Guitar Control presents instructor Darrin Goodman with a lesson on how to play Say It Ain’t So by Weezer. Be sure to get the free tabs that go along with this modern classic. Lets check out Say It Ain’t So By Weezer.
Introduction
Hey everybody how’s it going this is Darrin with GuitarControl.com bringing you this video lesson. Today I want to show you how to play a really cool riff in my opinion; this is just a really sick riff and chord progression from Say It Ain’t So by Weezer. So we’re gonna go through all the chords and progressions and stuff that’s in the song and then you can piece it together and play along with it. So uh first before I forget, I am tuned down a half step; so just tune down your E to E flat, your A to A flat, your D to D flat, so on and so forth. So be sure to click on the link in the description for the tabs and let’s get close up and take a look at How To Play Say It Ain’t So By Weezer.
Say It Ain’t So – Main Riff
All right so for this first part of How To Play Say It Ain’t So By Weezer, and this is kind of the main riff of the song, I’m going to take my first finger I’m just going to barre it here across the fourth fret of the first five strings and what we’re going to do is we’re going to do a hammer chord, so we’re going to strum this and then we’re gonna hammer-on so our second finger is going on to the fifth fret of the B string and my third finger is going on to the sixth fret of the D string; so what that’s making is a C sharp minor seven (C#m7)…. So we got that and then we’re gonna strum the chord one more time and then it’s got a little rest. So now from where our first finger is now we’re just going to move it up so we’re barring across all the strings and move our second finger to the fifth fret of the third string, fourth finger is on the sixth fret of the A string and my fourth finger is on the sixth fret of the D string. So this is just a regular major bar chord, it’s a G sharp (G#) in this case. Now we’re going to do kind of a little arpeggio with our fingers just where they are. We’re going to pick; E, A, D, G, but you’re gonna lift your finger up so that way the B string is open, it’s kind of dissonant sounding. So that’s the first measure… then we’re going to take this chord and we’re going to slide up a half step, so now we’re A major… and then we have the little percussive thing… you can just keep your fingers in the shape of the chord and just basically release them so they’re just touching the strings. And then we’re going to come down and do an open E; so the low E is open, second fret of the A string with my second finger, second fret of the D string with my third finger and my first finger’s on the first fret of the G string… Now we have this little open low E and then fourth fret of the D string with my first finger and I’m gonna do a hammer onto the sixth fret and then you take your first finger and just lay it down and then drop your second finger to the fifth fret of the B string and then you just strum just the G and B string strings together. So that’s the end of that cycle of the riff and then it repeats but its different the second time around… so that’s the first two measures of Say It Ain’t So By Weezer. Okay then we come back do the same thing again and the second time around it doesn’t have that little fill so it’s just… All right so that’s like the very opening sequence and now like the rest of the band comes in and there’s a second guitar part that’s doing kind of a reggae thing and the other guitar is still doing that other part. Lets take a look at the other part for Say It Ain’t So By Weezer.
Reggae Rhythm
So for the other part of Say It Ain’t So By Weezer what I’m doing there and this is only if I was playing this song by myself I would actually try to kind of combine these two parts together and I’ll show you how to do it here in just a second. All right so sticking with like a typical reggae beat, all of the strums are on the offbeat. So there’s a rest and it’s just these same chords; we’ve got the C#m, but we’re only going to play the top end of the chord, so it’s just easier if you just play the full chord and for what I’m going to show you how to combine them. So it’s like one and two and, and it actually switches to the chord; so it’s got on the end of one is the C#m7 and then on the end of two it’s the G# major and then end of three and the end of four and then on the next measure the end of one is the A and then the end of two three and four is E; so it’s like one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four. So if I was playing by myself you wouldn’t want to just do that part, but if you don’t have that in there it kind of doesn’t really sound like the song. So this is what I do to try to combine the two together is I do the… on the C#m like how it was on the first part we did and then when I come to the G# then I just do the… Then when we go to the A & E we do the same thing; so that’s just kind of a way you can kind of combine the two parts together. Now if you have trouble with doing that because it is a little bit tricky at least it is for me I would just play the first part in lieu of the reggae part if you’re playing with a band because to me it just doesn’t quite sound the same without that other part. All right, so then that leads us into the chorus section of How To Play Say It Ain’t So By Weezer.
