In this video lesson, learn to play the classic guitar hook from “Passionate Kisses”—as played on Lucinda Williams’ original recording, and on Mary Chapin Carpenter’s Grammy-winning cover.
The guy responsible for the original hook was guitarist/producer Gurf Morlix, who went way up the neck on the third string to create that jangly sound.
In Carpenter’s version, lead guitarist John Jennings adapted the hook to a different key (D, a whole step below Williams’ original version).
In this lesson, I also share my own version, played chord melody style in dropped-D tuning with a capo at the seventh fret.
Download the charts for the lesson, and all the other episodes of Guitar Sessions, on Patreon.
Dig deeper
This song is on my mind because a few months ago I interviewed Lucinda Williams for a deep dive into her songwriting and guitar styles. The resulting feature is on the cover of the September/October 2021 issue of Acoustic Guitar, which also includes a complete chord/lyric chart for “Passionate Kisses.”
Chord/lyric charts and guitar tab for every episode of Guitar Sessions are available on Patreon.
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