Even if you’re not a fan of "American Idol," I hope you’ve heard the music of season nine’s winner, Lee DeWyze. An avid fan of the show, I’ve watched pretty much every episode since day one, and DeWyze always impressed not only with his fabulous voice, but his obvious musicianship. He could often be seen on the Idol stage with a guitar in hand.
So, of course, I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to meet with DeWyze in the Acoustic Nation studio. He spent some time teaching me the powerful single “Fight” from his new release Frames.
There are more in studio performances and our interview coming up. But here we work on the fingerings for “Fight” together. True story: this is my first time playing the song, so watch Lee’s fingers and not mine! Let’s Play It NOW!
First fingerpicked section: Lee starts off playing the bass notes and middle notes with his fingers and later migrates to picking the top strings as well.
This part follows in the second verse:
Third section: The chords change order a bit but the fingers are similar
Chorus: DeWyze’s favorite part of the song! Same chords just a new order.
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DeWyze uses the same chord changes when he starts to strum further into the song. Here’s the strum pattern he likes to use with just the bass notes on beat one:
Now that you’ve practiced, play along with DeWyze as he performs “Fight” live in the Acoustic Nation studio!
Laura B. Whitmore is the editor of Guitar World's Acoustic Nation. A singer/songwriter based in the San Francisco bay area, she's also a veteran music industry marketer, and has spent over two decades doing marketing, PR and artist relations for several guitar-related brands including Marshall and VOX. Her company, Mad Sun Marketing, represents Dean Markley, Peavey Electronics, SIR Entertainment Services, Music First, Guitar World and many more. Laura is the founder of the Women in Music Network at thewimn.com, producer of the She Rocks Awards and the Women's Music Summit and co-hosts regular songwriter nights for the West Coast Songwriters Association. More at mad-sun.com.
Laura B. Whitmore is a music industry marketing veteran, music journalist and editor, writing for Parade.com,Guitar World, and others. She has interviewed hundreds of musicians and hosts the She Rocks Podcast. As the founder of the Women’s International Music Network, she advocates for women in the music industry and produces the annual She Rocks Awards. She is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Positive Grid, making the world safe for guitar exploration everywhere! A guitarist and singer/songwriter, Laura is currently co-writing an album of pop songs that empower and energize girls.
