Needle Of Death by Bert Jansch - Fingerstyle Guitar Lesson

A detailed look at how to play Needle Of Death by Bert Jansch. Check out the lesson page for full transcription/tab and an extra ending section. www.anyonecanpl...

[@stevefreebob]

Great stuff, i really enjoyed your rendition of this great Bert Jansch song, i sat with him in his kitchen many times and this is pretty much how he did it.

[@acpg]

Hi Steve, that's quite amazing that you actually sat with him and saw him play it! I'd certainly never claim to be able to do it as well as Bert did, but it's nice to know I'm reasonably close.

[@hassammahmoodq]

***** you whatttttttttttttttttttt. sat with Bert???????? wow wow wow wow

[@jamesrobert4106]

Extraordinarily lucky. He is my guitar hero.

[@kingrobert1st]

Yes, but could he make a decent cup of Rosy Leah!

[@kingrobert1st]

You know it's so long since I heard this sad sad song...my sister turned me on to Bert Jansch way back in the 60's and he and Leo Kottke were my biggest influences to play guitar. I never got very far...but this song has always been on my bucket list and 50 years later thanks to internet I not only have found a beautiful rendition of Needle of Death, but a great tutorial. Thank you so much. I'm going to learn it for my sister. And subscribe!

[@Markettinger]

beautifully played and taught, sir. i'm an old BJ fan, via Pentangle - a NYC based musician who wanted to learn this quickly after delving recently into his glorious first album. I had the pleasure of meeting Burt as he was leaving the last Pentangle reunion show at the Royal Festival Hall five summers ago; indeed, i was likely the last fan to say thanks after his last show - he passed a few months later. cheers

[@kingrobert1st]

I met Bert some time ago in a London folk club. I was disappointed he never made it to international acclaim...such a superb guitar player RIP Bert Jansch. He was so much part of my youth and such an inspiration...pleased to have met him too.

[@bobbybongo5918]

Beautiful tone to the guitar!

[@OTAInc]

Hi - great video! Would be wonderful if you did a video for Bert's version of Blackwaterside... The Norwegian TV version is great as is the Anne Briggs version for Acoustic Routes...

[@robwright1286]

Anne Briggs was my first introduction to it and still my fav version, fucking beatiful

[@Earlyturtle]

Thank you so much for putting this vid out and the tab. Been hammering it all week in the park here in Madrid and I've got all the parts down, just need to polish them for months.

[@zappator]

The verse of Ambulance Blues, on "On the Beach" is also clearlly inspired by this. Thanks for the lesson anyway, !

[@jordannease9181]

I just found this song and I never thought there would be a lesson for it. that's awesome. u also sing this song very well

[@davisworth5114]

Great song great vocals Adrian!!! I saw Bert in Seattle in 1980 something,,,

[@Beemerboy324]

Nicely done. You have a good folk song voice.

[@LevinLg17]

Fantastic interpretation and singing. And a great lesson

[@dylanrevell6775]

That’s got to be one of the best lessons out there, well done mate I really appreciate it !! you can’t go wrong with your methods.

[@guillaume4763]

Thank you for this wonderful interpretation and this guitar lesson.

[@J101191514]

I've always wanted to get this one but never got round to it ... until now! Thanks for making it easy for me.

[@crockodiles]

Thank You! and well done - a very nice break down of this tricky piece. Very challenging chord shapes, even for a non beginner who can handle the picking, but you explain and show them so well. Thank you. The end result is well worth the effort to be able to play so much closer to Bert's original, rather than the watered down versions so commonly available.

[@michaellawlor1267]

Johnny Rocket

[@brianwilkie1553]

Thanks for a great lesson, one of the best I've come across for free !! and it's a Bert Janch classic keep up the good work .

[@guitarandblanket]

Simply fantastic job! Thanks so much for your talent and hard work. Bravo!

[@gibby6904]

great lesson! can you do more Bert Jansch lessons! he is hard to decipher.....

[@RicTokatic]

You have a total talent mate... not only is your playing & singing abnormally brilliant, you have an amazing gift of teaching..... that being said, i (and 100's of others) would love a vid on how to Play Bert Jansch's 'In the bleak mid winter,' (Stephan Grossman, Ralph McTell jam) Cheers

[@dandalgleish1137]

Great lesson thanks so much

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

This is very good indeed. There's an awful lot of junk on KZbin, so it's really good to see tuition of this high quality. (I'm a music teacher myself, so I think I can judge.)

[@bartoncarroll6177]

Great lesson! Thank for breaking it down. Such a great song.

