In his new course, the It’s Never Too Late Songbook, Tommy Emmanuel walks you through 6 of his original songs taken from his album, It’s Never Too Late. Tommy breaks down each song, showing you all the right and left hand techniques needed to put the songs together.
Let’s take a look at the title track from the album here. Tommy will give you a little backstory about the origin of the track, then perform it for you in full. Then, we’ll break it down slowly so you can put it together on your own. Let’s check it out!
It’s Never Too Late – Overview
OK, here’s “It’s Never Too Late”. I wrote this song in December of 2014 on tour in Poland. My third daughter, Rachel, was coming very soon – born January 6th, 2015. I wrote this song for her arrival, and I had my friend Adam on the road with me. I played it for him and said, “Tell me the first thing you think of when you hear this.” After I played it for him he said, “It’s really interesting. It’s a minor song with optimism.” Which is a nice thing.
In my household, we call it “Rachel’s Song”, but it’s title comes from me turning 60 and about to have a baby. My friends also gave us a sign to hang in our house that says “It’s Never Too Late to Live Happily Ever After”, and that’s what this song is about. Let’s check it out.
It’s Never Too Late – Performance
Download the tab and notation for this Tommy Emmanuel song on TrueFire.
Now we’ll take a look at the title track from the album, “It’s Never Too Late”. Watch me play through the song, and in the next segment we’ll break down the performance.
It’s Never Too Late – Breakdown
Let’s break down “It’s Never Too Late”. The feeling of the song is gentle, yet it’s really in the pocket when you’re playing it.
I consider this song a product of all the songwriters who inspire me. As Paul McCartney says, “You can’t put out unless you take in.” And he’s absolutely right, he being one of several people who’ve influenced me (all of the Beatles in fact). If it weren’t for composers like Neil Diamond, James Taylor, Carole King, Alison Krauss & Union Station, etc. to draw on, I couldn’t have written a song like this. I also attribute some of what I’ve written here to the Irish music that I’ve heard over the years, as you’ll hear in the tune.
If you’ve got this one down and are looking for more, there are five more original tunes to learn in the full version of the course! Tommy will take you through “Only Elliot”, “Hope Street”, “Blood Brother”, “Old Photographs”, and “Traveling Clothes” – each track coming with the tab and notation to practice on your own. Check it out now!