Tom Petty Learning to Fly

Tom Petty - Learning To Fly

Here's a good one for beginning out. The guitar rhythm is really straight forward though the chords go by quite quickly and include the dreaded F chord. The harmonica part that I have added matches the melody without bending. Single notes aren't even encouraged here.

Difficulty: 4 Chords including F and a bit of syncopation rhythm, otherwise straight forward with a simple but effective harmonica melody added for good measure

Lesson Length: 13:25

Instructor: George Goodman

The rhythm of the guitar is what makes this one tricky.

Hohner Harmonica HolderHohner Harmonica Holder

The Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder fits harmonicas up to 7-1/2″ long.

With a long-lasting nickel-plated finish, this harmonica rack is adjustable and fits any neck shape.

 

Hohner Special 20

 

Hohner Special 20 Diatonic Harmonica in C

A C harmonica played in first position works great on this. I am playing a Hohner Special 20 in this one.

The following link supplies the chords, lyrics and the harmonica tabs for Learning To Fly.
Learning To Fly Chords, Lyrics and Tabs download pdf link – for educational purposes only.

Video Timeline

01:10 - Guitar Chords

There are four chords in Learning To Fly that repeat.
F Major C Bass guitar chordC/G Guitar ChordAm guitar chord diagramG

1:30 - Guitar Rhythm

The rhythm is a nice straight eighth note rhythm with a little twist.
The second and fourth chords ( C and G ) are anticipated by a half beat.
The progression last for two bars with F and Am starting on the first beat and C and G starting with an upstroke on the second half of the second beat.
Rest on the third beat.
learning-to-fly-rhythm

2:30 - Open Strum

On the second half of the fourth beat when changing from C to Am and from G to F, you can strum all open strings while making the chord change.
Done in rhythm with the song and you don't even notice the difference.

5:25 - 2 Bars of G Before Solo

Before going into the solo, there are two bars of G played as straight eighth notes with a simple down / up strum.

5:45 - Substitute Harmonica Solo

The chords of the song, F, C, G and Am are all chords in the key of C.
So the song is in the key of C.
Here we'll play harmonica in first position and so will use a C harmonica.
For the solo, let's transcribe the melody of the chorus.
Here's the tabs:

4 -5 -5 -5 5
4 4 4 4
-5 -5 5
4 4 4 4 4

Note that these occur during F and C just like the melody.

10:24 - Hang On G, Then 16th Rhythm

A little bit of a rhythm instrumental break occurs after the third chorus.
First hang on G for two bars similar to before the solo and then strum the first chord of each bar in a sixteenth note rhythm.

I hope that helps learn Learning To Fly.

Let me know if there's a favorite song of yours that you would like to see covered.

Stay In Tune. Peace.
George

More Song Lessons

5 responses to “Tom Petty – Learning To Fly – C Harp”

  1. Jürgen says:

    great, thanks george

  2. Jacob says:

    Thank you
    great job

  3. George says:

    Right on, Jacob. Thanks for commenting.

  4. Michele says:

    Fun song to riff on George – thanks!
    One question: why not include a G chord (-2-3-4) at the end of the 2nd harmonica line rather than 4X 4 blow?
    Do you think that sounds all right?

  5. Al Robinson says:

    George…
    Been following you for close to ten years now….
    Great job on Learning To Fly!
    (I like to use the 2-5 blow and 1-4 draw octave as a response when Petty sings, “Learning To Fly.”)
    (And I sometimes go up to the 8 blow and do: 8 8 -8….7 7 to mimic the 2-5 blow octave and 1-4 draw octave.)

    Thank you very much!
    Al Robinson

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