Chorus
So when it goes to the chorus section of Say It Ain’t So By Weezer and it goes away from having a clean tone to an overdrive tone, but just to show you these chords first I’m just going to play it without. So the chords are all rooted from the same chords; the C#, G#, A and E, but now we’re just gonna do power chords. So it’s a c sharp five (C#5); so my first finger is on the fourth fret of the A string and then my third finger is getting the sixth fret of the D string. Now you can do that or you can also add in the sixth fret of the G string with your fourth finger like this, either way. Now we’ve got this, it’s one and, then you rest on two and then we’re just going to move that straight down to the low E, A and D strings for G sharp five (G#5) and then that’s, three and, and then you rest on four; so one and rest, up to the A5, so we just take that G#5 and move it up a half step, same thing, one and, then to the E. So it’s got three strums on that one and then that repeats, so it’s like… So those two measures repeat four times and then on the fourth time we’re going to move on to the ending for it. So after we’ve done it the third time then we’re gonna come back to the C#5 again, so the last time it’s just a single E5… Then it just goes back into a another verse, I think it goes; intro, verse, chorus, intro again, but there’s like a little melody being played over it and then another verse and then it goes into the second chorus. So lets take a look at the second chorus for Say It Ain’t So By Weezer.
Second Chorus
All right so the second chorus for Say It Ain’t So by Weezer is the same as the first one except it’s got a thing added into it that makes it a little bit more challenging. So we’re gonna do the same chords, but instead of putting the rests in there we’re gonna do this bend. So we’re gonna on the go on to the seventh fret, well actually let’s start this way. We’re gonna go onto the fifth fret of the B string with your first finger and then put your second finger on to the sixth fret of the G string because we’re going to do a full step bend, which is a kind of a unison bend, but when they do it it’s a little bit dissonant. Now this is really kind of difficult because you got to jump between the chord into that bend. They have two guitar players so I’m imagining that one of them probably is doing the bends and the other ones doing the chords, but I don’t know, they both could be playing the same thing, but just a little bit of practice you’ll get it. When I first tried to do it I was like man I’m never gonna be able to do this, but it’s just… So you do that with the C#5 and the G#5, so… Now the reason that I said to put both your fingers here is so that way you’re using your second and your third fingers to do the bend, so it’s going to make it easier and it’s going to be easier to be able to have control over it. So after the second one then we go to the A5 and that’s; one and, and then two mutes and then E5 and then that repeats three times…
Now after repeats three times then we come back to the C#5 and then that’s just the end of this section. All right, then that leads us into the last section of How To Play Say It Ain’t So By Weezer, the bridge.
Bridge
So for the bridge of Say It Ain’t So by Weezer we start off just with B5; so I’m on the second fret of the A string with my first finger and then the fourth fret of the D and G strings with my third and fourth fingers or just your third finger or just these two like I said. What it is that when you play the power chord, that shape this is one, this is five and this is eight, which is the same as one, so if you don’t get that extra note it’s okay, it sounds fuller if you do, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. And then we rest on two and then on the and of two we strum and then on the downbeat of three we’re going to move our first finger down a half step so it’s on the first fret… so it’s like one and, two and, three and, four and… Then we’re going to go to a G5 twice, rest and then it repeats three times or four times and then on the fourth time instead of the rest when we go to the G5, it’s a two four bar, so it’s just like… so that whole bridge for Say It Ain’t So By Weezer…
Conclusion
All right so I hope you enjoyed How To Play Say It Ain’t So By Weezer and you got something out of it. Like I said I think this is just a really cool riff, it’s up there as one of my favorite riffs, I love that opening, I just think it sounds really cool just and I really dig that riff. So if you like this lesson be sure to give it a thumbs up and leave me a comment down below if you have any questions or comments. If you have not already done so please hit that subscribe button and the notification bell so you don’t miss out any of the content that we upload throughout the week. Well that is all I have for you today. Thanks for watching How To Play Say It Ain’t So By Weezer and have a great day.
