WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

Great song, I'm gonna try it.

My daughter loves Bon Jovi.  I'm gonna try it out . Thanks Bull.

This song sounds great on a 12 string.

hey man,

wooo i have always wanted to learn thsi song with some practice, ill get er down in no time, whatsd the strummin pattern someone find it please
jeb

I have been looking at the new posts here lately, and I am a little disappointed that they don't have the chord changes link to the words.  
I can get a tab like that off the web, you should be giving the whole song here.  
And keep in mind, this is a beginner lesson, and knowing how to sing when switching chords is a big part of your post.
And a little strumming help would put the icing on the cake.  

I am sorry I am so late with some strumming help on this song.  I have been sick as a dog for the last 3 weeks.  And I am also new at playing this song.

What I am going to do is post a piece of this song at a time to get this started.
I am giving this my best presumption, and I could be way out in left field here.  
I am new at this, and most of the time I am just guessing.
And any help would be big.  
(If this sounds OK I will do the Chorus for my 2nd lesson).  

PS:  This is a lot for so little.  If I am rambling too much, tell me.

-Bull

Lesson 1

Let's take verse 1.  

It's (D) all the same (C) only the names will (G) change
And (C) ev'ryday (G) it seems we're (F) wasting a (D) way
(D) Another place where the (C) faces are so (G) cold
(C) I'd drive all (G) night just to (F) get back (D) home

The first pattern is

D, C, G,
C, G, F, D

Then repeat

Let's make this simple.  
Let's use the simple F chord.  That B1, G2, D3 (you can play the open high E string).  I like that, it's like a C, and D chord.  And very little hand movement is needed to play this section.  

And let's make that G chord easy also.  Just take your ring finger and hit the high E string at the 3 fret.  Don't strum the top 2 strings (low E, A).  (If playing a full G chord is easier for you than use that).  
 
Now we don't have to move our hand, just the fingers to play the chords.  This is a quick and simple way play.  Jovi is singing high in this song, so just playing the high notes will sound OK.  (The bass player will fill in the low notes).  
You want to work the bottom 4 strings.  
Are you starting to see how this works?
Use your ear to gauge what sounds good.
You are not lock into this.  This is just a starting point to get you going.

Also try picking just single notes in each chord.  Keep a simple pattern in mind.  As long as you can repeat it, it will sound OK.  Try to play what you hear in your head.  
It's OK to play a song in your own style.  Any strumming pattern will work with these chord changes (Make this song your own).  It doesn't have to sound like a country song, you could make it sound like a heavy metal (use power chords), or a disco song.  It's all up to you.  And how you feel like playing it.  
What I trying to say here is, there are no hard and fast rules in playing a song.  Its all about patterns.  And being able to repeat the patterns.  And don't be afraid to try something new.  

Now practice a single down stoke (go slow) for each chord until you can watch the TV and play the pattern, and finger the chords without looking.  You want to hear nice clean chords.  This is a good song because you can play it as slow or as fast as you want.

Now let's look at an easy strumming pattern.

This is not rocket science.  We kind of want to get the just of the song to start out with.  And the better you get, the more complex you can make this song.  

First line - D, C, G  

1st chord- D and 2nd chord- C
Full down stroke,    pause,   up-down only on the lower strings (G, B, high E.).
Strum a little lighter than the first stroke.  Try to get some feeling into it.  Make that guitar your bitch, play what you hear in your head. The pressure you place on strumming will make a day and night difference in how the song sounds.  

3rd chord- G.
Full down stroke (Nice and slow) let it ring a bit.

Second line - C, G, F, D

1st chord- C , 2nd chord- G, and 3rd chord F.
Down stroke,   pause,    then a light up stroke on the lower strings for each chord.

4th chord- D
Full down stroke.

Then repeat for the 3rd and 4th lines

This is hard to see so let me post it this way-
Capital letters are hard stokes, and small case is lighter strokes-

VERSE 1:
      D       ud         D         ud              D
It's  (D)  all the same  (C)  only the names will  (G)  change.  

     D      u       D      u             D     u         D
And  (C)  ev'ryday  (G)  it seems we're  (F)  wasting a  (D)  way

D      ud                     D      ud          D
(D)  Another place where the  (C)  faces are so  (G)  cold

D      u            D      u            D      u       D
(C)  I'd drive all  (G)  night just to  (F)  get back  (D)  home.

