James Taylor – Up On The Roof
Learn how to play James Taylor – Up On The Roof note-for-note on guitar.
Difficulty level: Intermediate
Barre chords: Yes
Thumb over chords: Yes
Playing Style: Fingerpicked
Tuning: Standard
This lesson teaches JT’s acoustic guitar part from the original studio version.
The complete file contains a lesson video, 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 286 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.
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Mark Crum says
Jerry I have a ‘music theory’ question. On the INTRO first few bars of Up On The Roof you use the chords:
Em D/F# G6 A7sus4 to D That seems like extra fret finger movements forming the whole chords….
I use what I think is more simplified to finger (or NOT finger notes not used): Esus4 Em7/F# n Em/G A7sus4 to D (I get you don’t see my fingerings but rather than form whole chords I roll from one to the other with the fingers only fretting the actual played notes through my chord choices in the most efficient way).
Even at bar 17 coming from bar 16 A chord it seems much more natural and efficient to me…..
FWI: the question covers a topic I have had with many songs trying to play them more efficiently for me.
So my question: Is there a music theory point of view why to play the whole chords you use (perhaps sympathetic notes, chords in the Key or something)? –and– Does it matter if I were playing with other instruments or alone?
Jerry says
Hi Mark
It’s a good question.
The key thing to understand here is that JT is pushing the first 2 chord changes in this intro. (For anyone who doesn’t know, that meeans he’s playing the first note of the chord one 8th note earlier than its regular beat.)
So on the first chord, Em, he plays strings 6, 4 and 2 out of Em, but then moves to D in time to play 3rd string 2nd fret out of that chord shape.
If instead you play it as Esus4, you’ll play the correct notes, but the previous notes of Em will continue to ring where the chord sound should now be D.
It’s the same with the final note of bar 1 which looks like it’s out of a D chord but in fact acts as the pushed first note of the G6 chord.
That ‘pushed chord’ feel is key to getting the JT sound.
Mark Crum says
Ah, so that’s it. You had to go and make me play it right didn’t you! hahaha. Thanks much Jerry. That makes sense. I am trying to experiment with the two ways to play it for sound and I can hear the notes ring differently (subtle but different) when changing chords… Magically I can do it now but that will take some practice to be as clean. Thanks!
Mark Crum says
I just got started with ‘Up On The Roof’ ….love the song, but wow… This one is complicated in the arrangement. The tab jumps around soooooo much that it is very hard to follow and remember. For me I’d call this an upper end intermediate. I am tabbing it in Guitar Pro 8… But I’m going to have to do it straight up linear! No repeats, no half verses…… just straight up linear as played! James Taylor always does find a way to make his songs complicated in some way! Thanks Jerry!
Alan Thomas says
Great Song! – Great Lesson! – Thank you for your amazing tuition!!