David Bowie – Changes Guitar Lesson


In this Changes guitar lesson video, I will show you how to play the challenging chord work for this much loved David Bowie classic note-for-note.

There is just such an enormous wealth of interesting chord progressions and unique chord voicings found in the original recording of "Changes". This probably due in large part to the original piano instrumentation. In this Changes guitar lesson, I will show you how to play all of these chords on the guitar in a way that matches the original recording as close as possible.

There are a couple of chords found in "Changes", especially at the end of the chorus, that will almost sound like a mistake on the original recording. However, you will also find that those chords are repeated the exact same way for each chorus. It is quite obvious he was going for a dissonant effect here that is resolved rather quickly. It certainly is a musical moment that will get your attention.

Throughout most of "Changes", you will notice that much of the chord work is very jazz influenced. The makes for some very beautiful progressions, my favorite being the outro. The chorus is probably the only part of the song you could consider to be a "pop music" progression.

Because of all of this unique chord work, I think "Changes" will be a great tune for any intermediate and above level guitar player to learn. From the highly energetic intro with moving melody lines, to the laid back soulful jazz chord work, there is a lot of material in this song to inspire you to come up with your own unique musical moments.

I hope you guys enjoy learning this masterpiece. RIP Bowie!

Carl...

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David Bowie - Changes Guitar Lesson

3 Comments

  1. Luigino Brusco on January 13, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    Beautiful lesson… as always. Thanks.

  2. Tom McKewan on January 16, 2016 at 7:19 pm

    Nice chord progression for a fun strum. Speaking of glam, ever consider teaching the intro to the live version of Lou Reed’s Sweet Jane on Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal?

  3. Paul Bentley on April 28, 2020 at 9:18 am

    Brilliant lesson Carl. I’ve learned all your Bowie ones now. I’d love it if you could show us the proper Ashes to Ashes.

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