says
Thank you for your contributions the worlds guitar players. I am 59 and have been playing since age 8. Nothing ever comes easy from my guitar but you definitely help. I really enjoyed “Too Many Angels” by Jackson Browne. Now I just need to learn to sing!