Learn "New Light" by John Mayer on Guitar!

Hey, how you doing? It’s Justin here today for New Light by John Mayer. This is a really fun tune with lots of wicked guitar parts to learn.

There’s something for everyone. Beginners can strum along with open chords and explore different rhythms. Intermediate players can explore barre chords, and you can get creative with work on looping and layering. The solo is nice and easy for Intermediate players too! Let’s check it out. :)

New Light by John Mayer: Basic Chords & Structure

Good news: you can play the whole song using open chords! There’s no set rhythm pattern, so feel free to play the pattern you dig most. Old Faithful works great. :)

For the intro, we have Am, D, G, C; Am, D, G, G. The verse sequence is almost identical: Am, D, G, C; Am, D, G, C; Am, D, G, B7.

And in the chorus, we play the basic Am, D, G, C progression four times, except we stay on G for two bars in the final repetition.

💣 Chord Changes: if you struggle to switch between these chords in time, try my game-changing one-minute chord changes exercise.

Things get interesting in the bridge, but you can strum G, C, Em, and D (each for two bars) if you want to keep it simple. And the 8-bar solo section is the same as the intro.

If you’re a beginner, make sure you write out the parts. This will aid your memory big time. Time to look at all the really cool stuff in the original. :)

New Light by John Mayer: Lead Parts

First, let’s check out the riff that repeats throughout most of the song. It uses 4:5 (string 4, fret 5), 4:4, and 4:2 (the notes G, F#, E):

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
G F# E G F# E

Repeat this twice, leaving out the final E on the second rep. You can use fingers 4, 3, and 1 or 3, 2, and 1 – your call. :)

New Light by John Mayer: Looping and Experimenting

Using a looper pedal for this song is loadsa fun. Play the riff first, then start the looper to program it. Play the riff, making sure you start exactly on the beat. Once you’ve played the riff twice (it lasts two bars), stop the looper. Then you can start playing chords over the top (each chord sequence lasts four bars). Sounds wicked!

💡 Simple Wins: A lot of the greatest guitar ever played is pretty simple! So instead of showing off, seek simplicity. :)

Power chords work really well: Am (577XXX), D (X577XX), G (355XXX), and C (X355XX). I also tried full barre chords with a funky rhythm. It’s up to you to experiment and see what cool sounds you can make. Let’s check out the cool rhythm guitar in the bridge.

New Light by John Mayer: Rhythm Guitar in Bridge

There’s an awesome guitar part in the bridge that we just have to look at! We need a D Major mini barre chord (X X 12 11 10 10, which is simply the top part of the full barre chord (10 12 12 11 10 10). Then we switch to a G triad (X X 12 12 12 X).

The rhythm is:

1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a

D G

This stays the same over all eight bars while the chords change. It’s a really cool idea. If you want to get fancy, try adding the bass notes as you play the rhythm (G: 5:10, C: 6:8, Em 12:12, D: 12:10). Some serious stretching is required! On to the solo. :)

New Light by John Mayer: Solo

This is a nice, simple solo. Check out the official song video if you want to see John playing it. We start with finger 3 at 3:14, then we play 2:12 with finger 1, 2:13 with 2, 4:14 with 3, followed by 3:11 with finger 1.

Now we play a semi-tone bend with finger 1 from 2:12. Mute it at the top, release, then play 2:12 with finger 1. Play 2:13 with finger 2, then two tone bends from 3:14 with finger 3. Finish on 3:12.

🧐 Listen to the original: I usually do a demo with a count, but that's kinda complicated. This is a simple, melodic solo. You’re much better off listening to the original song and playing along with it. Here’s a tip: the first 2:13 is on beat 1. ;)

In the second part, we go 3:14, 2:12, 2:13. Then we jump down to 4:12 with finger 1, hammer on at fret 14 with finger 3, then play 4:12.

Play a tone bend from 3:14 with finger 3, release, flick off to finger 1 at fret 12, then play another tone bend from 3:14. That’s all there is to it. :)

Use your looper to repeat the chord progression Am, D, G, and C, and play the solo over the top. Sounds awesome! If you want to go really deep with the solo, work out the notes and how they relate to the chords they fall over. This is a perfect solo for some basic analysis.

Hope you have loads of fun with this John Mayer tune. This is what I call a grower: a song that you can play as a beginner then explore further as you walk the guitar journey. As you progress, you’ll realize you can play more of the parts, which will inspire you to keep practicing hard! Enjoy, and take care. :)

🎵 Want chords, tabs, and lyrics to follow along with my song tutorials? Check out JustinGuitar Tabs!