I can never get two lines to line up on this web site.  If you cut and paste this into Notepad or Word it should line back up.  

Great tab. Execellent easy song. I saw this in Guitar One a while back - in their Riff Box feature. They had the opening just as you've tabbed except the middle of the intro, when you finish the initial run, was slightly different - slide down to A then play F and open D:

INTRO:
X2
e|-----13---------12---------10--------8-------5-------3---------------1---|
B|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--14----14---12----12---10----10---9---9---5---5---4--4--4^2------|
D|0----------0----------0----------0-------0-------0------------------------0|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Give it a try. Sounds pretty good.

Steve

Lesson 2

INTRO:
X2
e|-----13---------12---------10--------8-------5-------3------|
B|------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--14----14---12----12---10----10---9---9---5---5---4---4-4^3|
D|0----------0----------0----------0-------0-------0----------|
A|------------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------------|

e|--------------0------------0------------0---------|
B|--------------3------------3------------3---------|
G|--------------2------------2------------2---------|
D|--------0-3-0--------0-3-0--------0-3-0---0-5-3-0-|
A|--0-0-3--------0-0-3--------0-0-3-----------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

If you are really good you could just pick off the notes.
Or if you have big monkey hands you can do a half barre with your index finger at the 12th fret and finger out to the 14th fret. Then jump down to the 8th fret. Then the 3rd fret. This is probably the preferred way of doing this.
Or-
Just do a half barre with your index finger at the 13TH fret only on the bottom 3 strings (G,B,E). And place your middle finger on the G string on the 14th fret. Spanning over the first two strings.
Than slide down too the 12th fret, removing your middle finger. Then 10th fret. Then 8th fret placing your middle finger back on the G string at the 9th fret. Then just barre the 5th fret. Then bare the 3rd fret placing your middle finger on the G string at the 4th fret. And slide that middle finger down to the 3rd fret at the end.
The play the single notes 0 0 3 (use your middle finger) on the A string. Jump down to the D string and play 0 3 (middle finger) 0.
Then learn that 2 3 0 chord, index finger on that 2nd fret G string, middle finger on the 3rd fret B string.
Now on that last section I jump up and use my ring finger on that 5th fret on the D string and my index finger on the 3rd fret D string.

What I am trying to say here is, to break the pattern down to the simplest way of playing. If its feels good taking small steps, than do it. If you can handle bigger jumps, than that is the way to go. You want to keep your hand in one place and just move your fingers if at all possible. You will be a faster player doing it this way. But there no shame in taking smaller steps.

I just saw SteveS post- let me think about that.

Mark- what is up with this font hassle? They reformat the web site and don't fix this? What were they thinking?

Yes you are rambling Bull - but it's worth it for this one!!!!!!

Bull, your doing a very good job with breaking it all down. my hats off to you for having so much patience man. thanks again for the time your spending on this.

Question about this song...I am assuming it has to be played on an acoustic with a coutout? There is NO WAY to get at the 14 fret quick enough unless there is a cutout.

Question about this song...I am assuming it has to be played on an acoustic with a coutout? There is NO WAY to get at the 14 fret quick enough unless there is a cutout.
Depends on what kind of guitar you have. I know mine and many others join the neck to the body at the 14th fret, which means a cutaway wouldn't really help too much. If you have a classical guitar it might be a bit more difficult/uncomfortable, but I'm sure it can be done.

Great song Bull, Thanks for the time and effort you have put into this

OK..I decided I have to do this song on my electric since there is NO WAY it can be done on an acoustic without a cutout...now I am trying to figure out the fingering...

For this part here:

INTRO:
X2
e|-----13---------12---------10--------8-------5-------3------|
B|------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--14----14---12----12---10----10---9---9---5---5---4---4-4^3|
D|0----------0----------0----------0-------0-------0----------|
A|------------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------------|

I am staring with my middle finger on the 3rd string and my index on the first at the 14th fret. Then when I move to the 12th fret I barre with my middle finger and do the same on the 10th fret. When I get to the 9th fret I go back to the way I started (middle = 3rd and index 1st) then barre the middle again on the 5th then back to the begininging again on the fourth.

Is that correct or is there a more efficient way I am missing? Giving the speed of the intro that seems like a lot of finger moving. I can do it but just not up to the speed of Bon Jovi...LOL

Thanks

Nevermind...I re-read bull's second go at the intro and saw the barre he uses