Several songs by Secondhand Serenade start with solo piano or solo guitar. The solo instrument sets the mood and sometimes puts forth a musical theme that gets developed during the song.

It’s natural for guitar players - assuming they like the general style of the band – to connect with the sound of the solo guitar intros. Many guitarists turn to popular songs like those written by Secondhand Serenade to learn. Beginning guitarists find the guitar style accessible and learn a few techniques from it, while singers who also play guitar enjoy interpreting their songs. In any case, many players want to emulate the sound.

In Secondhand Serenade songs like It’s Not Over, Awake, Your Call, and Vulnerable the intro guitar part is played in a particular style. The style relies upon the use of open strings. When playing an "open string" the hand playing on the neck of the guitar does not hold down a string on the fingerboard. The string rings freely. It creates a full sound. Secondhand Serenade intros tend to pick one string at a time (rather than strumming) open strings and "closed." When open strings are used in conjunction with other non-open notes played on the fingerboard, the resulting sound is the epitome of the acoustic guitar sound heard in folk, pop, rock, and country. It is also the sound that Secondhand Serenade creates in the intros to the songs named above. The way open strings blend with non-open strings and form overtones is most important for obtaining the overall sound.

There are many guitar websites that give tabs or chords of songs. But, be careful! Some websites don’t account for playing the intros in the correct octave. To reproduce the intro exactly, you need to play in the right octave, the correct place on the neck, and using the same open strings. Secondhand Serenade often uses a capo and of course that comes into play too. So, when learning these songs be sure to check for exact notes in the correct octave, and determine which are open strings and which are not.

If there is enough interest, I’ll make write a blog that specifically shows how to play an intro by Secondhand Serenade.