Trouble

[bennyhanna]

How does Cat tune his guitar in this song. The site says down half a step to Eb, but it's wrong.

[SP4313]

I just threw on the CD and it sounds right. Tune your guitar a half step down and play. . .
G D Am C Am C. Listen to the note makeup of the C chord.

Tell me what you think.

Gino

[SP4313]

Hi bennyhanna,

I just noticed this was your first post. Welcome to the site.

Any other questions about this or any other CS songs just ask here. There are some talented musicians here on this site.

Gino

[workahollis1]

My suggestion is put a capo on fret4 and play D D5 A Em G Em G D A Em G. The chords are the same but the shapes are different. Plus this way when you say trouble you gan move that pinky down on the d shape and hit the 5th fret small string. This will give you that Trouble echo from the guitar. Also the quick change(one strumm on each chord fast) That is normally Bb G Eb C can be easier as G E C A then going to B E for I've. I'll do this better later right now I need to go back to class.

[1976]

You gotta love the cool intro in live versions of the song.

[nineclef]

I'm an amateur, not only with tab in general, but also with chord names. If anyone out there has the actual tab, beyond just the chord names for Trouble, I would certainly appreciate it. It has been one of my favorite songs since childhood.

[1976]

Eddie Vedder's (Pearl Jam's frontman) version:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO8vJhgjKtc

[workahollis1]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=se7OzFC-gKc use this link I downloaded it yesterday. This is me showing you how to play the song. If you need to know what the chords actually look like there are alot of places on line that show you actual fingering.

[bennyhanna]

I have listened to this song on the record. The chords still do not sound right with the guitar tuned a half a step down. It's hard to hear the chords Cat plays, but to me the chords on the site are wrong. I have a Cat Stevens music book and its says to play the song with F C C9 Gm and Bb. It sounds wrong too. It is the way Eddie Vedder played it. I will take a closer look at the song tomorrow and figure it out once and for all.

[Chris]

Very Nice Kristian! I also enjoyed watching your other youtube videos. Thanks for sharing.

[workahollis1]

bennyhanna
Try the link I sent you this is not Eddie Vedder it's me demonstrating how I play it. I have a capo on the guitar so I can use simpler chord shapes. It works out perfectly. If you want it to sound like Cat just move the capo from the 3rd to the 4th fret usning the chord shapes I show on You Tube www.youtube.com/watch?v=se7OzFC-gKc I also throw in suspended 4th chords which are easy to add while your on the main chord. Also I hear them when Cat Plays his guitar. Alot of Chord books are not that precise just accurate. Watch me and play along on you tube. I break down everything.
Your welcome Christine, I enjoyed making them. I think I'll do more like that to go as a supplement to my tabs. I do it this way so other people can see where my hands are. So many of the times in Cat videos the cameraman only gets his face and part of his guitar.

[SP4313]

Hey Kristian, Good to finally see you playing and great teaching! Now you've got me inspired to get a web cam. I was playing "How Can I Tell You" the other day (the version I play when I'm playing solo - a combo of both parts and the bass line) and I thought, "Rather than tabbing, this sure would be a lot easier and probably a better way to teach to video it and put it up on U-Tube". Nice guitar too. Now I've gotta go check out your other videos.

[Leonard]

workahollis1 said:

Alot of Chord books are not that precise just accurate.

I can only second that; above that, a lot of chord books arranged for piano, etc. aren't even accurate. The arrangers sometimes really messed it up. That's why there are a handful of very different, for example, Sad Lisa piano notes out there ...
What a shame.

[denis]

I watch the video and the sound is great but picture for me anyway is sacaded and i am trying to figure out how to strumm this song, if anyone can help me with the srumm patern it would be verry appreciated.

[Leonard]

It's always hard to write down the strum pattern as Cat has used it, as it's very quirky (which is good). He mostly accompanies his singing with a strum pattern that suits it best - very intuitive. I would not aim for a specific strum pattern, neither has Steve, - just do it as you feel it.

If you came online with eJamming I could show you how I strummed Trouble if that would help you.

[denis]

thanks i will ook into ejamming not realy sure what it is but will find out lol thanks anyway i will try to figure it out.

[workahollis1]

Sorry this took so long denis. Just like jacky says there is no pattern to this strumming. The important thing is just to get the chord changes timed right with the lyrics. If you practice this enough along with the track it will come. The way I practice strumming is in the car. I strumm my air guitar against the steering wheel or my leg as I'm listening to my favorite songs. The later I get the itch for my guitar and the thing I'vefound out is it's all about feeling and gettting the chord changes right. Also smart finger placement for the chords will make chord changes smoother and faster. alot of times he strumms in the middle of chord changes. just keep your left hand moving up and down picking, hard and soft mixed and also fast and slow mixed. Very hard to explain. watch my video again this tempo is much slower for the instruction part. happy to help

[denis]

thanks Workahollis1 i will certainly watch your vids again.