Level: 2
Tuning: Standard

"American Tune" was featured on Paul Simon's second solo album, "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" (1973). Simon said that parts of the tune were based on a chorale from Bach's "St. Matthew Passion." The lyrics are a melancholy meditation on life's disappointments and the troubled American dream, and the Bach chorale's lyrics are pretty grim as well. Still, the song has been recorded by many artists and has been played in several movies and TV shows. Considering "American Tune"s' classical origins, it's not surprising that this key-of-G fingerpicking version has a classical guitar approach. The accompaniment and the solos consist of arpeggios (i.e. playing the individual notes of a chord, ascending or descending) and 2-note harmonies plucked with the thumb and one finger.