Weekend Lesson - 'Home' By: Daughtry

Let’s take a look at the American Idol rocker Daughtry’s song “Home” and see what makes it tick. This song has a familiar sound right from the first few chords it’s like “I heard this before” and with good reason it has a verse chord progression that has visited many hits a I – IV in the key of “G” Major. This is a silky smooth progression when played on the guitar because of the use of an add9 chord substitution for the IV chord making it G to Cadd9. The C add9 chord is played by just moving your 1st and 2nd fingers down one sting from an open G chord so it’s easy to play as well.

The dynamics between the verse and chorus are also classic where the verse is more acoustic with a clean tone and then they come in with the distorted electric guitars for the chorus, I almost see the fire around the stage when it hits! The progression and the strumming pattern used in the chorus are similar to the verse but he adds in the V chord or the D to the mix.

The B sections for the verse and chorus’ follow along song writing 101 to the T and use the key of G majors relative minor E for the progression . Every Major scale has a relative minor key that is built from the 6th degree that will work like a charm for a key change or b section.

The song structure is again of classic rock stature with a Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Bridge Solo Chorus pattern. This pattern has to be the most used in music history.

It seems as though Chris Daughtry really thought about creating the classic rock feel when he penned this one and it really works. You can’t go wrong when you use a proven song structure!

Let the surgery begin……

Tuning
Half step down, Eb – Ab – Db – Gb – Bb - Eb

Audio Track #1 can help you get the tuning right.

Key
G Major Ionian / E Minor Aeolian

Chord Progressions
Verse A; G Cadd9

I – IV

Chorus A; G D Cadd9 D

I – V – IV - V

Chorus A; G D Cadd9 D

I – V – IV - V

Chorus B; Em D C

vi – V - IV

Bridge; D D C C Em D C C

V IV vi V IV

Strum Pattern

Verse/Chorus

Now it's time to take the chord progressions we outlined above and get them to groove with the strum pattern highlighted below. Use Audio Track #2 to help you find the right rhythm and timing.

Song Structure

Verse – Verse b – Chorus – Chorus b – Verse – Verse b – Chorus – Chorus b - Bridge – Solo – Chorus – Chorus b

Practice Track

The rhythm I have created in Audio Track #3 has a similar sound to the song, use the scales above to create melodies over this chord progression.I also recommend is that you use these scales to play over the entire song pretending that you are another member of the band. This is a very powerful exercise that will help you to develop your own style while learning how to create leads and melodies

Main Riffs

This riff is included in the bridge section and works off the “D” and “C” chords, it arpeggiates the root, third and fourth tones from each chords key. It’s a great way to add color to a section and you can hear how it should sound in Audio Track #4

Audio Track #4

Techniques

The main technique used in this solo is a unison bend where you have your 1st finger fretting a note on the first string and your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers bend up a note on the second string. Check out the following exercise on unison bends and use Audio track #5 to give you some help with tempo and sound.

Audio Track #5

I’m sure you are signing autographs now and getting ready for your next performance, save me a seat at your next performance Rock Star!