I also watched the video lesson and cut it short when Justin started talking about thumb and finger strumming. I didn’t feel at grade 2 I was ready for that. Something to come back to, for sure, at a later stage.
The Beginner Songbook guidance for this song is to simply to learn to play a 12 bar blues with triplets which to me is more appropriate.
Justin is showing you how a song can grow with your skill level. If you’re in grade 2 and know the chunka chunka then that’s what you should be using. But keep the song in mind because as your skills grow you will be able to use all the techniques in the video.
or you can use the piece as a study piece and spend the next few months or more hone you blues skills if that’s what you want to get into.
I actually would stick with all down strums, as Justin does in the video, to play the chunka-chunka rhythm.
Doing that upstrum on the bass strings just doesn’t seem very natural to me.
Thanks for all your replies. That’s reassuring to know that the grade 2 level is basically just the chunka chunka.
I’ve nailed that with the pick but I think I’ll try and improve with the thumb. I was definitely disappointed with my first pathetic efforts. But I’ll watch the video again and try to dig in a bit more. I guess like most things it will just come with regular practice.
It’s nice to have lessons like that where there’s a simple version that can later be built on. That’s the approach I have taken with wish you were here. Kept coming back to it as I improved and I’ve seen the improvement.
Thanks again for all your answers.
Ian
All Justin’s beginner songs are simplified versions of songs that can be built on as your skill level goes up.
Are you doing the simplified version or have you moved on to the real lessons in the song section. There are 4 a little on the old side but very accurate.
I’m learning it from the 4 separate lessons. As you say, quite old lessons but enjoyable. The only thing I miss in those lessons for WYWH is it would be nice if Justin plays the whole thing through at the end in one go. Not the separate pieces. My problem is transitioning between the intro and the solo.
When Justin did those lessons Youtube only allowed 5 minute videos. That’s why all the old lessons are split up into multiple videos.
I had been practicing this for a while and was doing some background on the song. I was surprised to see that this song was written and first performed by Bo Diddley in 1957 aa noted in the Before You Accuse Me song Wikipedia article.
Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded a version in 1970 that I hadn’t heard, although I did find on YouTube. Then Eric Clapton also recorded some electric versions in the 1980s. Eric Clapton did do the definitive acoustic version in his Unplugged album in 1992 and in later live performances.
For anyone who is considering using this song to practice your grade 2 blues shuffle rhythm, I would suggest looking at Sweet Home Chicago as a more straight-forward alternative, even though it is listed as grade 4. Other than the intro, outro and turnarounds, Sweet Home Chicago as taught in the song lesson is a simple Chunka-Chunka shuffle rhythm with a couple of optional hammer-on bits. You can also easily hear how Before You Accuse Me borrows heavily from this song.
