Journey’s got a new song ahead of their July 2022 album, and I’m here for it. “You Got The Best Of Me” has everything one could want from Journey- cool guitar riffs, catchy melody, and a ripping solo from guitar great Neal Schon.
Tune down 1/2 step.
Intro
The song kicks off with a keyboard intro from Jonathan Cain, arranged here for guitar.
The intro guitar riff should be played staccato with pick hand index and middle fingers, NOT using the pick.
Verse
The verse is pretty straightforward; however, each chord change is delayed by half a beat. So instead of changing chords on the downbeat of each new measure, switch on the and of 1 and accent the chord change by removing the palm mute for that hit only.
The chord progression is D5, A/C#, A5, G5 followed by a single note ascent. All chord names written relative to the tuning but actually should be named down 1/2 step from written names here.
Pre-Chorus
The pre-chorus is E5, D/F#, G5, A5, G5, A5, D5. Repeat but leave out the final D5. Instead, build and stop with A5, leading into chorus.
You can play just the chords or you can fill in the extra space with single notes from the chords and a few extra notes. See TAB below and video demo for more detail on how to achieve this.
Chorus
The chorus is similar to the verse, continuing use of the verse’s first two chords and palm mute. The first half of the chorus has delayed accents while the second half has anticipated accents played on the and of beat 4 prior downbeat of where chord change typically happens.
Repeat verse and chorus.
For the solo section of this song, see my “You Got The Best Of Me”guitar solo lesson on my other blog.
After the solo, we get a simple D E chord progression that uses the “D shape” for both chords. Each chord is held for 8 beats (well, 7 1/2 beats but who’s counting? You are, that’s who!)
Post Chorus and Ending
After two more choruses plus some bonus weedly woo soloing from Neal Schon, we get the ending displayed above- D E D E F G D E. Each chord uses the D shape- fun!
The ending is a few hits of D and E chords. Listen for the rhythm, then end on D5.
Lastly, return to the intro guitar riff to finish out the tune!
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