[@antifolkhero]

Sounds incredible.

[@michaelclark5732]

As a budding guitarist I went to see Bert Jansch almost weekly in the 60s, sitting at the front and watching his fingers. He never did 'Needle'. He occasionally did 'Running from Home', capo 3rd fret in the open G shape, which makes me think 'Needle' is also in that shape. But Adrian might be right, it sounds good in the A shape (capo on 2nd fret). ;)

[@acpg]

Wow, how lucky to get to see the man himself up close like that. I did wonder whether this was played in the 'G shape' with the capo higher up. The first bit sounds right and is certainly a bit easier to play like that. It's just that some of the notes you hear later on don't seem playable in the G shape which is why I decided on the A shape in the end. Could be wrong though - it's hard to be absolutely certain!

[@samhughes3527]

I know this is an old video you may have forgotten about by now but damn this is how tutorials should be done!

[@regularnimnule9715]

Man, that is beautiful. Thank you.

[@chrismurphyshef]

brilliantly delivered, thanks a lot

[@glaoud]

Nice work .Thank you for the lesson sir

[@johndalton2059]

Thank you for that.Very well taught.

[@grahamhobson7079]

Brilliant lesson..thank you

[@TheAdwatson]

You say you "haven't got the greatest singing voice", knowing the original very well I think you sound so similar to Bert it is uncanny! Great!

[@kingrobert1st]

Bert's voice wasn't so great either!

[@keithwigley1256]

Excellent cover and tutorial...

[@ericsaguirre]

beautiful lesson.

[@RitsukaRose]

thanks for the lesson, you're the man.

[@richardbowes6897]

You have a most pleasant style .

[@acpg]

+richard bowes Awfully nice of you to say so Richard - thanks.

[@slippinjimmy222]

Absolutely fantastic. Im slowly getting back to fingerpicking. Any idea on what pitch the original was recorded at? I’ve tried playing to the song but just can’t work it out. Many thanks for all of your videos.

[@TheGuitarMusicFan]

Very nice choice of song to teach

[@n4comba]

thank you Adrian for this lesson and the transcription!

[@kingrobert1st]

Fun fact: Bert recorded the whole album Bert Jansch on a borrowed guitar because his was stolen the night before the recording session. I know because it says that on the back of the sleeve.

[@andrewkay4040]

Wonderful lesson--thanks for this. Is that a D-28?

[@acpg]

Thanks Andrew. Yep, D28.

[@callumchoyce1401]

Thanks very much :) really wanted to play this. Have you done more Bert jansch lessons?

[@miremaful]

Excellent lesson. Thank you. Any chance of some more Jansch?

[@user-wf3xv1ql4h]

Beautiful rendition and lesson. His last name is pronounced "Yensch", by the way. How about doing a lesson of his version of Reynardine or Poor Mouth?

[@GuyPorteous]

great cover bro

[@thekeeprunning2153]

Well Done, Thanks, Cheers!

[@user-tt9cn8tm7l]

u r awesome wounderful song

[@markosullivan4095]

Quick question Adrian, at the risk of saying "how long is a piece of string! , to be a proficient guitar picker, how much time do you reckon you should practice a day??

[@monkeysgone2heaven1]

Great signing dude! You sound a lot like Jansch

[@davidmarsh9897]

Good singing mate, do you know Black Waterside?

[@jamesrobert4106]

There needs to be a definitive lesson of it. In fact Bert is seriously underrepresented in guitar lessons.

[@arryvanweyenbergh6102]

I started today my fingers hurt, but thank you...

[@jimmybrungis]

Are you using an audio interface? Sounds beautiful man thanks!!!

[@acpg]

jimmybrungis Thanks a lot. Yes, I generally record the audio into my computer using Pro Tools, then sync it with the video. Much better sound that way, as the mic on my camera is pretty rubbish.

[@bobb6100]

There seems to be an issue with the video loading. Freezes at about 10 seconds. If you drag cursor forward it will play but just a few seconds before freezing again. Can you please fix it?

[@acpg]

+Bob B Hi Bob. Sorry it's not loading properly for you. It seems to be working ok here on my computer so not sure what's going on. Anyone else having problems?

[@bobbrock9389]

Thanks for the quick reply. I am able to play on iPad fine so no idea what was going on with computer as both go thru same modem and router. In any case, excellent version of this great tune and nice tutorial as well! Not as easy to watch details but it will work ok.

[@christiangasior4244]

Massive fingers. Mine are stubby

[@christiangasior4244]

Impossible :(

[@sidmce]

excellent teaching, thank you