One of the most critical elements of an original song or arrangement is the intro. A great intro draws your listeners in, hooks them with a memorable melodic phrase, and breathes life into the song right from the start.

In this Acoustic Intros edition of Essentials, highly acclaimed singer-songwriter Ellis Paul shares 10 of his own favorite intros along with the creative, harmonic and rhythmic approaches behind each of them.

”A great introduction pulls you into the personality of the song. It's also like an instant signature that helps the song be recognizable in its place on the radio or a playlist. Just think of "Sweet Home Alabama" and the instant mood it creates. A great intro drops you right into a song so the voice and lyrics can pop even more. The focus of this course is exploring ways we can win people over in the first ten seconds of a song, even before the vocal arrives.

All of these introductions were composed to pull the listener into the mood, tempo, and vibe of the song. Intros frame the arrival of the vocal and provide a recognizable fingerprint that is immediately appreciated when the song arrives on a playlist, CD or the radio. A great intro helps you stick out while pulling a listener in. Writing songs with intentional, thoughtful intros makes you sound more professional, and hooks the listener into your art right from the top.”

Ellis will perform each intro, and then break it down slowly for you, note for note. As you work through the performance studies, you’ll learn how to use lush open tunings, drop licks, quoted phrases from choruses and verse parts, tasteful embellishments, dynamic buildups, and many other effective intro construction strategies.

Ellis will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the key examples and performances.

Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tool to sync the tab and notation to the video and can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.

Grab your guitar and let's pull listeners in with Ellis Paul!

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