Jack Black - vocals, guitar
Kyle Gass - vocals, guitar
Dave Grohl - guest drummer and vocals
You may or may not know that this song is in reference to the
classic Led Zepplin song, "Stairway to Heaven." Jack
Black's quirky comedy put this song on a new plain, with his less
than choice words to a demon that stopped them in the middle of
the road while driving cross country. The funniest part about all
of this is in the video, where Dave Grohl, frontman for Foo Fighters,
plays the demon that keeps them from passing without a serenade.
Go buy this cd, as it is hysterical! ( P.S. - you may know Jack
Black from movies like Saving Silverman, School of Rock, Shallow
Hal, Orange County, and the HBO special that he and Kyle Gass (Evolution,
Shallow Hal ) used to have called, respectively - Tenacious D.
)
Main Riff
In this lesson, you will be focusing on an Am chord with a few
variations therein. Below is an example of how to play it.
Begin the first measure by placing your 1st finger on the first
fret on the "B" string. Place your 2nd finger on the
second fret on the "D" string, and then place your 3rd
finger on the second fret on the "G" string. Allow the "A" string
and the "high E" string to remain open throughout. Start
by playing the "A" string open once, and then play the "D" string
on the second fret once. Then, you will be strumming the same chord
for a few beats. Proceed to the hammer-on. A hammer-on is when
you go from a lower note to a higher note, only striking the first
note(s). What you will need to do here is leave your fingers where
they are, and use your 4th finger to hammer-on to the third fret
on the "B" string. After you do that, let off with your
1st finger, and then simply place it right back on the first fret
on the "B" string. That was a hammer-on as well. That
ends the first measure.
Play the second measure by doing everything as you did in the
Am style chording, and proceed by strumming until the next hammer-on,
which is just a little different than what you just did. For the
hammer-on in this measure, all you need to do is lift your 2nd
finger and play the open note once, and then just place it right
back where it was. End the measure by doing the same with your
3rd finger. As long as you kept all fingers in place, you will
have no problem with this! Enjoy this hilarious riff, and try your
best for this riff to only strike the appropriate strings, as it
will sound perfect being played with the song itself.
