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Last Dance With Mary Jane - Tom Petty

Learn How To Play 'Last Dance With Mary Jane' On Guitar!

Tom Petty's song 'Last Dance With Mary Jane' is a great example of what you can do with just a few simple chords and some creative rhythm. The only chords that you need to know to play the verses are A minor, A minor 7, G major, and D major. There are a few things that are a bit tricky on this song. Hammering on the A minor and D major chords, muting, and some of the rhythms on right hand, are all things that you might need to put a little extra work in to. Try watching the intro to the video a couple of times so that you can kind of memorize the rhythm. That should make learning and playing this song a bit easier. If you don't know these basic chords, check out the chord diagrams that we have supplied for you. Once you have the chords down move on to the tab to see exactly what you should be playing.

Throughout the song, there is quite a bit of muting going on with your right hand. Look at the sheet music for the song. It is pretty safe to say that where ever you see a rest, you should be muting the strings with your right hand. Creating silence between the chords really gives this song it's style and feel. If you notice in the video, my thumb on my left and is coming over the top of the fretboard. I am using my thumb to mute the lower strings when I am not using them. When the A minor chord is being played, the low E string is being muted by my thumb. When the D chord is being played both the low E and A strings are being muted.

To start this progression out, you are going to strum your top four strings open. Have your A minor shape ready because as soon as you hit those four open strings you are going to "hammer-on" the A minor chord. This may seem a bit strange if you have never used this kind of technique before. You will be using this technique again when you move to the D major chord.

The second time through the progression the A minor chord changes to an A minor 7 chord. To make this chord, all you need to do is make your regular A minor shape and then add the 3rd fret of the high E string with your pinky. This is a G note. If this is a new chord for you thats great. Start using it, occasionally, as a substitution for a regular A minor chord.

Songs like this are proof that a few chords are all you need to play some great music on the guitar. Use this song as a stepping stone to start coming up with your own simple songs.

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