The Beatles - Dear Prudence Guitar Lesson

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Today's video guitar lesson will cover the beautiful fingerpicked classic "Dear Prudence" by The Beatles.
John Lennon stated that "Dear Prudence" was always one of his favorite Beatles songs. It was written during the time that The Beatles went to India to study meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Dear Prudence is a very interesting song from a guitar perspective. It employs a fingerpicking pattern that John Lennon learned from Donovan while he was staying in India. That fingerpicking pattern is the foundation of most of the song.
The chords used are also quite unique and produce a nice haunting quality within the song.
Before you start this Dear Prudence guitar lesson be sure to tune your guitar to Dropped "D" tuning. If you are not sure what that is it simply means to tune your low E string down to D. All the other strings stay the same.
I would suggest becoming familiar with the picking pattern first before tackling all the chord forms. That picking pattern or picking style is generally referred to as Travis picking since it was first popularized by a guitarist named Merle Travis.
Travis picking can be a little awkward at first due to the constant thumb strokes, but after a short amount of time I am sure you will get into the grove of it just fine. I used the word groove there for good reason. This is one of those patterns that you can just feel more than anything. Since it is so repetitive it develops a rhythmic groove that really helps your fingers know where to go.
In this Dear Prudence guitar lesson I will be teaching you every section of the song sequentially. Some parts and harder than others and it definitely uses almost the entire fretboard during the intro and outro sections. That can be a pretty big challenge for most guitarists as well.
I would put "Dear Prudence" solidly in the intermediate category due to the tricky picking pattern and the fact that the chords move around the fretboard quite a bit.
Take your time with it though, it will be well worth the effort in the end. "Dear Prudence" is one of those songs that just sounds great even without the vocals. The very active guitar lines create a beautiful and haunting texture all by themselves and that should be enough motivation to play it right! :)
Good Luck!!
Carl...

[@stephendavis5530]

One of the most haunting arpeggios ever created. That fuzz solo that goes with it too....oh man! :)

[@enewman411]

Thank you so much for this video. I've been playing guitar for awhile now, but I've always wanted to learn this tune. One of my favorite Beatles tracks. I'm so grateful for the people like you on the internet, sharing your knowledge with the world. One love!

[@budandbean1]

Thank you Carl, this is really a nice song. I never even tried to play it because I thought the picking was so intense. I'm starting to change my opinion of picked songs now that I have been learning from you. You sure have a nice "way" of explaining them so they don't look so bad and aren't so hard to play. I wish I had run into you quite some time ago. Thanks again... -buddy

[@christianenriquez1603]

Please do lessons on “(I Want You) She’s So Heavy” & “I Me Mine” by The Beatles

[@MurrayMelander]

Donovan says he taught this picking style to Lennon in India. He says it is "ClawHammer".

[@bluzzedude8111]

And you're right about Donovan and India but the style is called "Travis" picking after Merle Travis. I'm sure Lennon had lots of strange names for things.

[@guillermochirino2904]

It helped me a lot! Thank you so much

[@4001rics]

you teach very well great tutorial

[@forceofchaos1]

Thanks for the great vids!

[@bluzzedude8111]

I like the way you cover the first 3 chords by using your pinky to start..I'm going to keep that one..Thanks

[@collingwoodfan72]

great song choice carl

[@holyguacamole1]

Brilliant. Thank you.

[@adriannacicchitelli4480]

:O oh so beautiful, great stuff!!!!

[@Noheadroom858]

Best demonstration of this song on the net. Thank you.

[@marksc1929]

..nice job 👍

[@CC-qb9sm]

Good stuff 🤠

[@damon123jones]

What a beautiful song

[@tweedguitar9103]

Thanks heaps Carl..

