Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl - Guitar Lesson

About Jessie's Girl

Few Pop Rock songs from 1981 hook you as quickly as this one, and the guitar is the reason why. The driving rhythm part in E major sits right in the pocket at 120 BPM, so the feel is energetic but not frantic, making it a great study in tight, committed strumming without rushing the beat. The signature choppy rhythm figure that opens the track is the thing to nail first: keep your picking hand locked in and let the left hand control the muting between chords. There is also a lead break that asks for some quick position shifts and a confident, slightly aggressive picking attack, which can feel slippery at tempo. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop that solo section slowed down until the string changes feel automatic before bringing it back up to full speed. Rick Springfield wrote and played all the guitar on the original recording, which gives the parts a very direct, no-frills quality that rewards the same approach when you cover it.

• The song is in E major with E Standard tuning, so open-position chord shapes and power chords ring out naturally and with full resonance.
• The choppy, palm-muted rhythm figure that drives the verse is the first thing to lock down, as clean muting between hits defines the tone.
• The guitar solo includes quick ascending runs that benefit from slow, isolated practice before you attempt them at the full 120 BPM tempo.