Nickelback Photograph (Mini Lesson) correct chords

OK OK so there's already a version of this song on here….and there's all sorts of comments on it, play it with a capo on 1st fret, play it with barre chords..etc….etc.

And this isn't any criticism of what's already been posted, by the way….BUT there is a big problem with the version posted. To really get it to sound like the original you'll have to play it with the high E and B strings ringing, so it isn't full barre chords. I've been struggling with working this one out for a while until I found the following lesson –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFcd-JtTob4

And “hey presto” all was revealed (except he gets the strumming pattern ever so slightly wrong in the verses, and doesn't really explain it for the chorus…more of that later!!!).

So here's a little breakdown of the song for you, in the original there's a bunch of guitar's all chiming along, but it does sound surprisingly good on acoustic so persevere with it. Apart from anything else, it's a lovely progression and a very good work out for sliding the E shape up and down the fretboard – and relative beginners don't be put off, it really isn't as hard as you think it is.

Some of the chord names are really scary, but actually playing them is a bit of a breeze to be honest. So again, beginners don't be put off. The strumming pattern is a little unusual, but it is repetitive over and over again through the verses, so you only really have to worry about learning the one pattern, you can get away with pretty much anything in tempo during the chorus.

Let's have a look at the song in more detail…

Tuning / Timing
To play along to the recording, tune all your strings down half a tone, so from high to low Eb Bb Gb Db Ab Eb. You don't have to bother, but remember to sing it half a tone higher than the original if you stick to “standard” tuning and use the chords I am going to suggest. Timing wise, its mid 70's bpm, about 75 I think.

Chords
Before I start – the hardest thing about chords often isn't playing them, its changing between them. You only really have to “change” chord once in the song in my opinion, that's the very first chord to the second chord…and that is very easy once you've worked out where your fingers should go. So don't let the complicated names and the fact that they're moving around the fretboard a lot put you off..it really is a lot easier than you think!

Here they all are…

E5 – 079900. First “pointer” finger on 7th fret A string, ring finger 9th fret D string, pinky 9th fret of the G string. Also, put your middle finger behind your pinky, on the 8th fret of the G string, for reasons that will become apparent in a moment (see Badd4 below!)
Badd4 - 799800 aha! From E5, just move all your fingers APART from your middle finger (which stays put on 8th fret G string) up a string and you're there! Told you this was easy. Just practice this a few times, you'll find it becomes second nature..
D6add9 - 10 12 12 11 0 0 From Badd4 just slide the whole lot up three frets. Don't do anything else, nothing. Just slide the shape and you're at the right chord.
Aadd9 - 577600 from D6add9, slide down five frets. Again, don't be tempted to do anything else, hold your shape, just “unsquash” the E shape a little so that you're up to the fret wires. Easy ..!
G6 – 355400 this is played at the end of each verse as you go into the chorus, and you get to it from Badd4. So all youre doing, once again, is sliding the shape you're in down to the 3rd fret.
Cmaj7 - x32000 you probably know this one already. Its only used a couple of times in the song at the end of the chorus, when there's no singing going on.

Question – what do all these chords have in common?
Answer – they ALL leave the two highest strings of the guitar ringing. And that is the secret to the song's tone, particularly with so many upstrokes in the strumming.

Talking of which…

Strumming pattern.
You get a brilliant view of the strumming in this clip from Nickelback's AOL Sessions - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rklX4MOvlPI

And it ISN'T what is described on the other guy's video lesson. It is in fact
D uud u ududu
And here's how to play it…..Imagine first off that you are playing this in straight up and down strumming in 16th notes - you would be going
DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU
So all you need to is work out when to “miss” the strings. So chop out the bits you don't want like this
DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU
D U UD U UDUDU
So you have two choices – either keep your strumming arm going as though you're playing sixteenth notes, and just miss the strings as required , or learn to leave your arm in the “down” position for a beat after each of the Down's that are played – for half a beat. If you watch nickelback playing this, that's what they do – watch the guy with the yellow topped acoustic, he's not sawing away like he's chopping wood, he's just leaving his arm in the down position for a bit before playing the upstroke.

