TIME STAMPS - 0:56 PERFORMANCE START 5:38 Analysis Start (Beginners) 7:46 Madonna's Playing Break Down 10:26 Making Things Easier! 14:11 Playing and Singing 14:44 Playing Breaking Concentration 15:33 Performing Live when Beginning 17:05 Madonna's Singing (Intermediates) 18:29 Rhythm Demo (Advanced) 21:14 Rhythm Demo 25:31 Madonna Holding it Together!

I love how Madonna just tries everything. Always jumps in. Full enthusiasm every time.

♫ Like a virgin, playing guitar for the very first time... ♪

Your saying of singing and playing doubles the difficulty certainly is true here. She did a great job. Really liked her back in the day.

When my son was 10 years old, he would wake up and before he even opened his eyes he would reach for his guitar and just start playing. He used to serenade me with Spanish style music before he went to school and when I told him to go wake up his sister he would enter her room and start jamming some crazy stuff. I remember her screaming for him to stop. My house was filled with guitars leaning against their stands. They all were works of art to me. And, the band always practiced at our house and they had an audience of one. Me😊 There's just something about live music and standing next to the lead singer and wondering where that voice was coming from. Sure, I lost a bit of hearing from the seven-foot-tall amps and I got to feed the band after practice. Some of the best memories of my life. I am my son's biggest fan. Sincerely, Carly

Still love her voice and though we have political differences I remain impressed at her bravery to move to New York early in her career. She's got guts. On the guitar part, she and I are at the same level, two old dogs trying to learn a new trick. Thank you for for being kind to her. You're always a class act.

This is one of my favorite Madonna performances because she concentrating so much on her guitar playing that she forgets about her singing and the result is the most beautiful example of her naturally good singing voice.

Never heard her play guitar well done brave effort!

10:19 "You can't make changes instantly, because your hand can't teleport. You need that extra upstroke." - So simple and yet so true and a very helpful advice for the strumming beginner.

This is why I watch your videos. I wish all guitarists were like you, being willing to encourage instead of put down someone for their playing.

As a huge Madonna fan, thank you for taking your time to go through and analyze this video. You have taught me a lot of what was going on and about guitar skills and guitar performance in general. There’s so much valuable nuggets of information here. I hope you return to Madonna’s guitar playing years later. She would implement guitar into her following world tours that decade and next.

I'm quite astonished at how good her voice is here - I always think of Madonna as quite a produced voice, so it's nice to be reminded that she's actually a musician. Nice analysis from Fil.

i am so freaking pleased that one of the Great Algorithms has finally introduced me to this channel! ... i could elatedly rant, but .... ..... just .... these are some of the BEST 10 to 20 minute pieces of thoughtful, enlightening, peaceful-without-being-dull-or-banal videos i have *EVER* seen on KZfaq. WELLLLLLLL *DUNNNNN* *!!!*

Her voice sounds good to me. At least she's able to get the strings to ring out instead having half of them muted.

hello the first time see madonna live in concert she's play the guitar in tour the song is candy porfume girl from drowned world tour in rock version

For a beginner l say good for her! I remember picking up a guitar for the first time at age 10 and it was much the same. ALL in all she did a good job and l liked the song. Gotta respect Madonna coming from nothing and becoming an international mega Superstar and an icon. Great analysis and excellent demo Fil. Thanks! 🎼🎶🎵🇨🇦🇨🇦

I really liked this performance , very interesting ..because this is a huge R and B pop star ..who just stripped all the production out of her performance and sang and played almost a folkish song.....I was thinking if she had a backup singer doing harmonies beneath her vocals it may have made this song even better.....very nice tips on the rhythm Fil..and I'm glad I'm here tonight watching, listening and learning..but most of enjoying !!

I never could relate to Madonna or her music (even though we are the same age). I have always loved this song.She seems to be laying bare a true vulnerability during this performance.Madonna the " goddess" comes down to earh....It looked good on her.Thanks once again.

People seem to forget how talented this woman is to this day. Her recent Tour saw her on the guitar, piano and drums.

I'm going to save this in my "Good guitar lesson video playlist". I'll get hours of encouragement from it as I TRY to play along. As Madonna is one of the largest selling entertainers, you have to give her credit for exposing herself like this.

