James Taylor – Taking It In Guitar Lesson Info
Learn how to play James Taylor – Taking It In note-for-note on guitar with our James Taylor – Taking It In Guitar Lesson.
Taking It In is one of the hidden gems from James Taylor’s first album — a beautifully written song whose guitar part was almost lost beneath the dense studio arrangement. For years, I couldn’t include it because his acoustic part simply couldn’t be heard clearly enough to transcribe. That changed when a customer unearthed a solo live performance where James’s guitar rings out perfectly, and I’ve finally been able to capture exactly what he played.It’s classic early James Taylor — fluid, harmonically rich, and full of those subtle rhythmic movements that make his style so distinctive. I’ve classified it as advanced, though seasoned Taylor players will recognize many of his familiar chord shapes and techniques. There’s one thumb-over chord (which can be avoided by playing the bass note an octave higher if preferred) and a single partial barre chord.
The lesson breaks everything down slowly and clearly, showing how the bass, syncopated chord changes, and delicate fills all fit together.
By the end, you’ll be able to play Taking It In as James Taylor himself performed it — a rare opportunity to bring one of his most overlooked early songs to life on solo guitar.
- Difficulty level: Advanced
- Barre chords: Yes (partial)
- Thumb over chords: Yes, but can be easily avoided
- Playing Style: Fingerpicked
- Tuning: Standard
- Separate Solo: No
- Separate Bass Part: No
Return to Individual Songs page
James Taylor – Taking It In Download Details
The complete lesson contains a lesson video and a performance-standard play-thru video. It also contains the guitar tabs as PDF files and a songsheet with the chords and the lyrics of the lesson (if applicable), also as PDF files.
The videos are MP4 format and will play on PC’s, Macs and most mobile devices.
You’ll receive an email with a Zip file containing a total of 6 files as follows:
- Part 1: Guitar Video Lesson – Intro
- Part 2: Guitar Video Lesson – Verses 1&2, Bridge 1
- Part 3: Guitar Video Lesson – Rest of the lesson
- Part 4: Performance-standard Playthru Video
- Part 5: Songsheet with tabs & lyrics
- Part 6: Guitar Tab
Total Download size: 475.1 Mb
You’ll need to extract the MP4 and PDF files from the Zip file/s to be able to use them and you’ll need software to do so. If you don’t have a Zip program on your PC you’ll need to install one to open the file. I use Peazip 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.
James Taylor – Taking It In Lesson Previews
Playthru & Intro
Tab Preview
Chords & Songsheet Preview
Return to Individual Songs page
Browse Our Lessons by
Fingerstyle Instrumental pieces
Latest Products