You can think of it like this

D (pause in down position) U (go straight back down but DON'T hit strings) UD (pause) U (back down) UDUDU
I hope this gives you a couple of ways to approach this. If you're not skilled enough in keeping tempo to use the “down” position approach, then by all means keep your arm moving in time as though you were playing 16th notes, and just miss the strings when you need to.

OK so that's the verse strumming. The chorus is more freestyle and looks to me more like this :
D D D DU UD DUDU
Anything that keeps it driving along is fine though, even just straight eighth downstrokes will probably be fine!

Verses
Ok so the song starts with him strumming the E5 chord a few times before plunging headlong into his rock star singing…after that the entire verse sections consist of them strumming the chords as I have described above. Practice the chord shapes first, that's the important thing, so you aren't worrying about the chord AND the strum. Worry about one thing at a time!! Oh and there's the singing…ha ha.

Really, there's little point me rambling on any more after this, if you can't suss it out from the two videos I have given you and the bits and pieces written out here, you probably won't get it anyway.

Good luck with this one, its worth the effort. Particularly if your band has a singer with a 40 Marlboro a day habit!

Nickleback – Photograph.

Tune down half a step Eb Bb Gb Db Ab Eb
Chords E5 079900 Badd4 799800 D6add9 1012121100 Aadd9 577600
Strum – D/uud/u/ududu

Intro – E5 a few times
Verse one
E5 Badd4
………….Look at this photo-graph……
D6add9
every time I do it makes me laugh
Aadd9
How did our eyes get so red?
E5
And what the hell is on Joey's head?
Badd4
And this is where I grew up
D6add9
I think the present owner fixed it up
Aadd9
I never knew we ever went without
E5
The second floor is hard for sneakin' out
Badd4
And this is where I went to school
D6add9
Most of the time had better things to do
Aadd9
Criminal record says I broke in twice
E5
I must've done it half a dozen times
Badd4
….I wonder if it's too late
D6add9
Should I go back and try to graduate?
Aadd9
Life's better now than it was back then
G6
If I was them, I wouldn't let me in
Aadd9
Oh…. Oh… oh… Oh god I, I Every

chorus
E5
memory of looking out the back door, I had the
Badd4
photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
D69
It's hard to say it Time to say it –
Aadd9
Good-bye…. Good-bye Every
E5
memory of walking out the front door, I found the
Badd4
photo of the friend that I was looking for
D69 (10)
It's hard to say it Time to say it
Aadd9
Good-bye……. Good-bye

Verse two
E5 Badd4
Remember the old arcade?
D6add9
Blew every dollar we ever made

Aadd9
The cops hated us hanging out….
E5
they said somebody went and burned it down
Badd4
We used to listen to the radio………
D6add9
and sing along with every song we'ld know
Aadd9
we said someday we'ld find out how it feels
E5
to sing to more than just the steering wheel
Badd4
Kim's the first girl I kissed………
D6add9
I was so nervous that I nearly missed
Aadd9
She's had a couple of kids since then…
G6
.I haven't seen her since God knows when
Aadd9
Oh…. Oh… oh… Oh god I, I Every

chorus
E5
memory of looking out the back door I had the
Badd4
photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
D69
It's hard to say it Time to say it
Aadd9
Good-bye…. Good-bye Every
E5
memory of walking out the front door I found the
Badd4
photo of the friend that I was looking for
D69
It's hard to say it Time to say it
Aadd9 Cmaj7 D6add9
Good-bye……. Good-bye

bridge
E5 Badd4
I miss that town……..I miss their fac-
G6 Aadd9
-es…….you can't erase……you can't repl-
E5 Badd4
-ace it, I miss it now…I just can't be-
G6 Aadd9
-lieve it…so hard to stay…..to hard to
E5
Leave it….If I could relive those days
Badd4 D6add9
…the one thing I would never change….every

chorus
E5
memory of looking out the back door I had the
Badd4
photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
D69
It's hard to say it Time to say it
Aadd9
Good-bye…. Good-bye Every

E5
memory of walking out the front door I found the
Badd4
photo of the friend that I was looking for
D69
It's hard to say it Time to say it
Aadd9
Good-bye……. Good-bye

Outro
E5 Badd4
…..look at this photograph
D9add9
every time I do it makes me laugh……
Aadd9
…every time I do it makes me

good luck with it, feedback appreciated

Matt