Loved your breakdown mate and o thought Madonna did an amazing performance, no fear and beautiful live voice

she got guitar lessons teacher for her birthday that year this was 2 months later

I watched this performance from Madonna many years ago! I must say that I thought it was quite good! It shined a different light on her talent! Excellent demo too Fil...brilliant! Cheers Mario! 😀👌🤘

Thank you Fil. I learn so much from your thought provoking videos. Thank you for sharing your light ❤️

I never knew she played 😳 😂 Hope you have a great weekend, Fil 💙 Btw, I knew you were thinking she could have played the one part an easier way . You would have been a great teacher for her 😊

Awesome analysis for us guys learning to play and sing. I’ve sung in a park once and there are so many variables to throw you off. It took me 3 or 4 songs to start feeling more natural. I can’t wait to do it again.

I really enjoyed this video and your analysis of technique. And you are so right about what's going on when you put yourself out there. I know, I've been there and I can get tripped up if I'm 'too aware' of what I am doing in that moment. Also, considering the Madonna persona, it is fun to see her with a little vulnerability. Thanks again, Fil!!

I've never been a fan of Madonna's, but I loved her voice in this song. Because I don't really like her music, I never thought about how good her voice is. Now, I have a new appreciation for her. And I'm so impressed by her musicianship. I had noticed a lot of what Phil (or Fil?) said - how her playing kept the rhythm going and how she looked at Monty (I felt a little nervous for her there) and how she was able to concentrate on her guitar playing while singing. She could have had a safety net with another musician in the mix, but this pared back sound was beautiful. It was a brave thing to do, and shows how talented she is

I admire that Madonna always tries to learn new things. Playing the guitar may not be her forte but it’s okay. She wrote the song, sang it, that is all very good

This was one of the more enjoyable videos since you bought the techniques in at a very basic level. I'm not a musician, I have recovered a keyboard so I will try to apply what you and Rick Beato and others have told me about music since I now know the alphabet of a language I never could speak. Much respect to Madonna for putting herself in the shoes of a struggling folk singer at an open mike night. I'm doubly impressed that she tried this on David Letterman, since she didn't really like Dave's sarcastic humour.

Thank you for this evaluation and analysis! It’s incredibly interesting, and as a pro singer myself, I love that you analyze her vocal ability and her vocal intuition, because it really DOES matter when it comes to learning an instrument and trying to play live

You are a very fair and diplomatic instructor!

Love this song & your analysis!

And she still can sing at the same time

What a BEAUTIFUL SMILE that you have. You are So Very Handsome!!!

Good job Fil, Thanks. Hope she stuck with it.

Thanks Fil, good lesson here, and thanks to Dan for sending the link--we were all beginners at some point ! \m/

Great analysis as usual Fil. Peace, M.A.

She sounds pretty good. I would buy the album.

"Madonna *trying to* play the guitar" already gives away a lot! 😄 On with the video... *Edit:* That was sooo much better than I had expected! 😍 Looks like she even muted the low E string during the D-chord! At least I didn't hear it ring like it happens with most beginners 🙂 And her singing sounds nice, too! 😀 She once played the drums for a band, before her solo career, if I remember correctly.

You teach the basics so well via these videos. As she was concentrating on her chords, so was I. Very interesting how you do have to learn to perform by performing with all kinds of variables at the actual gig (sorry---festival)---I know that feeling! Thanks Fil

Always ambitious is Madonna. She does a good job on this tune. And especially for a beginner on guitar. Good rhythm. Great applause. She earns it & really has nothing much to prove. Truly an ambitious venture. Peace, M.A.

brilliant analysis! thanks

Awesome lesson and really liked her playing and singing. ✌🏽🤙🏽

Love the song and her voice

She improved vastly over the years! you need to react to her performance of Hung Up at the Sticky and Sweet Tour.

This was around the time she did the 60s inspired soundtrack to Austin Powers 2. Probably my favorite album of hers. You can tell she was getting into the folky inspired psychedelic sounds of the sixties with this song.

