My Heart is a Liar,

I was listening to the awesome track in the player and can not for the life of me figure out how to play it. Any help would be appreciated.

-Vinny

you know I had the same problem 3 years ago and i still havent figured it out.

I messed around with it some a few years back and I think the recording must have been slowed down or sped up some because nothing in standard tuning fits quite right. But I don't remember what I did tuning wise to correct it. To figure it out you'd have to fret a reference note that's close then tune that string up or down so it is perfectly in tune with the recording and tune the rest of your strings to match. So your overall tuning will have the same intervals as standard tuning but will be slightly higher or lower than standard. If that makes sense....for some reason I don't think I've explained that very well.

I've never tried this one before either, but you're right it is a great song. Just some other things I'd add that it could be. If the tuning is off (your guitar sounds sharp compared to the recording), it could be tuned all strings 1/2 or 1 step down (1/2 step would be Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eddie Van Halen type tuning) and (1 step down would be more like Metallica's Whiskey in the Jar cover). If (your guitar sounds flat compared to the recording) then a capo might be used. The song could also be played in an open tuning like open D or open G (Keith Richards). I don't know for sure without trying it, but listening to it now, how about these chord changes? You may have to adjust the key.

My Heart is a Liar

Chorus:
D-G-D-A-D-G-Em-G

Verse:
D-Bm7-F#m7(or Gm7)-Em7 (sometimes also add an A chord following the Em7)

D-Cadd9-G/B-Bb-A

Bridge:
Bb-F-G-C-Bb-F-G-A7sus4-A7

Again just some suggestions to get you started.

Feel free to post comments. corrections, etc.

Just wanted to update my earlier post on this song, as I had a chance to try it out a few days back on an acoustic guitar, and I think I pretty much figured it out. So I thought i'd pass along my info. in case any of you still felt like working it out. The reason nothing fits in standard tuning is because the song is in the concert key of Db. So this means, you need to detune your whole guitar a half step down from (E A D G B E) to (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb), same tuning used by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc. Then just play all the voicings the same as if the guitar was in standard tuning.

My Heart is a Liar (sounds Key of Db, gtr. tuned down 1/2 step plays in key of D)

Intro./Verses (Rhy. Fig.1):
D-Bm11-D/F#-Dsus2/F#-Em(or Em7)-G (repeat this section once, play twice total then play the next chord progression, then play this line once more, note during the second verse second time through substitute an F#m7 for the D/F# and Dsus2/F# chords)

Verses (Rhy. Fig.1A)
Dsus2-Cadd9-G6/B-Bb-Gm

Chorus (Rhy. Fig. 2):
D-G-D-A-D-G-Em-G

Bridge (Rhy. Fig 3):
Bb-F-Gm-C-Bb-F-Gm-A7sus4-A7-A7sus2-A7

Ending:
D-D major scale tones/arpeggios

Now, a few notes about playing this. I find it best to play this using a hybrid-picking approach. I play Rhy. Fig. 1 with thumb and fingers, palming the pick with the first finger like what Brian does. I then switch to the pick for the arpeggiated chords in Rhy. Fig.1A, and then switch back to fingers and thumb for the repeat of Rhy. Fig.1. I play Rhy. Fig.2 and Rhy. Fig.3 with the pick, switching on the A chords of Rhy. Fig.3 back to the thumb and fingers approach.

Intro./Verses
To start I play the D chord with thumb and fingers alternating between the D and A open bass strings and the D and A fretted notes of the chord. I then switch fingers on the chord grip for the Bm11 to fret the B bass note with my first finger and the A note with my 2nd finger, 3rd finger stays on the D note. Play this chord the same way, but arpeggiate the high-E open string to create the Bm11 voicing, and note that this chord is not a barre as the notes are low to high B,D,A,D,E. Then either fret the D/F# chord with either the first finger on the F# bass note or your thumb and fret the remaining notes with the rest of your fingers depending on your choice. The Dsus2 is played simply by pulling off to the open high-E string. Then the Em and G voicings are self-explanatory. The Rhy. Fig. 1A chords are arpeggiated by playing the bass note and then playing the chord tones high to low. All voicings contain an open high E-string until you reach the Bb. The Gm is played as a barre chord at the 3rd fret.

Chorus:
Here, the chords are basically strummed, so there's no special tricks to this section.

Bridge:
I play every chord but the C and A's as a barre chord with all six strings barred. Again, not much else to add here, I strum everything but the A's.

Ending:
Arpeggiate a D chord (C-shape), and then play a D scalar line at 5th position. Then, move to 9th position, playing a Dmaj7 arpeggio and scalar line ending on high F#.

Feel free to post comments. corrections, etc.

By the way, I remember watching an episode of Behind the Music years ago about Brian Setzer, and they mentioned a song that was written for his wife at the time, Chirstine I believe, that won her back for a while when they had split up. I was just curious if anyone knew if this happened to be the song? That blasted vH1 used to play music, concerts, and shows like this all the time, but there's little chance of that happening now.