How to Play Alabama Shakes' "Hold On"

Tonight, Alabama Shakes and others are playing a free concert in Nashville as part of the Live on the Green Series. To get the party started, here is a quick lesson on how to play their breakthrough anthem "Hold On." This video will cover the basics, and next time we'll explore the theory behind the patterns and how you can borrow the underlying concepts to develop your own style.


The Basics:

The song is in the Key of C. The intro/verse has a recurring pattern of playing the G and A notes (3rd and 5th frets) on the 6th string, then playing a different note of the C major arpeggio in each line.
The chord tones in order are E (7th fret, 5th string), C (3rd fret, 5th string), G (3rd fret, 6th string), C (3rd fret, 5th string). So, the whole pattern goes like this:

e|---------------------------------------------------|

B|--------------------------------------------------|

G|--------------------------------------------------|

D|--------------------------------------------------|

A|------7--------3----------------------3-3-3----|

E|-3-5-----3-5------3-5--3-----5---------5-|

For the chorus, each line uses a repetitive G-A-C triplet idea followed by a response phrase.

e|--------------------------------------|

B|-------------------------------------|

G|-------------------------------------|

D|--------10--------10---------------|

A|--10/12-----10/12-----10/12----|

E|--------------------------------------| REPEAT 2xs

Fill 1

e|----------------------------------------------|

B|---------------------------------------------|

G|--------------------------10--12-----------|

D|--------10--------10----12--14----------|

A|--10/12-----10/12-----------------------|

E|---------------------------------------------|

Fill 2

e|----------------------------------------------|

B|----------------------------------------------|

G|------------------------12--10---9---------|

D|--------10--------10----14--12---10-----|

A|--10/12-----10/12------------------------|

E|----------------------------------------------|

Fill 3 (same as Fill 1)

e|----------------------------------------------|

B|---------------------------------------------|

G|--------------------------10--12-----------|

D|--------10--------10----12--14----------|

A|--10/12-----10/12-----------------------|

E|---------------------------------------------|

Fill 4

e|-----------------------------------------------------------------|

B|--------------------------------------------13-13--13-12----|

G|-----------12------------------/12---14-14--14-12-12----|

D|---12*(14)------14*(12)---10---/14----------------14---|

A|----------------------------------------------------------------|

E|----------------------------------------------------------------|
         *bend&hold    *release bend