“She could be playing this an easier way”… Madonna has never been known to take the easy path 😂. Her voice sounds beautiful here, though her phrasing and diction lack spontaneity due to the new tension of focusing on guitar and singing simultaneously. On that, she actually did learn some guitar in the late 70s when she was a drummer in a couple of bands. I think it’s admirably humble that she admits she’s starting again, because that early experience was not developed at all, and was really just youthful exploration. She did play drums at the bands’ gigs though, that’s well documented. Thanks again for another fair and respectful assessment of a very talented and hardworking artist and culture maker. She deserves it. She’s earned it. And way too many people denigrate her work just because they have some neurotic aversion to her or what she stands for. I’d LOVE a to see you react to either of these videos: Madonna VOGUE acapella. Which is a studio demo of Vogue with Madonna doing all her own layered backing vocals as well as the lead. It’s a great example of her song-craft because Vogue was written with Shep Pettibone, with him composing the instrumental and her writing the lyrics and vocal melody. There’s a perception of her that she’s not a writer, but the credits tell another story, as do her collaborators, who all speak in glowing terms about her lyric and vocal melody, bridge, hook writing etc, as well as her vision as a producer. & The Popcrush video Madonna’s Best Live Vocals

Always appreciate your analysis. Love your encouragement for Madonna and of course your precise break down. Even though I don't have a guitar currently and only picked at the one I did have, I learned a thing or two from this video that I might use the next time I pick one up. Wondering if you have ever done any of Terry Kath's work from the early Chicago days? I was never a huge fan but certainly appreciated their work and I recently saw a documentary that his daughter made about him. Just a thought for you some time

I remembering seeing this when it originally aired. I remember thinking that she did really well considering she was just learning. I would imagine she's much better today, twenty years later.

Good assessment. Thanks for posting. 🐛

That's the first strum I teach my students ..down , down up ...up down up ...great breakdown Fil 👍

It looks like she's playing a Taylor ...they're great to learn on. I remember when I took lessons about 20 years ago, my teacher recommended that brand because of its really great neck ... almost like an electric guitar's neck ... it's a bit narrower than most acoustics -- at least that's what he told me! ;-0 ... She wasn't bad playing those 4 chords... I was just waiting for a bridge that never came ... It was kinda getting monotonous being the same 4 chords over and over. But you're right, once you learn those first chords, you never forget them. My teacher also said that you can get into a car accident, get amnesia and forget everything about your life ... but you'll always remember those chords and your hands will know what to do (motor skills). I should start playing again to see if he's right! LOL!

I really love this song now. Never thought I’d listen to it. Thanks for introducing me to this fantastic song

I remembered first time I played alone for a live audience. I was so nervous and my hands was shaking. It was hard to hit the cords and I made a few mistakes but most people didn't seem to notice. There were even a jazz professional musician in the audience that said he liked my song.

Madonna is already a “star”; she’s got a fantastic voice, an able performer, and a successful songwriter, but here she is playing guitar like I did when I was 16. Well...good for her! Everybody has to start at the beginning. I’m a bit curious if she’s progressed much since this clip.

Very emotional🎉🎉🎉girls do it🎉🎉🎉

Very nice!

She won't be confused for say, Shawn Colvin as a guitarist, but I respect her effort.

She sounds Great! 💚

Madonna did actually play guitar for Emmy and the Breakfast club (and drums for that band too) in the late 70s and early 80s before stardom. I think though she never formally trained and certainly never kept up with practice since...she was a little busy.

You should react to Madonna s mother and father from 2003 acoustic version. .she Learned a Lot during three years

I know people don’t like her but even though her style of my music isn’t always my taste, I’ve seen her live and she is a great live performer. I see her for the overall show as I appreciate the talented dancers she hires. She played acoustic guitar to her song La Isle Bonita (Spanish style song). It was pretty good 👍🏼. I watched her on MTV growing up in the 80’s.

As always Fil, great analysis. How about doing The Byrds, there was always some debate that they were a great studio band but couldn't really play live, There's not much live footage of the original five. However there are a number of KZfaq clips from the Big TNT Show where they did play live. Maybe worth a look. Cheers Rob from NZ.

Madonna has found a new G string! Very good effort and I like her vocals in this mode. Be an excellent campfire guitar-pull with her there.

I can did this. Fans of hers starting with the first album. Whatever album had True Blue was the last we bought. Read somewhere then she wanted to play guitar. Fine. Never heard anything but like this. Cowboy chords played fine and sings an original tune.

Impressive, I really enjoyed that, she did well...

Could you do vid about the mighty Isaac guillory?

I think Madonna is a beautiful, talented glamorous lady.🌹

Nice Phil you know she did good you know your self I'ts not easy to sing and play guitar at the same time

Better than I expected. Seemed like a Skynyrd song being sussed out in a writing session or modern country, just a bit stiffer.

