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First Steps with Pink Floyd's "Breathe"

Lesson #544 • Mar 13, 2024

Today we’re looking at Pink Floyd’s classic Breathe, played on an acoustic guitar. I’ll teach things as Pink Floyd plays them — but also include a ton of handy tips for simplifying the chord shapes, riffs, and strumming patterns. This will let you play the song in a way that suits your skill level perfectly, whether you’re earlier along in your guitar journey or a bit more experienced. Remember, hit the play button when the lion roars for the third time 😜

  • 0:00 Lesson Summary
  • 2:16 Chord Progression
  • 3:30 Chords Shapes
  • 10:12 Playthrough
  • 12:49 Rhythm & Strum Patterns
  • 16:18 Raked Strumming
  • 20:02 E-min Slide Guitar Riffs
  • 23:41 A-maj Riffs
  • 27:26 Practice Track Preview

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Instructional PDF 3 pages

Follow along with the print-friendly PDF! It includes all of my notes for this lesson, allowing you to follow along at your own pace. You're free to download, print, and share the PDF across your devices.

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Follow along with the print-friendly PDF!

It includes all of my notes for this lesson, allowing you to follow along at your own pace. You're free to download, print, and share the PDF across your devices.

To download the PDF, upgrade to premium or log in.


Play-Along Practice Tracks

With guitar, bass, and drums

Here’s a custom track I made you can use to practice chord changes, strumming, or even lead guitar. This goes through the two progressions I teach (looped for 5 minutes), with graphics following along to you know which chord is next. Audio-only version available to download by Song Notes members.Download audio version.

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“No guitar” version

Same as above, but without the rhythm guitar. You can still follow the chord changes via the bass and on-screen graphics… which makes this ideal if you want to work on strumming and staying on the beat, without having to compete with another guitar in the recording. Audio-only version available to download by Song Notes members. Download audio version.

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Pink Floyd’s Album Recording of Breathe

Breathe, Live in 1994

Tips for Soloing Over Breathe

Learning the Intro Solo to "Wish You Were Here"

★ Instructional PDF

"Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd

$ Song Sheet Available

Strumming with Accented Notes - A Getting Started Guide

★ Instructional PDF

Looking for the Lyrics?

My practice sheet (PDF) linked above does not include lyrics, for copyright reasons. If you’re in a pinch, here’s a version on Ultimate Guitar that I’d recommend. If you’d really like me to create my own licensed song sheet (with lyrics and chords) for purchase, click the button below to request it… and if there’s enough demand I’ll put it together one day.

Click to Request

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