[@illuminotmereloaded6896]

I was watching another how to video on this one, and all I heard was Donovan. I know it is said that he taught Lennon the so called claw hammer, which is that just another name for Travis picking? Anyway, there are those who think that Donovan played the guitar uncredited on Dear Prudence, Happiness is a Warm Gun and Julia. I had no basis to form an opinion until I heard it broken down. Yer video however was the one that finally got it to click, and I thank you for that. Bron Yr Aur as well. I never thought I’d be able to play that song, and thanks to you I now can. So I subscribed. Cheers!

[@antaresguitar]

Thank you very much

[@jeffreyhall76]

Thanks again Carl

[@douglaschristine8387]

How you doing Carl? Do you know how Leslie West played this song? If you do it would be a good lesson don't you think? Thanks.Peace.

[@juicylucy5797]

Amazing!

[@iittkm]

Thanks for the lesson, Carl! I just posted a cover of this song.

[@riccardocondorelli2220]

I couldn't think it was so difficult

[@johni-m8944]

3:38 note to self

[@theswissmiss69]

Omg... this feels like something I can actually do and it sounds so beautiful.

[@pmadden32759]

It's great but I don't think I'll ever make the last chords!

[@dariohdr2690]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@jazzk708]

Lead part?

[@salilb7832]

Hi Carl.

[@dago_0730]

KZbin should made UNESCO Heritage site. And of course brilliant youtubers as such, cited along

[@ranabirgahir462]

Kool Carl 😹😹

[@r.mccarthy6938]

Can someone teach Neil young’s out of the blue, electric version?

[@abhishekharwani1578]

Isn't it the same picking pattern as 'Julia'?

[@steveblacksbeatlescovers1847]

Yes it is!

[@xivmartell133]

Would it be easier to learn with a pick or start learning fingerstyle?

[@Dudelikey0]

+Red Six Use your fingers, the guitar was designed to be played with your fingers :)

[@ekdguitar123]

Whichever is more comfortable for you

[@tommykramer430]

Thanks...great lesson. Most guitar demos are annoying...too much talking.

[@luciustitius]

I'm confused. Is this really like the recorded version?

[@-amitkalderon1225]

yes. Why wouldn't it be?

[@luciustitius]

To make a long story short: Imho the first notes to be played are A and F# in a D6-chord. A and E in an Dadd2 does not sound right in my ears. But nontheless it is well played. Maybe it is different played on an acoustic.

[@-amitkalderon1225]

klaus von allen the original recorded version is without any acoustic, and it should not make a difference anyway. What you talk about is the outro. It is similar to the intro and confusing but it starts with higher notes.

[@luciustitius]

Maybe you are right. Maybe no one cares. Maybe Mr. Lennon was a real genius. Maybe he was one of the greatest songwriters ever. Maybe Mr. McCartney was. Maybe his inspiration came from compassion for Mia Farrow´s fearing that her sister looses her mind. Maybe it was just their beauty. Maybe it came directly from the gods. Maybe from a yoga exercise. Maybe Mr. Lennon wanted to show Donavan that learning Travis picking was just piece of cake for him. Maybe it came from all of them smoking to many hashish. Maybe all of it came together. Maybe it was nothing of these. Maybe noone knows. Maybe noone cares. Maybe it can´t be played right. Maybe noone should. Maybe learning to play this tune shall be some kind of spiritual experience. Maybe you should find out how it sounds right by playing it yourself. Maybe everyday over and over again. Maybe you should loose your mind about it. Maybe like me.

[@-amitkalderon1225]

klaus von allen That's a beautiful comment.

[@MassiveBGanja]

hard.

[@siddarthrajesh9763]

Not really

[@siddarthrajesh9763]

Keep practicing you'll get there

[@MartNM]

​@@siddarthrajesh9763 he said that 6 years before you replied

[@theScHteaK]

I can’t follow along I can’t tell which fingers are the ones you’re pushing down ... they all look like they’re doing something.... now I can’t learn this song to impress this girl and I’ll die a virgin

[@strawberryfields253]

rip

[@ekdguitar123]

Correlation not causation

[@Paul-gf6kp]

0:15 Subtitles: You What?

[@ST-xg3gy]

Not following the verse chords.