At 8:07 that sounded a little bit like the opening to David Bowie's 'Modern Love'. I remember watching the David Letterman show that night & immediately fell in love with that song....'Don't Tell Me'. Her official music video kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nbJ2irV12N6ZcX0.html is one of my favorites.

You need to sell a mug, T-shirt and hat that say "And there we have it" hahahaha - that's your catch phrase.

First thing I noticed is she’s strumming with her arm. She needs to loosen her wrist. But I will say for just learning and doing this live, she’s doing really well with singing while playing as a beginner.

One thing she’s doing well is getting to the next chord ON TIME. That’s not an easy thing to pick up right away. And she’s keeping her strumming hand in motion. That’s key. “The right (strumming) hand is the drummer!” I can hear my summer music camp instructor saying it over and over. The strumming hand is the time keeper, and that is one of the most important aspects of learning to play guitar. Yes, she’s placing her 2nd finger on the root G note a bit late but she is getting to that chord on time.

I like Madonna unplugged! 🖤🤘

As a 50 year old woman embarking on my own long postponed guitar playing and singing journey I think that's the most real, human and vulnerable I've ever seen Madonna be.

Even at the time this aired I was surprised at how on-pitch and relaxed her vocal was. She has definitely sung better and with more range/power than this and it's not a hard song to sing, but something makes me think that her focus on the guitar helped her vocally.

Wow you play that to how awsome can you get and that bed to the bod you can play that some wow you rock big time 🤘😎🤘😎🤘😎

Thanks Fil- I’m a 70 year old singer, flautist and bit of a pianist but I was always intimidated by guitar. I also have short chubby fingers. Now I’m inspired. Why not start to learn a few chords? Can you recommend a smaller easy to handle acoustic guitar for me?

When she started playing the intro, I thought she was going to sing It Don't Come Easy.

If you make it big time, it's becuase you're good, I don't buy Madona CDs, but she's good at what she does, a true Professional

Thank you Fil, but I didn't catch the name of the guitar player next to her. Thanks.

I can't lie, I actually liked her performance. I thought she was all lip sync and autotune, but that was authentic.

Most people do not play their G chord using third finger for the root G on the 6th string. That is definitely how I learned my G chord, the “old school” G, from the Mel Bay Method. (Yeah, I know. I’m old) A “modern” G chord is taught the way Madonna is trying to play it. Guitar is really about making things as easy as possible and Fil is correct about playing the G chord “old school” style. It makes that particular chord change more efficient and easier.

New found respect.

She does a very good job

It’s incredible that someone plays guitar for the first time in front of millions of people. What a privilege. Don’t give up...

I absolutely believe she was miming.

The guitar sounds like Ringo Starr’s “ It don’t Come Easy,”.

With al respect, I only like a few Madonna songs, and Tell me is one of those. (The others are True Blue, Cherish, Music, Ray of Light). Is it really true she just learned to play the guitar for this song? Somewhere on YT, I saw in a documentary she started in music in bands as drummer, guitarist (breakfast club, emmy and the emmys). Perhaps self-taught back then? Anyone knows?

Damn!👍

oh boy that takes me back to my first year of guitar, those janky changes.

I liked this video

I wonder if she continued working on her guitar skills after this period. Even with only sporadic practicing, one can become fairly proficient on guitar over the course of two decades. She certainly would have had easy access to musicians to help her along while learning.

I wonder if she was just trying to avoid using her pinky on that thin string because it hurts.

I'd rather hear Madonna play guitar than her trying to sing. She's doing alright with the "cowboy" chords.

Wish I knew who the guy was who is playing in the video. Wouldn't mind watching him do a performance. The really talented people are often propping up the front act. That's why I always look to each of the musicians behind the singer. You find some real gems there. When Government Mule lost their bass player they wouldn't replace him for quite a while. Government Mule did a live concert and they just kept bringing on bass player after bass player. They were famous musicians and I had a riot looking at the different techniques. I will never forget it. Thank you for showing us music through your eyes, Fil. Sincerely, Carly☺

When you say she was a beginner/was just learning - she wouldn’t have just recently started. She’d been at it a while. She’d never do this live unless she totally knew she’d nail it. I know it’s what she said, but .. well. Edit: when I said ‘nail it’, I should have used your words and said ‘good enough’ (ie to perform it and not mess up). Fair play to her, though.

I got better when I closed my eyes, stopped looking at my fretboard and started feeling the strings and the vibrations.