Below is the lesson for “Island in the Sun” by Weezer.

Helpful Tips

A fun take on a song that exudes summer vibes. From a fingerstyle perspective, this song is best suited for the intermediate player.

This piece is fairly straightforward in terms of what our left hand is doing. What makes it challenging are the requirements of what our right hand has to do. Specifically, syncopation.

A lot of measures use syncopated rhythms. These can be tricky to play because the hits occur on the off-beats. I’d recommend using two methods to tackle these bars: ‘by ear’ and ‘by counting’ the rhythms.

Playing by ear simply means to memorize the beats. In other words: if you can sing it, you can play it. Whereas counting rhythms requires an understanding of rhythmic notation. If you really want to gain a thorough understanding of rhythmic notation, there is no better way than by learning to read standard notation.

Part 1 – Performance & Free Lesson

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